Leading Without Illusions

This special edition of our Blueprint for Success showcases the recipients of Athena’s Annual Pinnacle Awards. These five distinguished diversity champions sit down with Athena's CEO to share their foundational values around "lifting others while climbing” and how those practices have defined much of their career success and leadership principles | Powered by SDGE 

As Summer begins to wrap up, Athena's Blueprint for Success for August provides the inspiration you need to springboard into Fall as Kathryne Reeves details her fascinating journey from Mississippi to Illumina via Stanford and Harvard.

Beginning her professional journey as a civil engineer, it was a mentor who provided her first example of female professional leadership and encouraged her to go to business school - changing the trajectory of her career.

Click below to hear the key components of Kathyryne's blueprint (hint: optimism plays a huge role!) and get the advice she gives to her own mentees.

It all started with a love of solving puzzles. In our July Blueprint for Success, Dr. Amy Butler describes how that love evolved into a desire to understand "why are we all the way we are?" and ultimately an interest in science. Fostered by access to great teachers and a great college mentor, Amy's love of learning drove her to a unique and inspiring leadership journey.

From research scientist to strategic management consultant, to President, Biosciences at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Amy exemplifies the combination of attributes, decisions, and determination that pave the way for women leaders in STEM. Listen below as she details the biases she faced along the way and the importance of support and networking throughout the leadership journey.

This special edition of our Blueprint for Success answers the "WHY" Diversity, Equity & Inclusion matters to top talent. In advance of Athena's Lifting While Climbing Summit on June 30, we're capturing the personal impacts that DE&I efforts have on the workforce.

Learn from these intimate stories and powerful insights from employees at Encore Capital Group, Qualcomm, ResMed, SDG&E, and Tandem Diabetes Care as we ask:

With a PhD in Economics, Kendall Helm's career path is anything but expected. However, as you listen to her career journey, it all comes into focus.

Drawn to Sempra's strong leadership development philosophy, Kendall brought her unique skillset to Sempra's Investor Relations department before assuming a variety of executive roles within SDGE's energy supply and customer operations business units. Kendall leveraged her expertise while being given the "license to learn," conquering new challenges and advancing her career in her newest role as VP, People & Culture.

Click below to witness how these combined traits of agility, confidence and humility directly impacted Kendall's exceptional career success.

This Blueprint for Success with Susan Poser, VP, Customer & Employee Experience @ Oracle is sure to leave you eager to take the next leap in your leadership journey - whether you're just starting out, angling for a promotion or approaching the pinnacle of your career.

As a successful female tech executive, Susan shares compelling career strategies that underscore the ROI of asserting your value and creating your own opportunities, at every rung up the ladder.

Susan advises that her advancement didn't come from working hard and expecting someone to tap her on the shoulder to offer a promotion or raise. Click below to access the path she created for herself by taking the initiative and showing ambition to drive value creation for her business unit as well as her career progression.

In honor of International Women's History Month, Athena's Blueprint For Success is showcasing the leadership journey of Áine Shivnan, Qualcomm's VP, Program Management.

Áine's engineering background and entrepreneurial spirit combine for a fascinating career path. Explore Áine's unique journey and the leadership philosophies that largely shaped her thriving career as a woman executive in the world of tech.

Dr. Chadia Robertson, Takeda's Scientist and Program Lead shares her love of science in our monthly Blueprint for Success. She describes the network that fed and nurtured her passion and details how mentors were essential to building a career roadmap translating her scientific interests into a successful STEM career.

Chadia also shares effective tactics she deploys in managing workforce challenges and micro-aggressions, while emphasizing the significance of building a support system and leaning on her tribe.

Experience Chadia's exhilaration and optimism as she describes what it feels like to have a woman of shared Jamaican descent hold the second-highest office in the land as we all celebrate Black History Month with renewed hope for our country's future.

Athena's Blueprint for Success (B4S) launches this New Year with career insights and inspiration with a fascinating line-up of change makers. Meet this month’s B4S guest, Ida Khodami | Partner at Two Bear Capital.

Driven by a desire to solve big world problems and create tangible impact, Ida was one of the only females in her electrical engineering grad school program. Undaunted, her passion for problem-solving and academic success led to her recruitment by Illumina. Here she launched her illustrious career as a Senior Engineer and served in a variety of leadership roles including Head of Global Business Operations.

Through the pursuit of her MBA at UCLA, Ida discovered a love for "the business side of things," which drove her to again push herself to new heights and a new adventure at Two Bear Capital.

Click below to access Ida's leadership journey and find out what she deems is the SUPERPOWER OF THE FEMALE ENGINEER!