Greenville Chamber’s ATHENA Leadership Symposium to promote women’s leadership November 14th
October 31, 2017
The Greenville Chamber’s sixth annual ATHENA Leadership Symposium, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, will be held on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 from 11:30am to 1:00pm at TD Convention Center featuring keynote speaker J. Veronica Biggins, Managing Partner of the Atlanta office of Diversified Search. In addition, the fourth annual ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award® will be presented to honor an organization for supporting and developing women leaders.
The ATHENA Leadership Symposium is one of many opportunities the Greenville Chamber executes to advance women’s leadership. It is inspired by recipients of the ATHENA Leadership Award®, which is presented each year at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting to women who have made significant contributions to Greenville in promoting community prosperity and quality of life.
According to the Chamber’s President/CEO Carlos Phillips, “Leadership diversity is critical to the advancement of the Greenville Chamber’s vision of a globally competitive Upstate economy where businesses succeed and people prosper.” He adds, “Through this Symposium, we strive not only to motivate women to seek out executive leadership positions, but also to equip both men and women with the necessary information and strategies to help propel women into these leadership roles.”
Keynote speaker J. Veronica Biggins leads Diversified Search’s Board practice, specializing in talent sourcing, selection and placement. Prior to joining the Diversified Search team, Biggins served as Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of Presidential Personnel under Bill Clinton, where she was charged with selecting and hiring all political appointees within the federal government. She worked directly with the President on appointments at all levels of the administration. Biggins is well-versed in creating vision, clarifying and communicating complex issues, and consistently achieving defined business objectives.
“I am looking forward to the ATHENA Leadership Symposium. Women have certainly made progress in businesses and boardrooms, however, I wonder if we are starting to back track. Hopefully we can have an honest and open discussion about what it takes to advance from senior management into the boardroom. Just remember, mentors are good, sponsors are better,” says Biggins. She will discuss these lessons and more during the Symposium.
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is the Presenting Sponsor for the ATHENA Leadership Symposium. Michael E. Harris, Vice President of Major Group Sales at the organization says, “We are so proud to say we promote and encourage all women in our organization to advance and seek opportunities available to enhance their development and advancement within our organization. We have women on our board of directors. We have a woman CEO in our technology subsidiary. We have female leaders of departments and business lines. And, in fact, approximately 76 percent of our 10,000 employees are women. That statistic exceeds the national and state average. Women are clearly critical to our success at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.”
Learn more about “Advancing Women’s Leadership and Corporate Board Service” at the November 14th ATHENA Leadership Symposium. Event information and registration is online at www.greenvillechamber.org.
About J. Veronica Biggins
The leader of the firm’s Board practice, J. Veronica Biggins brings more than 15 years of search experience to the firm—including several years working in the White House.
Biggins served as Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of Presidential Personnel under Bill Clinton, a role that tasked her with selecting and hiring all political appointees within the federal government. She worked directly with the President on appointments at all levels of the administration, including the placement of agency heads, ambassadors, and members of presidential boards and commissions. Biggins has also served as Vice-Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. She also served as Chairman of the Czech Slovak American Enterprise Fund—a role that earned her a Points of Light Award from President George W. Bush for her leadership.
Biggins’ background also includes 20 years’ experience with NationsBank (now Bank of America) and its predecessor, The Citizens, and Southern National Bank. There, as Executive Vice President for Human Resources, she was one of the highest-ranking women in the banking industry.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Diversified Search is the largest female-owned and –founded firm in the search industry. The firm has offices in nine U.S. cities and is the exclusive U.S. partner of AltoPartners, an international alliance of 58 independent executive search firms that spans 35 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Learn more at diversifiedsearch.com.
About the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award®
The fourth annual ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award® will be presented to an organization with initiatives dedicated to creating cultures that encourage women employees to achieve their full leadership potential, and/or that give back to the larger community of women by providing or supporting leadership development opportunities and initiatives.
ATHENA Leadership Award® recipients created the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award® and the suggested best practices, which could include: a diverse governing board, senior leadership demonstrating a commitment to advancing women in leadership roles, initiatives to specifically advance women as leaders, senior women leaders serving as role models for women employees, mentoring women as they develop career plans, setting goals to increase the number of women in leadership and monitoring progress toward those goals, sharing information throughout the organization on women leaders, developing programs to help women balance families and careers, and supporting and developing women leaders in the Greenville community.
Past ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award® recipients are Wyche, P.A. (2014), Greenville Health System (2015) and Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (2016). According to Ogletree Deakins managing shareholder Mike Shetterly, “Winning this award does not mean we have reached our goals, but it strengthens our resolve, propels us to continue to make advancements and compels us to lead in this important initiative.”
About the Greenville Chamber
The Greenville Chamber, now in its 129th year of operation, is the largest business organization in Upstate South Carolina with over 2100 Investors supporting the vision of a globally competitive Upstate economy where businesses succeed and people prosper. For information, visit greenvillechamber.org.
