Bernadette Smith Wins 2010 ATHENA Award
Smith, senior vice president and senior portfolio manager at Fifth Third Bank, was presented this award at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s 20th Anniversary ATHENA Award luncheon.
Each year, ATHENA International recognizes women in business who demonstrate excellence and creativity in their professions, serve their communities, and assist other women in reaching their full leadership potential. On Sept. 20, Bernadette Eyler Smith was named the 2010 Greater Pittsburgh ATHENA Award recipient. Smith, senior vice president and senior portfolio manager at Fifth Third Bank, was presented this award at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s 20th Anniversary ATHENA Award luncheon, which was held at Pittsburgh’s Westin Convention Center Hotel.
The ATHENA award, named for the Greek goddess of strength and wisdom, is unique in its focus on mentoring the next generation of women leaders. Smith has 20-plus years of experience in investment management. She is both the founder and managing executive of the Fifth Third Women’s Financial Groups and she implements tailored investment strategies for private and institutional clients.
Smith shows her dedication to the community through her role in the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness, a position that Gov. Edward Rendell appointed her to in 2009, and through service on the boards of the Women & Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, the YMCA Restaurant Franchise, Inc., and the FISA Foundation. Smith also serves on the board of Gilda’s Club of Western Pennsylvania, an organization that hits close to home for Smith, a breast cancer survivor.
Also in attendance at the luncheon were the five other inspirational finalists: Honorable Cathy Bissoon, Eva Tansky Blum, Suzan M. Lami, Laurie Z. MacDonald and Melissa Murphy, as well as keynote speaker Martha Mayhood Mertz, the founder of ATHENA International and author of Becoming ATHENA: Eight Principles to Enlightened Leadership.
“ATHENA International considers the Greater Pittsburgh ATHENA program to be a best practice model for other such programs across the country and around the world,” Mertz said in her speech.
For more information about the ATHENA Award Program of Greater Pittsburgh, visit athena-pittsburgh.com.
This article appears in the September 2010 issue of Pittsburgh Magazine
Did you like what you read here? Subscribe to Pittsburgh Magazine »
Email
Print
Feed
