Athena nominees

Athena nominees

Some details about the work and community involvement of the Athena Award nominees:

Madhu Mathur Anand

Director of clinical operations at Synchro Medical Innovations in Youngstown

Active in the Boardman Rotary since 2002

Professional concert vocalist whose most recent devotional vocal album, “Traditions I,” was released in 2007

Member of the Society of Clinical Research Associates

Germaine Bennett

Educational human resource consultant at ONTASC

38-year education career as an assistant superintendent, principal and teacher in area schools

Member of 22 community, education, religious and health-care groups and boards

Received the Youngstown State University Diversity Community Leadership Award in 2008

Sharyn Braunstein

Chief executive of The Youngstown Columbiana Association of Realtors

Serves on the board of directors of the Mahoning Valley Fair Housing Association

Volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen and Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley

Instructs workshops on professional standards training for other Realtor associations in Ohio

Patricia Brozik

Executive director at Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley

Led the Community Foundation to grow to nearly 60 funds with assets exceeding $12 million

Played an active role in the formation of the Mahoning Valley Grantmakers Forum and serves as its chairwoman

Serves on many community boards and councils including the Mahoning Valley College Access Program, the Boardman Township Zoning Board of Appeals and the Regional Chamber’s Government Affairs Council

Annette Camacci

Community Volunteer

Chairwoman or a committee member of the Junior League of Youngstown’s annual Pink Ribbon Tea for the past 13 years

Honored as Volunteer of the Year for Mission Delivery in 2008 by the American Cancer Society

Co-chair of Holy Family Parish’s 50th anniversary celebration and fundraising campaign for Habitat for Humanity

Stella M. Camuso

Diversified health coordinator at Choffin Career and Technical Center

Co-founder of the Choffin Magnet School in 2007, the first of its kind in a secondary school in Northeast Ohio

Received the 2007 Teacher of the Year award in Youngstown City Schools

Organized three charitable concerts for Russian orphans through Youngstown State University’s Protestant Campus ministries and three infant clothing and toy drives at area Catholic churches, also to benefit the Russian orphans

Diana Colaianni

Director of nursing at District Board of Health, Mahoning County

Received the Federal Primary Care Fellowship via the National Association of County and City Health Officials organization

Served as Cardinal Mooney High School speech coach for 10 years and received the 2003 Cardinal Mooney Distinguished Alumni Award

Peforms liturgical drama and is a reader and eucharistic minister at St. Luke Church

Karen DeSalvo

Senior vice president of marketing, Seven Seventeen Credit Union

Recognized as a financial marketing expert by being only one of less than 250 people nationally and one of only seven in Ohio to be designated a Certified Financial Marketing Professional

Serves on the United Way of Trumbull County’s board of directors and board of trustees and has been a member of its communications committee since 2004

Established three youth programs at Seven Seventeen: Dollar Dog Kids Club, Cha-Ching Teen Club and the Edge young adults programs to help children grow to be financialy responsible Dr. Nancy Gantt

Surgeon at St. Elizabeth Health Center

Serves as vice-chair of the Committee for Surgical Education in Medical School of the American College of Surgeons

As a breast-cancer surgeon and breast-cancer survivor, her dream is to develop a comprehensive breast-cancer center in Youngstown

Serves as a board member of the American Cancer Society

Michele D. Grant

Associate director of development at The Paula and Anthony Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism

Organized and enhanced the development division of the Rich Center

Serves as president of The Junior League of Youngstown

Received the YWCA Outstanding Women award in 2001

Shari Harrell

Executive director of YWCA of Warren

Spearheaded efforts to reorganize and revitalize the YWCA of Warren

Member of the Upton Association since she helped purchase the historic Upton House in 1988

Serves as president of the Warren Board of Education

Mary Beth Houser

Attorney at Newman, Olson & Kerr

First and only female partner in the company history at the law firm

Member of the Humility of Mary Health Partners board of directors and its executive committee

Serves on Catholic Diocese of Youngstown finance council

Susan Kondos

Business manager at Corrections Corporation of America

Selected to attend Samburg Frontline Leadership Training

Chosen to be a training instructor for both newly hired staff and regular staff during the annual in-service program

Led a Community Relations Day that brought nearly 30 community leaders to the facility as part of Leadership Mahoning Valley

Diane Less

Co-founder and board member of Angels For Animals

Raised more than $3.5 million in private funds to build the Angels facility

Oversees a budget that has grown from less than $1,000 a year to more than $900,000 in 2009

Originated the idea and worked with Columbiana County commissioners to implement a revolutionary mandatory spay/neuter program at the county dog pound

Celeste Lisko

Marketing director at Handel Investments

Helped Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties raise more than $300,000 through the Drive for Dough event and the Auction at Margaritaville

Serves as a chairwoman of the board of Easter Seals and is a member of the Easter Seals Presidents Council, where members are recognized for annual donations of $1,000 or more

