SAVE THE DATE | March 24, 2026
The 5th Annual ATHENA Leadership Conference & Awards
People, Purpose, Passion: The Power of US
SAS Campus | Cary, North Carolina
Hosted by ATHENA of the Triangle
Every year, hundreds of women leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers gather for one powerful day that reminds us what happens when women lead boldly, lift others, and live with purpose.
The ATHENA Leadership Conference is an annual movement focused on the ATHENA Leadership Model: Live Authentically, Foster Collaboration, Learn Constantly, Build Relationships, Advocate Fiercely, Give Back, Act Courageously, and Celebrate.
On March 24, 2026, the SAS campus will come alive with energy, insight, and inspiration as ATHENA of the Triangle hosts its 5th Annual Leadership Conference & Awards. You’ll spend the day surrounded by women and our allies who are breaking barriers, building companies, mentoring others, and shaping the future of leadership across the Triangle and beyond.
Come ready to learn, connect, and leave transformed.
Why Attend
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Be Inspired – Hear stories from women who have turned challenges into change and vision into action.
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Grow Your Leadership – Participate in breakout sessions built around the ATHENA Leadership Model: Live Authentically, Learn Constantly, Build Relationships, Foster Collaboration, Advocate Fiercely, Give Back, and Celebrate.
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Expand Your Network – Meet women and allies who will become your next collaborators, mentors, and lifelong friends.
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Celebrate Greatness – Honor this year’s ATHENA Leadership Award recipients, who exemplify strength, integrity, and impact.
Event Flow
KEYNOTE
Nia Harden
Anchor, Traffic
Prior to her time at WRAL, she was at WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan, and KWTX in Waco, Texas.
Nia is a regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winner and AP Award Winner. She’s also been nominated for an Emmy.
Not only is Nia an experienced journalist, but she’s also a military wife and mother of two. Nia is from the Seattle area. She graduated from Virginia Union University. She enjoys fitness, and traveling and teaches indoor cycling.
Awards
Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winner
AP Award Winner
Speakers
Brooke Huckabee
Sr. Director, Revenue Enablement at SAS
Brooke Huckabee is the Senior Director of Global Revenue Enablement at SAS, where she leads a global team focused on building scalable programs that empower go-to-market teams, strengthen collaboration, and fuel sustainable revenue outcomes. Her passion lies in equipping customer-facing roles with the resources, tools, and insights they need to deliver exceptional value throughout the customer journey.
Honored as one of Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2021, Brooke remains committed to driving positive change and championing excellence, both within SAS as a Brand Champion and across the industry as an advocate for Women in Analytics. Beyond work, she serves as Secretary on the board of the Identity Theft Resource Center, dedicated to empowering and guiding consumers, victims, business and government to minimize risk and mitigate the impact of identity compromise and crime. She is also on the board of directors at GiGi’s Playhouse Raleigh, a center of excellence for children and teens with Down syndrome in Raleigh, NC, where she also teach monthly ballet classes.
Brooke’s leadership philosophy is shaped by her early training as a ballet dancer at the NC School of the Arts, where discipline, presence, balance, and resilience were foundational. She brings these principles into her work through her signature “Leading with Grace” framework, helping individuals and teams navigate change with clarity while stepping courageously into their next level of growth.
A storyteller at heart, Brooke blends business strategy, creativity, and emotional intelligence to inspire leaders to stay relevant, embrace continuous evolution, and lead with intentionality. She is a frequent speaker on professional growth, change leadership, and the power of curiosity, known for her ability to make complex transformation feel human, accessible, and energizing.
Megan Oteri
Founder & CEO Brick Scholars
Megan Oteri, the visionary founder of Brick Scholars, has dedicated over 15 years to transforming education through her innovative approach to STEM learning. As a certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator, Megan spearheads transformative workshops and events for businesses, schools, and organizations. With a passion for fostering collaboration and creativity, Megan’s mobile innovation lab, Brick Scholars, provides tailor-made programs to elevate teams and promote innovation.
