Karen Cohen receives this year’s ATHENA Award

BOARDMAN — The 2008 ATHENA program was all about setting goals and persevering — even in the face of laughter.

Karen Cohen, this year’s award recipient, recalled when she was hired at the Packer Thomas accounting firm in Youngstown in 1990. She said right away that she wanted to become the firm’s first female partner someday.

“The men I was working for just laughed. They said, ‘You keep that goal and go make these photocopies,” Cohen said.

Those men left and were replaced with other leaders, such as firm president Philip Dennison, who served as her mentors until she was named partner in 2006.

For her professional achievements and the mentoring work she has done in return, Cohen was named the 2008 ATHENA Award recipient tonight at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman.

For more information, see Friday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.