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Sunday September 26, 1999 Oakville Beaver Weekend 11 Athena Award creator centre stage at ceremony B y W ilm a B lo k h u is OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF W hen Martha Mayhood Mertz, founder of the Athena Award, approached a friend for advice on starting her own business, she was rebuked. "I approached a woman man­ ager of a company, a successful woman who I felt I could confide in as a friend, asking for her advice and confidence. That same afternoon, she called my boss at the office where I was working. That was a very painful experi­ ence. It was a stark realization that something had to be done to change this." _ As guest speaker at Thursday's third annual Athena Award presen­ tation dinner hosted by the Oakville and District Chamber of Commerce, Mertz explained why she created the Athena Award. "My passion for launching this award came out of my attempt to start my own company. I had mea­ gre resources, $8,000 (US) in a sock. Only two women in Lansing (Michigan) had their own compa­ nies 20 years ago and I felt neither would be approachable for advice. M artha Mayhood M ertz's personal experience made her decide to institu te award fo r wom en in leadership roles I really felt alone and isolated." Once established, she joined Lansing's chamber of commerce, as the only woman on its board of directors. "I came with the idea of find­ ing a way to honour women in leadership roles, for achieving excellence, and for giving back to the community, without being noticed." She learned the chamber had honoured only one woman in 75 years of presenting awards. The first Athena Award was handed out in Lansing 17 years ago, and since then, more than 3,000 bronze statuettes have been presented in over 350 cities in the United States, Canada and Russia. The first Canadian award was pre­ sented in Windsor in 1995. . Vancouver's first Athena Award will be presented this fall. Although it was originally intended to honour women, Mertz explained the rules were changed in 1990 to include men. "Eight years after we presented our first award, I got a call from Iowa describing a worthy recipi­ ent, a man who was manager of a department store," said Mertz. Since then, several men have become Athena Award recipients. "The only criteria for a man to receive this award is that he must have opened opportunities for leadership roles to women, as this is one area where balance has yet to be achieved. In a perfect bal­ anced world, men and women would equally qualify for this award," Mertz concluded. Anne Day received statuette No. 3,250. Each award is an indi­ vidually hand-crafted stylized bronze of a woman's body with outstretched arms made by artist Linda Ackley of Florida. It takes its name from a Greek goddess. In accepting the honour, Day Photo by Riziero Vertolli Martha Mayhood Mertz: recognizing the spirit of leadership said she would like to share the award with the other volunteers who helped her establish both the Oakville Parent-Child Centre and the Women's Information and Support Centre (Women's Centre), and with the other 16 nominees, plus her family. "I'm not superwoman, I didn't do it alone," she explained. "I had a team of dedicated volunteers who felt as passionate as I did. My life has been enriched by the people I've worked with." C o u p o n s o n lin e fo r ju s t a b o u t a n y th in g sav ingum oney.com Athena Award creator centre stage at ceremony By Wilma Blokhuis