Jodi Routson Receives Dubois County Rotary 2024 ATHENA Leadership Award

The Rotary Club of Dubois County hosted their 12th annual Athena International Leadership Award Banquet at the Huntingburg Event Center on Wednesday evening, where five female finalists of Dubois County were honored for their leadership qualities and contributions to the community.

Those honored included Peggy Amos-Huff, Deb Capps, Tammy Lampert, Jodi Routson, and Mary Warner, all exemplifying the following Athena International attributes through their professional and personal lives: Authentic Self, Relationships, Giving Back, Collaboration, Courageous Acts, Learning, Fierce Advocacy, and Celebration & Joy.

*Deb Capps (Left), holds hands with Manda Combs (Right), as her accomplishments are shared with the crowd.*

Of those selected to be honored, Jodi Routson was selected as the 2024 ATHENA Leadership Award Recipient.

*Jodi Routson (left) accepts the ATHENA Leadership Award from Dubois County Rotary President, Kenny Speed (right).*

Jodi Routson has spent her career focused on improving the health of others and designing services that address some of the greatest needs facing the community. As the Director of Behavioral Health and Social Work at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, she leads the inpatient Behavioral Health unit and social work services, as well as the outpatient-based Memorial Counseling Center, among her many hours of volunteer work and time coaching young athletes at Northeast Dubois School Corporation.

*Routson giving her acceptance speech, reading from bright yellow index cards she found lying around earlier that day.*

Routson states, “I just hope that I can continue to mentor, you know, women to know that we can find our voice and we can be professional and respectful and be able to, you know, drive change.”

Jodi Routson will now join 12 previous ATHENA Award recipients in being permanently recognized for their lifelong efforts in the Rotary Club of Dubois County’s ATHENA Award display at the Dubois County Museum.

*Jodi Routson (right) holds her ATHENA Leadership Award while sharing congratulations with fellow ATHENA finalist, Deb Capps (left).*

The Keynote Speaker of the 12th Annual ATHENA Award Banquet was Indiana Secretary of Education, Dr. Katie Jenner.

*Dr. Katie Jenner shares the ups and downs of her journey, stating that politics were never on her radar until accepting the job of Indiana Secretary of Education in 2021.*

Dr. Jenner went into great detail, describing her all-but-perfect journey in becoming a high school teacher in Indiana, and how that led her to become the first Indiana Secretary of Education.

Through many local sponsors and many community fundraising events, The Rotary Club of Dubois County strives to be an active social and service club compromised of dynamic and diverse professional who make a lasting difference in their community and around the world. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Dubois County, you can visit their website