With a background in Special and Elementary Education, Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Providence College. Complementing her teaching expertise, she earned a Master’s degree in English, specializing in Creative Writing, from East Carolina University. Megan’s educational journey extends beyond traditional classrooms; she is a certified North Carolina Educator in Special Education (K-12), Elementary Education (K-6), and Language Arts (6-9).
Megan serves as the ambassador for the Agency for Cultural Diplomacy’s “Let’s Brick” platform in Vienna, Austria. Through her work, she connects creativity, communication, and cultural diplomacy. Megan has successfully facilitated programs in the United States that leverage creativity as a powerful means of communication.
Dr. Maria Rosa Rangel
President of the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals
Dr. Maria Rosa Rangel is a distinguished education leader with more than 30 years of experience in K–12 education and family and community engagement. As Director of the Family and Community Engagement (FACE) program at Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS), she leads initiatives that strengthen school-family partnerships and support student success.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in Bilingual/Bicultural and Elementary Education from Northeastern University and both a master’s and doctorate in School Administration and Education from NC State University. Over the course of her career, Dr. Rangel has served as an elementary teacher, bilingual teacher, ESL and Spanish teacher, GED instructor, assistant principal, and district-level leader in multilingual education and Latino outreach.
In her current role at WCPSS, Dr. Rangel provides coaching and professional development on effective strategies for engaging families. She oversees the Family Academy Program, which offers free multilingual workshops to caregivers, and directs the Saturday Family Academy School, which provides ESL classes, reading tutoring for elementary students focused on the Science of Reading, and parent workshops to support learning at home.
Dr. Rangel also serves as a part-time adjunct professor at Peace University and is a sought-after speaker on effective teaching and family engagement practices. Beyond her district work, she holds leadership positions in several organizations, including the NC Society of Hispanic Professionals, Wake PTA Council, NC Education Corps, and NCREADS. From 2017 to 2023, she chaired the NC Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs.
Her contributions have been widely recognized with numerous awards, including the Ohtli Award, Latino Diamante Award, Hispanic Woman of the Year, and the LIFT Innovator Award. In 2023, she was also nominated by the Lieutenant Governor for her leadership in expanding the Family Academy Program to serve families in eight languages.
Dr. Rangel remains dedicated to advancing programs and strategies that bring schools, families, and communities together to ensure student success across North Carolina.
Erica Rooney
Erica Anderson Rooney is a C-suite executive, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and unapologetic ceiling-shatterer. With over 15 years of HR and leadership experience—including her role as Chief People Officer—Erica has built her career helping organizations transform cultures and helping women claim their rightful seat at the table.
She’s the founder of HER Collective, a thriving digital community designed to help women advance their careers, amplify their voices, and unlock their full potential—without sacrificing authenticity or well-being. Erica also hosts the top-rated Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors podcast and is the author of the bestselling book Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors: Shattering Limiting Beliefs and Toxic Behaviors to Uncover Infinite Possibilities. Her upcoming book, The AI Gap: Women, AI, and the Next Great Leap Forward, is highly anticipated and expected in May of 2026.
Her work has been featured in Forbes, SUCCESS Magazine, and CBS News, and she’s taken the stage at SXSW, SHRM, and CHIEF. Recognized with multiple leadership awards, Erica is known for her dynamic storytelling, tactical takeaways, and ability to ignite change.
Whether in the boardroom, on stage, or behind the mic, Erica is on a mission to empower women everywhere to rise above the sticky floors, break through the glass ceiling, and lead with limitless possibility.
Krupa Patel
Krupa Patel is a global talent management and leadership development expert with over 15 years of experience driving organizational effectiveness and cultural transformation. Currently serving as Senior Manager of Global Leadership Development at NetApp, she designs and executes strategies that strengthen leadership capability and align with business goals. Previously, Krupa led enterprise-wide talent, change management, and leadership programs as Senior Director at Abt Global, and held key roles at Align Technology, IBM, and Red Hat, earning recognition such as a Brandon Hall Award and serving on Harvard Business Publishing’s Advisory Board. An ICF-certified coach and PHR professional, Krupa combines data-driven insights with inclusive practices to build high-performing, psychologically safe workplaces.
