WN March Luncheon

Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and the formal program will begin at 11:50. See you there!
Join us for a panel featuring some of our past ATHENAS! 

Our speakers include: Dr. Eryca Neville, Dr. Bea Smith, Brooke Berkey, Heather Hargrove.
Their bios are as follows: 

Dr. Eryca Neville: Eryca Neville is currently the Principal of Frederick Douglass High School.   She is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia College and Educational Consultant with A Brighter Day Therapeutic Services.
Eryca holds a BSBA Economics, BSBA Marketing, MEd Curriculum and Instruction, EdSp Educational Administration and a PhD Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Missouri.  She truly bleeds black and gold! 
In addition to her roles with Columbia Public Schools and Columbia College, she is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of Heart of Missouri United Way and is a board member for the Boone County History & Culture Center, HeartSpace, SEED Success, and the Flourish Initiative.  Eryca has been recognized as a NAACP Outstanding Educator, Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and she was the 2022 recipient of the ATHENA International Leadership Award.  She is proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
What’s her why?  She is the mother of 3 phenomenal children, Nicole, Nia, and Charles.  They are her absolute joy and they inspire and motivate her daily. 

Dr. Bea Smith: Beatrice B. Smith, Ph.D. is a ground-breaker for women.  The building of powerful professionals was her passion as Dean of Mizzou’s College of Human Environmental Sciences.   During her twenty-five years in that administrative position, she was recognized as a transformational land grant dean—work that led to her receiving the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Board on Human Sciences of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.  She received a Faculty-Alumni Award from MU and leadership awards at the national level where, among other roles, she chaired the legislative committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.   
As a Director of a NASDQ-traded company, she was in the rare air of fewer than a thousand women in the nation to serve on the board of a publicly traded company.  In Columbia, she was a pioneering woman in several capacities: the first woman to serve on the First National Bank board, the first female campaign chairman and president of the United Way, the first female member of Northwest Rotary Club, where she was a Paul Harris Fellow.  She has logged thousands of miles across Missouri and beyond, speaking to hundreds of women’s groups.  Columbia’s 2018 Athena Award recognized her civic engagements and multi-faceted mentoring of women.  She has been identified in local publications among “Shakers and Movers” in Columbia and as a “Woman of Influence.”  She is actively engaged on the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre board and is a trustee of the State Historical Society of Missouri, where she was on the architectural committee that conceptualized the beautiful new building on Elm Street.  She’s a member of MU’s Jefferson Club, Mizzou Botanic Garden Friends, and The Missouri 100.  Her philanthropic passions are many and diverse.  
On the personal front, she’s an inveterate international traveler who has visited nearly 100 countries.  She’s the hands-on, truck-driving manager of Smith Industrial Properties.  Hands-down, her greatest source of pride and delight is her family.  Her loftiest life success is that the “G-men”—grandsons Griffin, Garrett and Gavin, ages 17 to 25—still hug her in public.  If you bring up the topic of her Maine Coon cats, Thelma and Louise, the quality of the conversation will go downhill in a hurry.

Brooke Berkey: Brooke Berkey is Vice President and Relationship Manager for Central Bank of Boone County where she works with the bank’s clients to make the most of the products and services offered by the bank. Her talent and leadership have been recognized many times. She received the Young Athena Professional Award in 2021, was named a “20 Under 40” by the Columbia Business Times as well as receiving their “Top Salesperson” recognition two years in a row. In addition to her work life, Berkey is a community leader, having served on the executive leadership team for the American Heart Association where she chaired the 2017 Heart Ball and is the 2023 Go Red For Women chair. Active in the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Network, she served on the Chambers TRC Committee for seven years, and on the Women’s Network Steering Committee for three years where she also served as treasurer.


Heather Hargrove: Heather spent 25 years of her professional career in the hospitality industry with ventures into business development before her current position as Executive Director with Feeding Missouri.
Heather realized the importance of community and the need for individuals to become engaged and active.  One of the first decisions she made was to become a part of one of Columbia’s Rotary clubs, Sunrise Southwest in 2012.  She is now a founding member of a new Columbia Rotary Club, IMPACT, and currently serves as the President.  As part of the volunteer journey, she was invited to join the Board of Directors for The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri.  While in her second year as Chair of the Board, it was shared with her that Feeding Missouri was searching for its new Executive Director and the rest is history as they say.
In addition to Rotary, Heather also serves as Board President for in2Action, sits on the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board and is an active member with the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

Advance registration is appreciated. Online pre-registration is $20 for members and $25 for guests until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13. After the pre-registration deadline, walk-in attendees can pay at the door for $25.