Two Long Island women leaders honored

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Two Long Island businesswomen were honored today with ATHENA awards, which recognize exemplary women leaders.

In an “and-the-envelope-please”-style breakfast event at The Mansion at Oyster Bay in Woodbury, Jane Duggan received the 2019 ATHENA Leadership Award and Stephanie Espina was presented with the 2019 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award.

Founded in 1982, ATHENA International develops, supports and honors women leaders and works with local host organizations to recognize award recipients in more than 500 communities. ATHENA International collaborates with Big Four accounting firm KPMG on the awards program on Long Island – now in its seventh year – as well as programs in other cities in the United States and internationally.

Duggan, who works for TD Bank as a senior vice president and commercial regional group manager for suburban New York middle market not-for-profit lending, was recognized for her leadership both within TD Bank and in outside organizations. She serves as a senior mentor in TD’s internal leadership development program in addition to co-leading the bank’s women leadership program. She is also a board member of the Long Island Association, committee member of The Women’s Collaborative and trustee of the Energeia Partnership Leadership Academy, among other community roles.

“Thank you for your commitment to developing future leaders on Long Island,” KPMG director Jennifer Muccioli said in addressing Duggan during the ceremony. “You are a role model to everyone around you.”

Espina, director of freshman admissions at Adelphi University, is active in leadership and volunteer roles in the community, including serving as president-elect of the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling and advisory board member of her alma mater, Sacred Heart Academy. She was a recipient of the Adelphi University Spirit Award for student mentoring.

Muccioli called Espina a “role model and mentor to young women around her.”

The other finalists for the Leadership award were Jennifer Cona, managing partner of Genser Cona Elder Law, and Karen Tenenbaum, founder, managing partner and tax attorney at Tenenbaum Law.

For the Young Professional Leadership Award, the other two finalists were Nicole Giammarinaro, who serves as director of education and research in the corporate office of patient and customer experience at Northwell Health, and Elizabeth Pavacic, a strategic project manager at Ninth Wave, a financial services company that is a subsidiary of Enterprise Engineering.