Lauren Ansley
Lauren Ansley is passionate about connecting ideas and audiences, helping individuals and organizations strengthen their communication, leadership, and professional skills.
Lauren is the founder of Ansley Corporate Entertainment, a corporate entertainment company specializing in audience engagement, connection, humor, and presentation skills development. Her professional career spans roles in marketing and sales, event
management, and workforce development across a range of industries.
She is committed to making training fun, interactive and memorable. She earned her B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Winthrop University and has called Charlotte home for more than 15 years.
Angela Martin
Angela Martin is an Advisory User Experience Designer and certified Humane
Technologist at Lenovo, where she leads enterprise software, innovation workstreams, and inclusive product design impacting millions of users worldwide. She chairs Lenovo’s ABLE disability advocacy ERG, advancing accessible design, disability inclusion, and culture change with strong executive sponsorship. Angela is the co-founder of Design Storming, a UX education and design strategy consultancy focused on mentoring emerging creatives, and the author of This Is Not A Dream: From Daydream to Day Job. Recognized as a Future CX Leader by Reuters and a recipient of multiple awards for professional and volunteer leadership, she is a mentor, speaker, and writer dedicated to advancing inclusive, ethical technology.
Michelle Reister
Michele Reister is a seasoned Fractional CMO and go-to-market advisor with more than 25 years of experience leading marketing transformation for high-growth, high-tech organizations—including B2B SaaS companies in the AI, cybersecurity, data, and health tech sectors. As the Founder & CEO of Confidence GTM, Michele helps emerging and scaling companies build clear, efficient, and human-centered go-to-market engines that accelerate revenue and strengthen customer connection.
She is a GTM Partners consultant, certified on the GTM Operating SystemTM, a graduate of the CMOx Accelerator, and a trusted advisor known for bringing clarity, alignment, and confidence to fast-moving executive teams.
Michele serves on the Board of Directors for ATHENA International and is a Certified ATHENA Leadership Institute Facilitator, where she teaches and amplifies the eight core ATHENA leadership principles. Her work sits at the intersection of AI innovation and human leadership, helping leaders embrace technological change without losing the irreplaceable human traits—empathy, authenticity, courage, and connection—that define extraordinary leadership.
Michele holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Apex, North Carolina, with her two teenagers and their goldendoodle.
Dr. Susan Lovelle
Dr. Susan Lovelle, MD, AFMC, is a former award-winning plastic surgeon turned executive performance strategist who helps high-achieving women and their teams to lead without sacrificing their well-being. After two decades in the operating room, including Level 1 trauma work in New York, Dr. Susan witnessed the same pattern over and over: brilliant, driven women pushing through exhaustion, ignoring their symptoms, and being dismissed when they finally asked for help.
Determined to change that reality, she founded Balanced Performance, a leadership and well-being consultancy that blends neuroscience, stress physiology, behavior science, and personalized health data to strengthen leadership capacity. Using her proprietary L3 MethodTM (Listen, Let Go, Live) and Balanced Boss Leadership ModelTM, she guides executives and organizations in creating conditions where leaders can think clearly, communicate powerfully, and perform sustainably.
Dr. Susan has worked with companies such as Cigna, Liberty Mutual, and Vintage, and been featured on The Doctors, Lifetime TV, Good Morning Washington, and Forbes. Her approach weaves science with practicality, helping women understand the real mechanics behind fatigue, burnout, emotional overload, and decision fatigue, and emphasizing how to rebuild the clarity and confidence that high-pressure leadership demands. Before entering medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons, Dr. Susan spent 14 years as a professional ballet dancer performing around the world. That rare blend of artistry, discipline, and medical expertise shapes her unique approach to performance, resilience, and executive well-being. Today, she partners with leadership teams, ERGs, and organizations across tech, healthcare, finance, and education to build cultures where well-being and performance reinforce each other, creating leaders who thrive in every sense ofthe word.
