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Women’s Group to Recognize Leaders at Annual Pinnacle Awards

PINNACLE AWARDS

Co-chairs: Nicola Zahl of Life Technologies Corp. and Denise Thompson of KPMG LLP.

Time, date and place: 6 p.m., May 4 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, 1 Market Place, San Diego.

Title sponsor: Bank of America.

Event description: Recognizes women, men, a company/organization and an educator who personify Athena San Diego’s mission of fostering the personal and professional growth of women through mentoring, education, recognition and leadership training.

When women’s networking group Athena San Diego first launched in 1998, one mission was bumping some of the old boys out of the Old Boys Network, especially in the life sciences and technology sectors.

But 13 years later, the 500-plus member organization has broadened its vision.

These days Athena focuses on helping women in the region become “exceptional leaders” and mentoring “the next generation of leaders,” according to Deborah Jondall, who serves as chairman of the board of directors.

The group’s programs and initiatives support the two goals, says Jondall.

The programs range from peer-to-peer mentoring, undertaken, for example, through Athena’s Forums for Executive Women, or FEW, groups, to giving scholarships each year to five high school graduates who want to pursue math, science and engineering in college.

Athena hands out the scholarships at its annual awards dinner, an event which also recognizes notable women leaders in five areas; technology, biosciences, services, education, as well as the top individual in a company or organization.

The group has scheduled its Pinnacle Awards 2011 gala on May 4 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

The awards recognition “really embodies the mission of hiring, promoting and bringing up women in the workplace,” Jondall said. “A panel of judges, which includes men who are attuned to the challenges women face on the job, chooses the winners from 60 to 75 nominees.”

Well-Rounded Goals

Meanwhile, Jondall said that moving up the corporate ladder is still important, but Athena members feel mentoring and nurturing are as important to their careers.

That’s why the group doesn’t try to keep track of who’s moving into the executive suite. It’s not a focus, as evidenced by the desire of members.

Jondall said she moderated an Athena-sponsored panel a few weeks ago in which she asked how many of the 50 to 55 women in attendance aspired to “C-suite jobs.”

“Maybe one or two people raised their hands,” she said, registering a bit of a shock. “I had thought among our membership, which is comprised of really dynamic, smart women that this was a goal,” she said.

“They do want to grow their careers, but not necessarily into the C-suite,” said Jondall.

Annual Survey Assesses Progress

Meanwhile, Jondall said Athena’s annual Women as Leaders survey gives some indication of how well women feel they’re progressing in their careers, and what the factors are that they think may be stalling their careers.

In the 2010 survey of 289 women executives, 19 percent said that exclusion from networks of communications was holding back advancement.

The issue of exclusion has been a No. 1 response in previous surveys, too.

Interestingly, 18 percent of the respondents picked the category “Themselves,” when asked what factors are obstructing advancement in their workplaces.

The survey reported that 16 percent cited commitment to a family as a factor, while 14 percent cited stereotyping and preconceptions of women.

To be sure, the lack of women representation at the highest levels in the corporation remains an important issue, on a national level, as well as a local one.

Increase in Executive Positions

According to a recent national poll by Catalyst Inc., a trade group promoting more women in business, executive positions held by females in Fortune magazine’s 500 largest companies totaled 14.4 percent (735 out of 5,110), a jump from 13.5 percent in 2009.

Adrienne Moch, immediate past president of the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, applauds the focus on mentoring and nurturing the next generation.

“By serving as mentors to the next generation, Athena members are letting these young women know that the sky’s the limit for them; they can and should pursue careers in any life sciences area that interests them.”

Joe Panetta, chief executive officer of life sciences trade organization Biocom, said women are steadily advancing into important roles in the local corporate world. He noted that Magda Marquet, Co-CEO of Althea Technologies Inc., will become Biocom’s board chair in 2013.

He said, “I am certain that as women who have been successful life science executives begin to transition into new roles, they will contribute their time through organizations like Athena and Biocom to mentor a new and larger generation of women life science executives.”

A Model of Success

Jondall, who is director of the life science/pharma practice in the San Diego office of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, could serve as a model of a successful female executive in San Diego who has helped clear the path for others to follow.

Before coming to PwC, she served as a marketing and business development executive with a number of local firms, including Marsh and Barney & Barney LLC, one of the larger business insurance brokers in the state.

Tom York is a contributing editor for the San Diego Business Journal.

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