2018 ATHENA award goes to Dr. Sherry Galloway, and the Young Professional Leadership Award recipient is Yolanda S. Greene. The celebration was Thursday night at the Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center.

Dr. Sherry Galloway, an emergency medicine physician, is the recipient of the 2018 ATHENA Award. The ATHENA Award ceremony, celebrating the accomplishments of 18 ATHENA nominees and 13 Young Professional nominees from the Rutherford County community.

The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award recipient is Yolanda S. Greene, Rutherford County market president for First Tennessee Bank.

The ATHENA Award recognizes an individual who excels in her profession, gives back to the community, and helps raise up other leaders, especially women. The Young Professional Leadership Award recognizes an emerging leader under age 40 who exemplifies the ATHENA attributes and serves as a role model for young women.

The event's keynote speaker was Holly Thompson, co-anchor of WSMV News 4 Today and anchor of News 4 at Noon. In her remarks, Thompson saluted the nominees, saying, "I stand in front of you and applaud you for your skills and accomplishments . . . and for planting the seeds of ATHENA along your way." She went on to say that she tries to be an encourager, and entreated those in attendance to "encourage each other, whether in the mountains of life, or in the deep, dark valleys."

2018 Athena: Dr. Sherry Gallaway

Nominated for the ATHENA Award by Charity Circle of Murfreesboro, Dr. Sherry Galloway earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Now in her 29th year of practice at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital, she was recognized as the Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation Liz Rhea Philanthropist of the Year in 2016.

Domestic violence and sexual assault prevention represent Galloway's strongest community involvement. "My support and fierce advocacy for the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program and Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford County stems from the severe and frequent violence I have witnessed with patients in the emergency department," Galloway said. "The numbers are staggering and overwhelming. But it is the individual patients who have fueled my passion."

As a mentor to the hospital's emergency medicine residents, Galloway advocates their volunteerism in the community, especially with the services their patients use. She has established scholarships for continued education through her medical school, and through the Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation to help emergency department staff earn their RN degrees.

"Dr. Galloway personifies the attributes of the ATHENA Leadership Model," said 2018 Rutherford ATHENA Chair Natalie Hughes. "These attributes include authentic self, relationships, giving back, collaboration, courageous acts, learning, fierce advocacy and, of course, celebration and joy. Dr. Galloway's giving back is guided by the principle of 'leaving the world better than you found it' - and she truly has done that."

2018 Athena Young Professional: Yolonda S. Greene

Young Professional Award recipient Yolanda Greene was nominated by the MTSU Jennings A. Jones College of Business and serves on the college's Dean's Advisory Council. Greene earned her undergraduate degree and M.B.A. from Tennessee State University. She is the first African-American female and youngest community bank president at First Tennessee.

Greene was appointed by Governor Bill Haslam to the Tennessee Board of Regents and is executive co-chair of membership for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. She was honored in 2017 as one of Nashville Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Business Professionals.

"Raised by educators, I've been an advocate for education and the power it has to transform lives," Greene said. She helped establish a program in the Jones College, Backpack to Briefcase, to prepare business students for financial wellness and support their launch into the workforce.

"Yolanda Greene is an inspiration in the example she sets," said Hughes. "She truly embodies the ATHENA Young Professional attributes of demonstrating excellence in her profession, giving back to the community, and serving as a role model for young women, especially in her advocacy for education."

The other 17 nominees for the 2018 ATHENA Award and their nominating organizations are:

Dr. Samantha E. Cantrell - American Association of University Women of Murfreesboro; Dia Cirillo - MTSU June Anderson Center - National Women's History Month Committee; Elveta V. Cooper - UPS Mid South Women's Business Resource Group; Carolyn Demetria Cox - NAACP - Murfreesboro Branch; Pearl Eakins - The Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary of Rutherford and Cannon Counties; Judge Lisa A. Eischeid - Rutherford County Government; Retta Gardner - United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties; Anne Lewis Henslee - Crye-Leike Realtors; Dr. Janet McCormick - MTSU President's Commission on the Status of Women; Susan Emery McGannon - Middle Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women; Andrea Lynn Nolt - Nissan Smyrna Women's Business Synergy Team; Emily S. Pegg - Special Kids Therapy and Nursing Center; Lori Sain Smith - Junior League of Murfreesboro; Val Smith - General Mills Murfreesboro, Tennessee Plant; Veronica Clark Terrell - RUTHERFORD Cable; Susan D. Vanderbilt - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; and Representative Dawn White - Saint Thomas Rutherford Ambassadors.

The other 12 nominees for the Young Professional Award and their nominating organizations are:

Caitlyn Brown - Junior League of Murfreesboro; Megan B. Bynum - RUTHERFORD Cable; Courtney E. Chavez - United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties; Lori L. Cutler - Redstone Federal Credit Union; Carissa Discepolo - Nissan Smyrna Women's Business Synergy Team; LaShan Mathews Dixon - Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Pi Nu Omega Chapter; Amy Farrar, Esquire - Middle Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women; Allison Oslund - The Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary of Rutherford and Cannon Counties; Dr. Kerrie Robinson - Murfreesboro Chi Omega Alumnae Chapter; Ann Elizabeth Rucker - Saint Thomas Rutherford Ambassadors; Melinda T. Thomas - MTSU June Anderson Center - National Women's History Month Committee; and Dr. Bethany Ann Eakin Wrye - American Association of University Women of Murfreesboro.

In addition to founding sponsor RUTHERFORD Cable, community sponsor Pinnacle Financial Partners and partner sponsors First Tennessee and Deloitte, the 2018 ATHENA Awards are supported by sponsors Redstone Federal Credit Union, TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center, State Farm, Ascend Federal Credit Union, Guaranty Trust Company, Trust Point Hospital and Farrar|Wright Attorneys and Advisors, as well as in-kind sponsors Wax Family Printing, Bell Jewelers, Stones River Total Beverages and media sponsor VIP Murfreesboro.

Rutherford Cable

RUTHERFORD Cable is the premiere leadership organization for women's professional advancement. The nine-year-old organization of more than 250 members provides professional and personal development, as well as business growth through building long-term relationships, structured networking and referrals. The organization is a chapter of the 30-year-old Nashville Cable. Visit rutherfordcable.org to learn more.