Ocotber 28, 2014 – Muncie, IN – Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity was recently selected to receive the 2014 ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award. This award actively supports and celebrates the ATHENA mission of supporting, developing and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. To qualify for the award, the organization needed to create an organizational culture that encourages women employees to achieve their full leadership potential and give back to the larger community of women and girls by providing and/ or supporting leadership development opportunities and initiatives.
Muncie Habitat, for many years, has maintained female representation on its Board of Directors, having had two women serve as Board Chair. The organization currently has four women serving on its Board of eleven members. Muncie Habitat’s staff – a mix of full time and part time employees – currently includes 14 employees with 8 of those female. In addition to their female CEO, Lindsey Arthur, Muncie Habitat’s leadership team is currently made up of three women and two men. Lindsey sets an example of community service as she currently serves on the Shafer Leadership Academy Board, the Friends of Bracken Library Board, and the Muncie Rotary Board of Directors. Other female members of the leadership team at Muncie Habitat are involved personally in leadership and/or committee work with United Way, Teamwork for Quality Living’s Circles Program, Muncie Young Professionals, Shafer Leadership Academy, and the BSU Social Work Advisory Board.
Muncie Habitat works closely with low income families – many of which are single mothers – who are working to achieve the dream of homeownership. Habitat walks alongside these families for many months leading up to the day they take the keys and sign their mortgage papers. This organization also works to better connect women in the community to their mission of serving families with housing improvements. Each year Muncie Habitat hosts a Women Build house project. Women Build at Habitat for Humanity around the globe has one mission: empower women to take action against poverty housing conditions. Women Build is made up of teams of women who are recruited by a team captain to raise funds for the project and to join Muncie Habitat at the construction site to help build a house. Muncie Habitat hosts volunteers at its construction sites every week of the year with women represented on the vast majority of our volunteer crews. They also run a retail outlet ReStore where donations of building supplies and home improvement items are obtained for resale to the public to help fund Muncie Habitat’s housing program.
A Selection Committee, made up of a diverse group of community leaders who do not personally know the nominees, reviewed all nominations and selected Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity as the 2014 ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award Recipient. This was announced at the ATHENA Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, October 15, 2014.
To learn more about Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity and their support of women leaders, visit www.munciehabitat.org. To learn more about the ATHENA Awards or the local host organization Women in Business Unlimited, visit www.wibumuncie.org/athena/.
