Kathy Cook wins Athena

By KALEA HALL

khall@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Many of the 500 in attendance at the 24th Annual Athena Award Ceremony at Mr. Anthony’s on Thursday evening knew the name of its recipient before it was said.

“Our recipient began working in her current place of employment more than 30 years ago,” announced Atty. Marty Bushey, chairwoman of the chamber’s board of directors.

The claps, cheers and standing ovations came within seconds of those words before Kathy Cook, president of St. Joseph Warren Hospital, had a chance to stand and acknowledge her new title as the 2016 Athena Award recipient.

Cook was noticeably taken aback when she heard her name called but came prepared with a short speech of thanks to the mentors in her life – including her three children; her husband of 33 years, Gary; and her parents.

“My dad taught me to be proud of who I am,” she said. “[My mom] is one of the smartest women I know.”

It was a night presented by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and The Vindicator to celebrate not just Cook, but female leaders in the community who embody Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The nominees are those with a resume of professional excellence, community service and who assist women with leadership.

In a room elegantly adorned with white-clothed chairs, purple- and green-hued table decor and crystal centerpieces were the 21 nominees of notable accomplishments.

“They are a powerful group with a tremendous ability,” said Kim Calvert, vice president of marketing and special events for the chamber.

They included health care professionals, bank leaders, an attorney, a head golf professional and local business owners.

“The selection process is so difficult each year,” Bushey said. “These women are all equally worthy.”

The recipient this year started her career in the medical field in 1983 as a surgical intensive care nurse after she graduated from Youngstown State University. Two years later, the May 1985 tornado hit the area. To serve those affected, she had to lead a unit at the hospital.

“People came up to me and said I should consider leadership,” she said.

She did just that and went on to become an assistant nurse manager to chief nursing officer to president of St. Joseph. She is responsible for the overall operations of the hospital that employs about 1,000, has more than a dozen outpatient service operations and an annual budget of more than $900 million.

“It’s a wonderful job,” she said. “I am privileged every day to serve the staff I work with.”

Her advice to other leaders is to “take on every opportunity that’s offered to you.”

The crowd received several words of advice – in fact, several rules for life – from Agnus Berenato, the Kennesaw State University women’s head basketball coach, who was this year’s keynote speaker.

Berenato is the winningest head women’s basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh, the all-time winningest coach at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a mother of five who delivered a speech that brought the crowd to roar with laughter, nod in agreement and empathize with her sadness.

She started with the story of losing her father at a young age, which taught her not to mourn death but celebrate life.

“That was the first of many rules I would break,” she said.

It was her first lesson for the audience. Each of her stories led to another lesson on life and rule to live by, including: plan your work and work your plan; celebrate every day; eat together as a family; what goes around comes around; don’t just make events, make memories; and always choose people before things.

“You’re big time,” she said to the women in the room. “You ladies in this room, you can move mountains and shape people and it doesn’t have anything to do with money.”

Also at the event, three young women received scholarships: Kayla Fisher, an Austintown Fitch High School senior attending YSU in the fall, Athena Scholarship; and Elizabeth Hritz, a Boardman High School senior attending YSU in the fall, and Yissel Martinez, senior at Valley Christian School attending YSU in the fall, Anthem Scholarships.