7:15 - 8:15am YOGA // Join us for a free yoga class hosted by local sponsor, Love Yoga. This is an all-levels, warm vinyasa class. [Location @ Love Yoga Studio]

7:15 - 7:45am MINDFULNESS MEDITATION // Join Nicole Dunn @ The Lodge at Whitefish Lake Lodge in the Regatta room for a half-hour of calm & reflection.

Join us for coffee, sign up for Birds of a Feather lunches and get settled while we get ready to kick of The Gathering 2025.

Cassidy Randall, Athena speaker & author of Thirty Below, will be available for book signing as well!

9am - Kick-off & Welcome Coffee with Athena Leadership. We open the morning with the Athena Leadership team, to look back at almost 10 years since the first Athena and a bit of reflection on the container we’ve worked to create for this year’s Gathering.

MORNING SESSIONS TO FOLLOW:

• 9:10am The Status of Women // Jen Euell - 72 years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, women still have not reached pay parity with men for equal work. And that’s just one piece of a much larger picture. We open the morning with Jen Euell, who will walk us through key findings on the status of women—nationally, globally, and right here in the room today.

• 9:30am Women’s Wisdom Share // Chelsey Miller

• 9:40am Poet in Residence // Heather Peteroy

• 9:50am The Power of You: Leading Beyond “Should” // Lucy Reynolds. Stop living by other people’s “shoulds” and start leading in a way that feels natural, powerful, and truly yours. In this energizing session, you’ll discover your unique leadership values, tap into your Leader Within, and leave with the tools—and confidence—to lead with alignment, purpose, and unapologetic authenticity.

• 10:20am Embracing the Pivot // Jodi Petlin, Marissa Keenan, Mary Poole & Kristine Akland - In past Athena's, we've covered "The Messy Middle", and after sitting with it for 2 years, we're back to discuss that maybe the Messy Middle doesn't exist. Maybe it's always messy and maybe it's not a middle. We'll unpack the concept of Life Pivots: when they're thrust upon you when you're not ready, and when you listen to the whispers and know you need to make one. We'll hear from three women who have done just that, and we'll also close the session with a personal workshop on our journey, pivots, and the possible fallacy of thinking we’ll ever arrive. 

• 11:00am New Narratives: How to own our complicated mythologies // Cassidy Randall - Author, “30 Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the first all women's ascent of Denali”  Too often in our cultural narratives, women have only been allowed to play the narrow, one-dimensional roles we’ve been historically assigned. Think lone heroine, damsel in distress, princess, witch. When we need new stories for new eras, it can be hard for society to deviate from the habitual paths on which we send our characters. 

  We’re in a new era now, in need of new narratives. As the hero(in)es of our own stories,we’re in charge of how we tell them, what roles we get to play (shocker: they’re three-dimensional ones), and how we get to leverage them in our lives and for our goals. Cassidy walks us through historical and recent examples of complicated women changing narratives and how we might do that in our own lives and communities.

• 11:30am Shared Stories: How Collective Experience is Shaping Womanhood // Katy Garton. Leadership grows stronger through the power of story. This session shows how authentic storytelling builds trust, sparks collective vision, and shapes the way we lead. Participants will contribute to a Story Seeds Wall, weaving together insights and experiences that inspire lasting impact.

Sponsored by Pacific Source.

One of Athena Pack’s favorite experiences each year is ‘Birds of a Feather.’ This is an opportunity for you to grab some delicious food, and sit yourself amongst peers and speakers who will lead group discussions to let you learn from each other and build connections in areas that matter to you.

One week prior to Athena, we will send out the full list of table topics, so you can start planning your seat!

Afternoon sessions (and a little surprise moment here and there!) are as follows:

• 1:15pm // Regather

• 1:25pm // Women’s Wisdom Share - Jill Alban

• 1:30pm // Future-Proofing Your Finances: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Resilience in an Uncertain World // Kimberly Shappee & Lindsay Strickland - In today’s rapidly evolving economic landscape, women face unique financial challenges and opportunities. This empowering presentation provides practical strategies to build financial security and resilience, even as we navigate economic uncertainty, technological disruption and an ever-changing job market. You’ll leave this session with actionable steps, downloadable resources, and the confidence to make financial decisions that protect and grow your wealth no matter what the economy throws your way.

• 2:15 // Activate Your Group Chat // Speaker: Ty Miranda. How does change happen at the local and national level? Ty walks us through a short workshop and reflection on change, and gives us a chance to reflect on something we might want to change in our personal, family, or community lives and how we might go about that. 

• 2:45pm // Panel // The Power is in the Room - Sam Schmidt takes the stage to moderate a discussion between Ty Miranda, Rachel Markovich, Katie Wright and Bill Warden on how change - whether at the community, state, national or global level - happens (spoiler alert: it starts with you).

• 3:40 // From Overwhelm to Ownership: Your Personal Stress Blueprint // Dr. Jen Curtiss - One of our favorite lines at Athena is "Stress is the high-achievers word for fear" (Oprah Winfrey). Dr. Jen Curtiss, licensed naturopathic physician from Oregon, walks us through "the stress gene", how stress works, and will lead us in a workshop where we identify our natural stress response and work through a blueprint for how to move from overwhelm to ownership with our stress and in our lives. 

• 4:20 Panel // Women & Health - Last Athena, we made space for health - and it was one of the most appreciated panels at the conference. This year we invite back Athena alum Kayti Sullivan to host a panel on women’s health & hormones - with panelists Dr. Jen Curtiss, Dr. Liz Walker, Johnna Sutton and Kendra Wilks.

• 5:00 // Conference Day 1 is a wrap!

At Athena 2023, one of our favorite moments was the after hours gatherings, where speakers, sponsors and attendees got to mingle and connect after hours.

This year, join pods of our speakers at select Whitefish venues who will be hosting discounts on drinks & beverages for Athena attendees. So if you’re not ready to crash after a full day, grab some friends and rove around downtown for this unique and intimate opportunity to connect with our full line-up of speakers.

Details & logistics to be shared via event QR code.