Fifth Annual ATHENA® Awards honors
Marla Letizia as Leadership Recipient and
Stacey Wedding as Young Professional Recipient

The Fifth Annual ATHENA Awards was a day to remember. The Awards were held at The Stirling Club on November 7, 2008 with entertainment courtesy of master impressionist Rich Little and singer/recording artist George Bugatti and a Silent Auction comprised of items from renowned international, national and local celebrities and businesses from the Las Vegas community. John Huck of Fox 5 News presided as the master of ceremonies; Ray DuGray and Maria Ngo hosted the Red Carpet Showcase, and Las Vegas Photo & Video provided professional photography.

The Award Presentation Chair, Ms Barbara Wood, did an outstanding job with her committee that included Karen Scherer, Janet Ryan, Eileen Hayes, Lizzette Villanueva, Trudy Platzer, Romie Semenza, and Nan Okuda, A very special thank you to our Platinum Sponsor, American Family; our speakers; Host Organization, the Women’s Chamber and June Beland; Punam Mathur, MGM MIRSGE; Gina Polovina, Boyd Gaming; Dee Ladd, Sunrise Children’s Foundation, and Marlena Safarian.

ATHENA® Leadership Awards

Mary Arnold-Ronish

Nominee

Mary Arnold-Ronish, Founder, President and CEO, Professional Permanent Cosmetics & Tattoo Vanish

Mary Arnold-Ronish CPCP brings more than 30 years of experiences as a registered nurse to the permanent cosmetic industry. Prior to starting her own permanent cosmetics business in 1992, Arnold had decades of experience in the medical industry. She began her nursing career in 1969, working in area hospitals and physicians offices. Arnold also served as a business and front office manager, and dermatology nurse for a dermatology practice in Las Vegas. Later, she was the director of marketing and operations for a large home health care organization with locations in Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. Arnold founded Professional Permanent Cosmetics in 1993, employing her years of experience as a nurse and knowledge as a medical practice manager to create a quality permanent makeup practice in the Las Vegas Valley.

Pamela Howatt, President, The Divine Family Events and You Name It Events

Pam purchased You Name it Events in 2005 and then added Inventive Incentive Productions last July.  You Name It Events is a full service catering and event planning company that specializes in corporate events and company picnics, producing over 600 events each year.  Inventive Incentive Productions is a full service destination management, event and décor company that has been a major player in the Las Vegas community since 1991. Prior to these acquisitions Pam was an executive in the Gaming industry.  During her 17-year career with gaming manufacturer IGT, Pam was responsible for planning meetings, trade shows, and customer events all over the world.   With the purchase of her own company, Pam has been able to help many different organizations through the donation of food, decor and services provided by all her companies.

Pamela Howatt

Nominee

Cindy O'Keefe

Nominee

Cindy O'Keefe, VP of Hotel Operations, Caesars Palace

A 1978 graduate of Tennessee Tech University, Cindy O’Keefe parlayed her clarinet major into a 30 year career in the hospitality industry, beginning upon graduation at the heart of Southern hospitality, Nashville’s Opryland Hotel.  Cindy joined Caesars Palace in 2004, and was promoted to VP of Hotel Operations.  She strives to be highly inclusive with her teams, sharing information from executive meetings to guide her teams in putting some context around their work, effectively raising them from tactical implementers to strategic thinkers.   Cindy encourages her strongest performers to move on to new challenges with other leaders, and her mentees can be found at other properties across the Harrah’s Entertainment network.   In 2006, Cindy O’Keefe was one of 10 recipients of Harrah’s Entertainment Excellence in Leadership Award across the then 90,000 employees in the company.

Suzanne Trout, Vice President of Marketing, Harrah’s and Flamingo Las Vegas

Suzanne’s career with Harrah’s Entertainment began in 1999 as Vice President of Marketing for Harrah’s Las Vegas. In 2001, Suzanne moved to Atlantic City where she was the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Harrah’s Entertainment’s East Coast Division. In this regional role, she oversaw the marketing efforts of 11 Harrah’s casinos in 7 states. A senior level executive with over 20 years of experience in the casino and hospitality industry, Suzanne is responsible for the overall marketing efforts for both Strip properties.   She successful leads the Entertainment, Advertising, Direct Marketing, Special Events, Total Rewards, Public Relations and Internet Marketing teams.  In addition to her property role, Suzanne has also been a key strategist in the Las Vegas multi-property visitation initiative.  She returned to Harrah’s Entertainment Las Vegas in 2005.

Suzanne Trout

Nominee

ATHENA® Young Professionals

Christina Donelson

Nominee

Christina Donaldson, Director of Leadership, Harrah's Entertainment

Christina is currently the Director of Leadership Services for Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., a leader in the gaming entertainment industry with over 40 casinos in three countries, primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brands. As such, she focuses on the identification, assessment and development of current and emerging leaders throughout the organization. Prior to this role, Christina served as the Director of Talent Acquisition, with special focus in recruiting executives in Human Resources, Brand Marketing and Strategic Sourcing. Before joining Harrah's in 2005, she spent five years as a Project Manager in the recruiting industry, where she was responsible for developing and implementing integrated recruiting solutions for a variety of clients, with special emphasis on the consumer goods and retail sectors.

Jan-Ie Low, General Manager, Satay Malaysian Grill Grille

Jan-Ie Low’s business experience spans the corporate, entrepreneurship, and not-for-profit sectors and gives her a unique perspective on how women can embrace opportunity and create results.   

Jan-Ie held multiple strategic and senior-level positions in human resources for over 12 years with Fortune 500 companies AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile, USA.  As an entrepreneur, she was a founding partner in starting SATAY Malaysian Grille. She is responsible for all sales, vendor relations, marketing, public relations, catering, event planning, and customer service functions.  Her results-oriented approach was recognized by Las Vegas Weekly Magazine which recently named SATAY Malaysian Grille the “Best Asian Restaurant in Las Vegas.”  Jan-Ie is building on this success by spearheading the opening of SATAY #2, which opened in August of this year. Brief synopsis.

Jan-Ie Low

Nominee

Maureen Peckman

Nominee

Maureen Peckman, Chief Operating Officer, Lou Ruvo Brain Institute

Maureen currently serves as the chief operating officer of the Keep Memory Alive Organization, in support of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (LRBI), Based in Las Vegas. The LRBI’s mission is to prevent the disabling symptoms of chronic brain disease and to prolong health, ‘vital aging’ in people at risk for dementia and memory impairments. She is also the executive director of the Council for a Better Nevada, founder and owner of Peckman Outdoor Media, a Las Vegas-based company that specialized in the acquisition, development and sale of outdoor advertising structures, which sold to a national outdoor media conglomerate in 2008. Maureen is an active member of the chairman’s council of Conservation International, and is the current chairman of the board for the Nevada Community Foundation.

Elisa Shen, Casino Marketing Manager, Caesars Palace

Elisa Shen received a BA in English Literature with a Minor in Systems Science and Engineering from University of Pennsylvania in 1991, and joined Harrah’s Entertainment following her 2006 graduation from Rice University’s MBA program.  Elisa started as a President’s Associate and was quickly promoted to Casino Marketing Manager at the company’s premier Las Vegas property, Caesars Palace, where each member of her 27-person domestic host team is responsible for generating $1-2 million in revenue per month.  Elisa is also the primary liaison between the Total Rewards player loyalty program, Hotel VIP Services, Call Center, Public Relations, Advertising, Special Events, Food & Beverage, and Accounting to increase operational efficiency, improve the customer’s perceived value, and maximize cost savings across all Harrah’s-owned Las Vegas properties.

Elisa Shen

Nominee