Athena Blackburn

Athena is a Greek-Cypriot who was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. As an entrepreneur, she co-founded and served as CFO of Serena Software, which went public in 1997.

Athena has volunteered for and supported numerous nonprofit organizations including the Junior League of San Francisco, ACLD, San Francisco Opera, Project Open Hand, San Francisco Ballet, UNICEF, Grace Cathedral, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. In addition to her local community, her philanthropy extends to the London Symphony Orchestra, New York’s Lincoln Center, and the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra. She has served on the boards of the Commonwealth Club of California and the San Francisco Symphony. As a cancer survivor, Athena was a major supporter of the Athena Troxel Blackburn Radiation Therapy Suite at California Pacific Medical Center. She continues to support women’s health issues.

Athena holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the American University of Beirut.

A strong supporter of the arts, