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Our Mission

As Marines, we understand security in practice. As academics, we know the value of research. And as women leaders, we have a vision and the skills to bring it to life.

Our mission is to explore and showcase the power of diversity in order to develop comprehensive, effective, and successful national security decisions, plans, policies, and organizations.  

We propose to accomplish this by: Building a research program around the study of leadership, gender, and security outcomes to develop our collective understanding of how gender diversity can drive more effective decision-making;

Elevating the lived experiences of diverse leaders, particularly female veterans, whose stories powerfully illustrate the value of diverse perspectives to security; and

Developing policy, doctrine, training and relevant implementation guides in order to apply lessons learned to increase the effectiveness of teams, leaders, and government and military agencies and institutions.

End state: Through the Athena Leadership Project, as a nation, we will better realize how important diverse perspectives and the application of a gender lens to security is, and this knowledge will inform doctrine, policy, and process changes. By conducting research and sharing stories; educating leaders, decision-makers, and policy professionals; and building training and implementation plans, the Athena Leadership Project will transform how government and military institutions consider leadership in the context of security – leading to greater security and stability.

The Athena Leadership Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.