Tickets are now on sale for a very special celebration, the 25th Annual ATHENA Awards luncheon, set for noon to 1:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

At this silver anniversary celebration, the Rochester Business Alliance's Women's Council will honor 18 women chosen as finalists for the award for demonstrating significant achievements in business, community service and the professional advancement of women.

Women's Council will also pay a special tribute to past recipients, as well as Susan R. Holliday, president and publisher of the Rochester Business Journal, in recognition of her community leadership and longstanding support as founding sponsor of the ATHENA program in Rochester.

The 2011 ATHENA Award recipient will be announced at the luncheon. The ATHENA Award is given annually by the Women's Council to a local professional woman who has demonstrated significant achievements in business, community service and the professional advancement of women. The 2010 recipient was Jennifer Leonard, president and executive director of the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

The 2011 finalists are:

• Dr. Nancy Bennett, director, Center for Community Health, associate vice president, University of Rochester Medical Center
• Dr. Mary Dombovy, vice president, Department of Rehabilitation and Neurology; chair, Acute Rehabilitation and Brain Injury Program; medical director, Stroke Center; and medical director, Spine Center at Unity Health System
• Dr. Deborah I. Friedman, professor of ophthalmology and neurology at the University of Rochester
• Marisa Geitner, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Heritage Christian Services
• Pamela P. Heald, president and CEO, Reliant Community Federal Credit Union
• Victoria G. Hines, president and CEO, Visiting Nurse Services of Rochester and Monroe County and Community Care of Rochester
• Norma Holland, news anchor/reporter, 13WHAM TV and CW-16TV
• Dr. A. Gidget Hopf, president and CEO, Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Goodwill Industries of Greater Rochester
• Janet Lomax, anchor, WHEC-TV
• Angella Luyk, president and CEO, Midnight Janitorial Inc.
• Lisa Marcello, vice president and chief financial officer, Episcopal SeniorLife Communities
• Kathleen Cahill Murray, president, Net Sales
• Cynthia Oswald, president, Livingston County Chamber of Commerce
• Kathy Palokoff, founder and CEO, CUSTOMERCity
• Kitty Van Bortel, president, Van Bortel Ford, Van Bortel Subaru and Van Bortel Used Car Center
• Mary Whittier, executive director, Bivona Child Advocacy Center
• Dr. Brigette Wiefling, president and CEO, Anthony L. Jordan Health Center
• Joyce Zimkowski, senior vice president, Unity Health System

Tickets for the ATHENA luncheon are $75 per person or $650 for a table of 10. Students may purchase tickets for $40.

Patron tables are also available for $1,500, and include sponsorship recognition and an invitation to a private reception honoring the finalists, sponsored by the E. Philip Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Reservation deadline is Jan. 15. For information or to purchase tickets/tables, contact Susan George at the Rochester Business Alliance at (585) 256-4612 or Susan.George@RBAlliance.com.

The Women's Council is an affiliate of the Rochester Business Alliance. Some of the past ATHENA recipients include Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox Corp., Carolyn Portanova, CEO of Catholic Family Center, Patricia Malgieri, former deputy mayor of Rochester and pediatrician Dr. Ruth Lawrence.