Carolyn Evans, a partner at Sengstacke and Evans, LLC, received the 2016 ATHENA Award at the Annual Women’s Leadership Breakfast held at the Richlin Ballroom the morning of Friday, March 4.
The ATHENA Award is presented yearly to an exemplary leader who has achieved excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession; served the community to improve the quality of life for others; and, most importantly, actively assisted women to achieve their full leadership potential.
Evans has been a partner in the law firm Sengstacke & Evans for the past 15 years and has spent nearly 40 years in the field of law. She has also worked for Hertsch, Gessner & Snee, P.A., Venable Baetjer & Howard and Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Company.
She is very involved in the community. While maintaining a full-time law practice, Evans most recently served as the volunteer interim executive director for the Center for the Arts. She co-chairs the Dancing for the Arts gala, which has raised $100,000 each of the past two years, and also serves on the nonprofit’s board of trustees.
Evans is the former chair or president of the Harford County Chamber of Commerce; Chesapeake Professional Women’s Network; Bel Air Rotary Club and Harford County Commission for Women. She has served on the boards of the Harford County Board of Elections, The Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation and Home Partnership. Currently she serves on the board of the Harford Community College Foundation.
Mentoring is important to Evans. She co-founded the Mentor Program of the Women’s Bar Association, University of Baltimore, Student Chapter, and has mentored many women over the years.
In addition, Evans provides pro-bono bankruptcy services and assists with landlord-tenant matters and employment issues. She also serves as pro-bono appointed child counsel in divorce proceedings.
The 2016 finalists for the ATHENA Award were: Claudine Adams, president and CEO, Bravura Information Technology; Jesse Bane, town administrator, Town of Bel Air; Paige Boyle, director of marketing and customer relations, Boyle Buick GMC; Susan Manning Bresuciak, business development specialist, Freedom Federal Credit Union; Anita A. Brightman, founder and CEO, A. Bright Idea Advertising and Public Relations; Kimberly Nikitas, principal research scientist, Battelle; and Amy Woolf, coordinator – Global Studies and International Baccalaureate Magnet Program, Edgewood High School.
The ATHENA Award presentation and Women’s Leadership Breakfast were organized by the Harford Community College Foundation. Louise Phipps Senft, attorney, author, mediator and founder of Baltimore Mediation, was the keynote speaker.
Proceeds from this year’s breakfast will fund the new ATHENA Leadership Scholarship. The scholarship, valued at $1,000, will be awarded annually starting in the next academic year. First preference will be given to a female adult returning to college who exemplifies professionalism and commitment to the community. The recipient must be a Harford County resident, enrolled at least half time (six-plus credits) with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
The Presenting Sponsor of the Annual ATHENA Award and Women’s Leadership Breakfast in Harford County was The Daily Record. Platinum Sponsors were Booz Allen Hamilton, Harford Community College, The Harford Mutual Insurance Companies and M&T Bank. Silver Sponsors were Bravura Information Technology Systems, Inc., Chesapeake Professional Women’s Network, Express Employment Professionals, Harford Bank, Laurel Bush Family Dentistry, Town of Bel Air and University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. Bronze Sponsors were Absolute Investigative, Fingerprinting & Security Services, APG Federal Credit Union, Association of the United States Army, The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region, Beacon Staffing Alternatives, Harford County Chamber of Commerce, Klein’s ShopRite of Maryland, MediaWise, Inc. and TENAX Technologies, LLC. Media sponsors were Harford Cable Network and I95 Business. In-kind sponsors were Boyle Buick GMC, Flowers by Bauers and Skylight Creative Ideas, Inc.