Short Intro
Please welcome Dr. Susan Lovelle, an award-winning plastic surgeon turned executive performance strategist and founder of Balanced Performance. She blends neuroscience, stress physiology, and practical leadership tools to help high-achieving women lead with clarity, confidence, and sustainable energy. Featured on The Doctors, Lifetime TV, Good Morning Washington, and Forbes, Dr. Susan brings a fresh, science-backed approach to the modern leadership conversation. Today, she’s here to show us why you can’t outperform an overloaded nervous system…and how to train yours to lead with power and ease.
Michelle Homes
Michelle Holmes is a transformative operational leader, founder, and executive strategist who helps founders and leaders turn vision into execution. With over 20 years of experience in customer experience, operations, and executive leadership, including a decade at the executive table, Michelle is known for her ability to bring clarity to complexity and alignment to growing organizations.
As the Founder and CEO of Flourish & Thriving Solutions, Michelle partners with founders and leadership teams to strengthen operations, elevate collaboration, and build systems that support both people and performance. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, operations, and customer experience, ensuring organizations scale without sacrificing culture or customer trust.
Michelle leads with a servant-leadership mindset and a strong belief that sustainable growth happens when leaders live authentically, build meaningful relationships, foster collaboration, and advocate fiercely for their people and customers. She is passionate about helping leaders stop building alone and start building what lasts.
J.Dwayne Garnett
J. Dwayne Garnett is a nationally sought Reflective Thinking Facilitator, speaker, and Love Advocate whose work bridges leadership, values, and human connection. As founder and CEO of Love Is A Parable, he brings more than twenty years of experience guiding organizations and communities through complexity using value-based education and intentional dialogue.
Garnett holds degrees in Therapeutic Recreation and Health Services Administration and has been recognized with the Parrish “Ham” Varnhole Distinguished Service Award, the Accelerating Men Golden Man of the Year Award, and Finalist recognition for the ATHENA of the Triangle Male Champion Award. His work has reached audiences at Wake County Health and Human Services, the Holy Springs Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Series, Benedict College, Voorhees University, and beyond, with features in Main & Broad Magazine and PBS North Carolina’s Black Issues Forum.
A best-selling author, Garnett has written four books: Random Thoughts, Perspectives and Comments: Love Is Communicating, Ephphatha: Love Is A Parable Reflection Manual, and CTRL JST Write. His latest release, CTRL JST Write, achieved Top 100 rankings across all formats, including audiobook, affirming the resonance of his voice and message. The collection explores intimacy, desire, fatherhood, grief, healing, and the unspoken realities many men carry.
Known for delivering thought words at the right time, Garnett challenges leaders to align values with actions across culture, communication, and decision-making. His speaking and training focus includes value-based leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion, organizational culture, career readiness, conflict navigation, and strategic communication.
Donald Thompson
Donald Thompson is an award-winning CEO and multi-exit entrepreneur, honored as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year®, named to Forbes Next 1000, and a 3x Inc. 5000 Chief Executive. Currently the Managing Director of the Center for Organizational Effectiveness at Workplace Options, Thompson is a sought-after speaker on innovation, culture and growth. His books include Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success, The Inclusive Leadership Handbook: Balancing People and Performance for Sustainable Growth; and The Employee Engagement Handbook, coming in January 2026. He hosts the globally recognized podcast “High Octane Leadership,” and has published widely on leadership and the executive mindset.
VENDORS
The Heart Behind It All
Founded in 2014, ATHENA of the Triangle is a licensee of programs developed by ATHENA International, a global non-profit organization founded in 1982 on the deeply held belief that women can achieve a worldwide balance of leadership when they are recognized, cultivated, and encouraged as leaders. Over the past decade, ATHENA of the Triangle has connected and empowered women across industries through mentorship, leadership development, and authentic community.
This year’s conference marks five years of growth, connection, and unstoppable momentum and you’re invited to be part of it.
Who Should Attend
Women professionals, entrepreneurs, allies, and advocates who believe in leadership with heart. Whether you’re climbing the ladder, building your own company, or mentoring the next generation, this is your space to refuel and rise.
Become an ATHENA Leadership Conference Sponsor