Range Resources Hosts First Junior Athena Workshop in Washington County What began as a discussion among a small group of women employed by Marcellus Shale drilling company Range Resources, recently led to the establishment of the region's first Junior Athena Workshop for young women Kramer Resources For decades, professional women across the country have been recognized locally with Leadership Awards known as "Athenas" Washington County, the Chamber of Commerce presents local Athena Leadership Awards to nominees who demonstrate excellence in their profession, improve the quality of life for others in their community, and actively assist other women in achieving their full leadership potential. High school juniors and seniors are regularly invited to attend the Washington County Athena Awards, but this was the first year they were also provided with an opportunity to participate in a same-day workshop with local professional women from a variety of business sectors and backgrounds. hela Vailey Hospital &Loura In the weeks leading up to the Junior Athena event, organizers from POWER of Southpointe. POWER is affiliated with the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, and actively works to celebrate diversity and recognize the importance of building strong and effective women leaders Laural Ziemba from Range Resounces welcomes students to the Junior Athena Workshop as POWER member and State "We were looking for an innovative way to build on the momentum of the Athena Awards, and connect high school students and young serve as mentors and provide valuable advice about being a woman in the also answered questions about how they ended up many different professions enhanced the students workforce," said Range's Laural Ziemba. in their current job, how they've changed since high vision of what it really means to be a leader. school, and challenges they've faced professionally.Canon-McMillan looks forward to a continued Ziemba is part of women's mentoring group at Range that regularly volunteers with nonprofit organizations like Dress for Success that seek to Students were asked what careers they envisioned partnership with Range Resources and all involved better women's lives. She and her coworkers also organize and participate for themselves right now, and were given advice on in the Junior Athena workshop!" After the Range event, the group the Athena Awards and Luncheon at the Hilton how to make connections now that could impact We have great partnerships with local school districts, and we're also strong supporters of the annual Athena Awards here in Washington County, so putting together this workshop was sort of a natural progression for us. There are so many strong, capable women in leadership positions in Washington County and they all have a story about how they achieved their current level of success," said Ziemba. "We wanted the young women we invited to the Junior Athena event to hear those stories and meet professional women who can serve as mentors down the road For the young women from Canon-McMillan, Trinity Avella, Bentworth, Peters Townsh McGuffey.Washington, and Charleroi High Schools along with local scholarship recipients from Wheeling-jesuit and Waynesburg universities who attended the workshop hopes for the day ranged from "meeting successful women and feeling empowere Carole DeAngelo, Marketing Director at the Observer Publisher Company. gave a moving speech that included nods to her mother and her partner as women who supported her, and helped her move forward in her life and career. At the event, a panel made up of local professional women, along with other professionals seated among the students, answered questions and shared information about their backgrounds from where they went to school, to how they landed their first"real" job. d!" (Bentworth) to"c We'd love to see this become an annual event, and we are looking at how we can make it even bigger and better." said Ziemba."Improving lives in the communities where our employees live and work is part of the culture of Rango Resources and among our most cherished values. on how to further my career" (Peters Township) to gaining insight about different careers as I get eady to graduate from college and head out into Sara Schumacher.Vice President of Fund Development at Monongahela Valley Hospital, was one of the panelists. "1 was excited to participate in this workshop because I have so very many people in my life who have supported me and mentor me to this day. I wanted to share some of those lessons with other young women. ocal guidance counselors and administrators g ways to support and encourage young were also in the audience, and happy to see students making connections. Sara also wanted to make sure the students understood that the path to success may not be smooth, but the end result is worth it. There are struggles along the way, and those are the life experiences that make us relevant information to the young women," said people who are among the next generation of local leaders is critical for communities, and we're so glad to a part of that effort with events like the The workshop at Range Resources provided nger and who we are today. Young women need to see success, but Lorien Moyer, Assistant Principal at Canon they also need to know that it doesn't happen overnight and it is not without effort, dedication and supporting one another.We need to work together as professionals to strengthen our region and this county Sponsored content brought McMillan High School."The panel was partic helpful: providing candid, honest responses to the students as they get ready to embark on their post- secondary journeys.And meeting women from s At the workshop, women from Range, POWER, and the community