Member of Boardman Rotary since 2004 and currently serves as club service director

Andrea L. Lupton

Realtor and past president of Warren Area Board of Realtors

Created an affiliate task force, designed new member benefits, hired an executive officer and reduced the operation budget for the board in 2008

Recognized as Top Agent for four months in 2008 by Century 21 Prestige

Member of Save our Valley Homes task force

Patricia Matthews-Wanat

Owner and president of Comprehensive Worklife Solutions

Chairwoman of Mahoning County Bridges out of Poverty steering committee since 2008

Serves as local liaison to the Cleveland Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association

Member of the Northeast Ohio Critical Incident Debriefing Team

Joan Sandra Mingo

Principal of Byzantine Catholic Central School

Implemented the Autism Private Provider Program at the school, the first Catholic school to become a provider

Participates in raising money for the Cancer Society, Heart Association and St. Jude Children’s Hospital

Improved technology at the school by getting 75 computers donated by the government

Sharon Mock

Supervisor at Hill, Barth & King

Serves on the advisory board for business administration at ITT Technical Institute in Youngstown

Member of Hill, Barth & King’s professional women’s advancement team

Serves on the company’s mentoring program and is assigned female accountants

Veronica A. Rice

Postmaster, Youngstown, United States Postal Service

Serves as the USPS’s national coordinator for Delivery Operations Information System

Inducted in the Trumbull County Black Achievers Hall of Fame

Holds leadership roles in the Mediation Association of Northeast Ohio, National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees and Disabled American Veterans Association

Ann Sevenich

Associate director of community outreach at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Retirement Services

Instrumental in expanding the home-health-care division of Shepherd of the Valley to encompass the tri-county area

Named 2005 Home Health Care Elite through the Ohio Home Health Council

Serves as vice chairwoman of the Columbiana County Red Cross

Susan J. Shafer

Community events coordinator of the Tribune Chronicle

Spearheaded such projects as the Trumbull County Veterans Memorial, Make a Difference Day and the communitywide health and fitness competition

Among the activities she coordinates are the Trumbull County Veterans Day Parade, the Leaders of Tomorrow program and the popular Taste of Home Cooking Show

Has received several state and national awards for Make A Difference Day

Barbara E. Stacy

Family consumer science teacher at Poland Seminary High School

Participates in the March of Dimes Walkathon and volunteers for Relay for Life and the Rescue Mission

Coordinates student involvement in community service projects with nursing homes, Rescue Mission, Relay for Life and entertaining needy families in shelters

Nominated for Outstanding Vocational and Family Consumer Science Teacher in Ohio

Marilyn Titus

Vice President and chief operating officer of Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, Forum Health

Under her leadership, Hillside has established three Centers of Excellence: Strike in 2002, Spinal Cord Injury in 2005 and Brain Injury in 2007

Past recipient of the Ohio Nurses Association District 3 Excellence in Nursing Award

Was the first volunteer with the Camelot Center, a therapeutic and recreational horseback riding program

Wilma Violeta Torres

Director of planning & development at the Mahoning Youngstown Community Action Partnership (MYCAP)

Assists nonprofit agencies in improving their operations and helps entrepreneurs build their businesses

Founding member of the Latinas United Netowrking Association Inc.

Received the Puerto Rican Making a Difference Award from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Atty. Patricia B. Wagner

Chairwoman of the Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science at Youngstown State University

Was instrumental in helping students obtain scholarship money as chairwoman of the DeGarmo Law Enforcement Scholarship Committee

Nominated for the Inspire Integrity Award through the National Society of Collegiate Scholars

American Health Association Heartwalk team leader since 1996

Tammy Weaver

Chief Officer of Coleman Professional Services

Assisted in obtaining $15 million in grants and foundation money for subsidized housing units for people who are homeless, mentally ill or disadvantaged

Serves as president of the Trumbull County Housing Collaborative

Serves as a member of the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention, Transitional Youth with Mental Health Disorders and the Trumbull Adult Protective Network

Patricia Weston-Hall

Chief executive at Glenbeigh

Has overseen two multimillion-dollar expansions on Glenbeigh in the last decade

Founding member of the Ohio Alliance of Recovery Providers

Inducted into the Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals System Leadership Hall of Fame

Krystie Whetstone Sutch

Owner and director of Krystie’s Dance Academy

Her competition dance team has been regional and national champions for the past seven years

Dancer Magazine nominated the academy as the 13th most- competitive dance studio in North America and first in Ohio

The competition team and staff donated more than $2,000 and toys to Toys for Tots in 2006 and 2007

Mari Wren Petrony

Assistant director of The Mahoning County Green Team

Instrumental in promotions and other activities that increased Mahoning County’s recycling rate from 9.7 percent to 21.13 percent

Under her leadership, the Green Team won the 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Waste Wise Award

Served on the fund development committee of Children’s Museum of the Valley