A nationally recognized speaker, author and business advisor, Laura Liswood has been a leader in the women's community for more than twenty years. As founder of the Council of Women World Leaders at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, she has set the twin goals of advancing women to positions of national and global leadership, and expanding the paradigms of leadership to include styles and values associated with women. Her book Women World Leaders grew out of her interviews with current and former women presidents and prime ministers in fifteen countries. She is currently the president and CEO of the American Society for Training & Development, a professional association representing more than 70,000 members in the field of workplace learning and performance.

Laura Liswood is also the founder of May's List, a bipartisan political donor network that emphasizes women's leadership in the political arena. And she is a member of the board of the White House Project, a nonpartisan public awareness campaign that in 1998 distributed a million ballots naming twenty women who have demonstrated national leadership. The Project's goal is to raise the public visibility of capable women from many walks of life, and thus create a climate that supports women's leadership in public office, including the presidency.

A lawyer and M.B.A. with degrees from Harvard and the University of California, her experience includes executive-level consulting to Fortune 500 and international companies. Previously, she held positions in the baking, broadcasting and airline industries. An earlier book, Serving Them Right, is a comprehensive guide to leadership in service management. She has also been a member of the International Women's Forum, Leadership America, the board of the First Women's Bank of California and the Washington Women's Political Caucus.

As the 1999 International ATHENA conference celebrated a new vision of leadership in business, in communities and in the world, we are proud to add Laura Liswood to our growing list of International ATHENA Award recipients.

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