Five Middle Tennessee judges were recently nominated for the 2019 ATHENA Leadership Awards, which celebrate women who have excelled professionally and who have demonstrated a commitment to bettering their communities and helping others achieve success.
The nominees were announced by two organizations in Middle Tennessee: Nashville Cable and RUTHERFORD Cable. Both organizations serve to create networks among a diverse array of business and professional women.
Nashville Cable announced the following judges as nominees for the 2019 ATHENA Leadership Award: 20th Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton, Davidson County General Sessions Court Judge Ana L. Escobar, and 20th Judicial District Chancellor Anne C. Martin.
Judge Dalton was appointed by Governor Bill Haslam to the criminal court bench in 2017. Prior to that, she served as a judge on the Davidson County General Sessions Court. When she was elected to that position in 2006, she made history as the first African American woman to be elected judge in Davidson County.
Judge Escobar was elected to the Davidson County General Sessions Court bench in 2018, becoming that court’s first Hispanic judge. She previously served as a prosecutor and defense attorney for 22 years.
Chancellor Martin was elected to the 20th Judicial District Chancery Court in 2018. Before she became a judge, Chancellor Martin was an attorney in private practice for 26 years.
RUTHERFORD Cable nominated Judge Lynn E. Alexander and Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna S. Davenport for the ATHENA Award.
Judge Alexander serves as the municipal court and general sessions judge for the Town of Smyrna. She was elected to this position in 2014. Previously, Judge Alexander served as an administrative judge.
Judge Davenport served as a juvenile court referee before she was appointed to the Rutherford County Juvenile Court in 2000. She was elected to a full term on the court in 2006 and was reelected in 2014. She served in private practice before becoming a judge.
Nashville Cable announced at the end of March that Mandy Mazzo, corporate senior vice president of National Business Development at Skanska USA, had won its 2019 ATHENA Leadership Award. Dr. Linda Gilbert, director of schools for the Murfreesboro City Schools District, was named RUTHERFORD Cable’s 2019 ATHENA Leadership Award winner on April 12.
