ATHENA Leadership Award Luncheon 2026

The ATHENA Leadership Award is presented to a local woman who has achieved the highest level of professional excellence, contributes time and energy to improve the quality of life for others, and actively assists women/girls in realizing their full potential. Award recipients have included leaders in education, business executives, non-profit founders, and more.

Nominations are sent to ATHENA International, the award presenter, who selects finalists and the recipient. The luncheon on July 24 is held to recognize nominees, honor finalists, and celebrate the award recipient.

Nominations for the ATHENA Leadership Award are now open here.
Please make sure to read all guidelines to ensure your nomination is correct.
(Nominations will close on Sunday, May 17 at 11:59 p.m.)

Please reach out to Riley Borchgardt (rileyb@conroe.org) for sponsorship questions.

About Elizabeth Smart:
The abduction of Elizabeth Smart was one of the most followed child abduction cases of our time. Elizabeth was abducted on June 5, 2002, and her captors controlled her by threatening to kill her and her family if she tried to escape. Fortunately, the police safely returned Elizabeth back to her family on March 12, 2003, after being held prisoner for 9 grueling months. Through this traumatic experience, Elizabeth has become an advocate for change related to child abduction, recovery programs, and National legislation.

Elizabeth triumphantly testified before her captor and the world about the very private nightmare she suffered during her abduction, which led to conviction. The Founder of the “Elizabeth Smart Foundation”, Elizabeth has also helped promote The National AMBER Alert, The Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act, and other safety legislation to help prevent abductions. Elizabeth has chronicled her experiences in the New York Times best-selling book, "My Story." In addition, she and other abduction survivors worked with the Department of Justice to create a survivor's guide, entitled, “You're Not Alone: The Journey From Abduction to Empowerment.” This guide is meant to encourage children who have gone through similar experiences not to give up but to know that there is hope for a rewarding life.

In 2018, Elizabeth wrote a powerful and inspiring book, "Where There’s Hope," which is both an up-close-and-personal glimpse into her healing process and a heartfelt how-to guide for readers to make peace with the past and embrace the future. Her most recent work releasing in December 2025, “Detours: Hope & Growth After Life's Hardest Turns,” is a memoir-meets-guide empowering readers to navigate life's detours, embrace resilience, and find healing and purpose after adversity. In Detours, she explores how trauma can derail one's path in life and shares her struggles with captivity, reintegration, and resilience, offering four key "Rest Stops" for navigating difficult turns.

Elizabeth’s abduction and recovery continue to motivate parents, law enforcement, and leaders worldwide to focus on children’s safety. She emphasizes vigilance by "everyday" people and the belief that hope always exists to find every missing child. Smart attended Brigham Young University, studying music as a harp performance major. She married her husband Matthew in 2012, and they now have three beautiful children. Elizabeth’s example is a daily demonstration that there really is life after tragedy.