Introducing Alicia Fellows, finalist for the 2023 ATHENA Leadership Award
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March 1, 2023
For more than 30 years, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership has been honored to produce the ATHENA Awards® to support, develop, and honor women leaders in Western New York.
The BNP is pleased to introduce you to the finalists who have been selected for the 2023 ATHENA honors. This includes the ATHENA Leadership Award®, the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award®, and the ATHENA Organizational Award®, which recognizes one for-profit organization and one non-profit organization that inspire women in WNY.
We're highlighting each finalist in the weeks ahead, leading up to the Awards Luncheon. Come back often to read the profiles and you’ll learn what it means to be an ATHENA!
Celebrate all of our finalists and see the recipients announced LIVE on March 29, 2023 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.
The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is pleased to introduce you to 1 of 10 finalists in the ATHENA Leadership Award® category
Meet ATHENA Leadership Award® Finalist: Alicia Fellows
Alicia Fellows serves as Executive Director of Person Centered Services, an organization that coordinates care for more than 17,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 18 counties. She played a crucial role in designing and establishing the services the company provides.
As Executive Director, she provides leadership, direction, and strategic oversight of the organization as a whole. Alicia was previously Director of Care Coordination for PCSWNY, a non-profit set up in 2013 to prepare for the path to managed care. Before joining Person Centered Services, Alicia held various leadership roles in her 17-year tenure at Community Services for Every1, formerly Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled, serving as Care Coordination Administrator, Behavior Intervention Specialist, and Specialized Case Management Program Coordinator.
Alicia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in legal studies and a master’s degree in social work from the University at Buffalo. She sits on the Crisis Services for I/DD Advisory Board and on the OPWDD subcommittee of Erie County’s Community Services Board. She is also a board member for the nonprofit Sensational Fun and the Care Management Alliance of NY.
We asked Alicia a series of questions to get to know her better.
First Job
Alicia’s first job was at Tim Horton’s.
Career Highlights
Alicia says being a part of the startup of Person Centered Services was an amazing experience and a career highlight so far. As NYS transitioned to care coordination services, the organization built a company of 700 employees supporting over 17,000 individuals with disabilities in less than a year.
Best Piece of Advice Given Regarding Her Career
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.
Advice to Give to a Woman Just Starting in the Workplace.
Follow the path for you and only you. Decide what you want and know that it may change as you go through different phases of life and that is ok. Don’t lose your passion and always find a way to take care of yourself.
About Being an ATHENA Finalist
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized among so many other amazing women. I am very lucky to have strong and supportive women in my life who have helped me achieve success at work and in life. I hope to lead and inspire other women to be successful in whatever fulfills them.”
On Buffalo Niagara
I love all the seasons and the different activities and things to do in each season. I also love that WNY is small, and everyone feels interconnected.
Favorite Spot in Buffalo
The beach. Have a spot on Lake Erie just south of Angola that is paradise.
Added Insights
- Guilty Pleasure: Rum runner at the Key Lime House in Lantana, Florida
- Superpower: Patience
- My Friends Describe Me As: Compassionate, selfless, caring, supportive.
- If I Could Swap Lives with Someone for a Day, I’d choose: Barack Obama- so I can have lunch with Michelle Obama!
Attend the ATHENA Awards® Luncheon
The ATHENA Awards® Luncheon is the region’s most prestigious event recognizing the professional accomplishments of exceptional individuals who are dedicated to the advancement of women. Be there when the recipients are announced:
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.
REGISTER
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