The ATHENA Award is presented annually to two individuals in Northeast Ohio - one individual from the Greater Cleveland area and one individual from the Greater Akron area. This prestigious award is bestowed upon someone who has attained and embodies the highest level of professional excellence in her/his business or profession, has devoted time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and actively assists women in realizing their leadership potential.

The ATHENA Award was first presented in 1982 and is administered by ATHENA International, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ATHENA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to supporting, developing and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. There are over 300 active award programs and more than 5000 awards have been presented to ATHENA Recipients in the United States and around the world.

Inside Business presented the first Northeast Ohio ATHENA Award in 2003. Since then, over 100 Northeast Ohio ATHENA Award finalists and 21 recipients have been honored.