Tamara Denysenko - 2008 Athen Award Finalist

Thursday, January 24, 2008 the Rochester Business Alliance held its 22nd Annual ATHENA Award banquet to honor Greater Rochester professional women who best reflect the values of business achievement, community service and support of professional women's advancement.

Tamara Denysenko, Chief Executive Officer of Ukrainian FCU was one of the twenty-one finalists. Mirko Pylyshenko, a long-time UFCU Board member and Ukrainian community activist nominated her for the annual award.

Over 900 business and community leaders, officials and guests gathered at the Riverside Convention Center to recognize the finalists and to honor the 2008 ATHENA Award winner -- Dr. Ruth Lawrence. She is a distinguished and highly published Professor of Pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a pediatrician/neonatologist at Golisano Children's Hospital, at Strong Hospital, as well as a mother of nine children.

Other finalists included Mimi Bacilek, President, Success-Builders LLC; Iris Bannister, Executive director, Wilson Commencement Park; Dawn Borgeest, Chief Marketing Officer, United Way of Rochester; Maggie Bringewatt, Senior Vice President, Cornerstone Group Ltd.; Alfreda Brown, Chief Diversity Officer, Rochester Institute of Technology; Lisa Brubaker, Executive VP, Preferred Care/MVP Health Care; Ann Burr, Senior VP and General Manager, Frontier Rochester; Suzanne Nasipak Chapman, Regional President, First Niagara Risk Management; Hilda Rosario Escher, CEO Ibero American Action League; Sandra Franker, Supervisor, Town of Brighton; Sheila Gaddis, Volunteer Legal Service Project Hiscock & Barclay; Lori B. Green, Partner, Nixon-Peabody LLP; Cynthia Herriot, Lieutenant, Rochester Police Department; Laura Saxby Lynch, Director of Corporate Communications; Paychex; Rita D. Metra, Principal, RDM Associates; Elizabeth Mullin-DiPorsa, President and CEO, St. Ann's Community Center; Lori VanDusen, Wealth Management Director, Smith Barney/Citigroup; Sophie Vandebroek, Chief Technology Officer, Xerox; Christine Wagner, SSI, Executive Director, St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center.

The guest speaker at the event was Jackie Kallen, professional Boxing Manager, inspiration for the film "Against the Ropes", and co-star of NBC's reality show "The Contender".

Attending the event in support of Tamara Denysenko were her family members -- husband Walter, daughter Nina Nechipurenko and two sons Andrew and Taras with daughter-in-law Wendy. Nina Nechipurenko, Financial Director at the Hillside Family of Agencies was also joined by Hillside CEO Dennis Richardson, Paul Perrotto, Hillside CFO, Barb Conradt, Carolyn Boyce, Carol Gray, David Howard, Lauri VanHise, Sally Bohne, Shelby Page and Sarah Amering.

Martha Mertz, member of the Lansing Michigan Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, founded the ATHENA Award program in the early 1980's. Martha quickly recognized that the Chamber's boardroom did not reflect the reality of the community. She worked with her Chamber to recognize the leadership of outstanding professional business women in the community and advocated providing opportunities for them to move into leadership positions. Since its inception in 1982, the ATHENA Award Program recognized over 5,300 exceptional women in over 500 communities in the United States, Canada, China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and most recently India.

The ATHENA Leadership Model captures women's unique experience and wisdom and forms the basis for fresh dialogue about leadership in the 21st century. The ATHENA Leadership Model was developed from eight core tenets of leadership that re- flect the Award recipients unique ways of knowing and leading; Authentic Self, Celebration & Joy, Collaboration, Courageous Acts, Fierce Advocacy, Giving Back, Learning, Relationships. The leadership model is elegantly symbolized in the ATHENA Sculpture presented to each ATHENA Recipient.