Welcome to Athena!

The world is full of vexing challenges.

A warming planet, hunger, mis- and disinformation, all of the -isms that keep people from reaching their full potential, just to name a few.

These challenges require creative solutions, but it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. What can we do? Where do we even start?  

At the Athena Center for Leadership, we see leaders as, at their core, problem-solvers — and our role as providing Barnard students a wide range of ways to practice solving problems at all scales, all experience-based and available to students from the day they set foot on our campus.

Athena is home to Barnard students who see opportunities in challenges and seize them to build a better world, together — because these are the leaders we need now.

OUR APPROACH

CREATIVE

We are home to artists, activists, entrepreneurs, our future policymakers and more; we value all ways to create new possibilities and build a better world. And we acknowledge and honor the work that was done before we arrived and upon which we build.

COLLABORATIVE

The change we need won't come from a single approach or a single person. We create space for the messy work of collaborating across disciplines and lived experiences, across hierarchies and locations. We don’t pretend that it’s easy, but we do believe it’s worth it.

CONSCIOUS OF IMPACT

We move at the speed of trust. And as we tackle real-world challenges, we ask: Who might be helped by our ideas and who might be harmed by them, and what can we do to prevent harm? 

We’re mindful of the impact of this work on ourselves as well. After all, the path to meaningful, lasting change is a winding one. Missteps and setbacks are inevitable and more than okay here!

OUR PROGRAMS

CO-CURRICULAR

At Athena, we learn by doing, building on our experiences with Barnard's world-class faculty as we work to construct new possibilities for the future.

We offer experiences on and off campus that give students the chance to put problem-solving skills into practice; low-stress, low-commitment, high-value workshops that teach new skills & refine existing ones; and the support of a community of mentors and experts who are generous with their knowledge and networks.

See our offerings here.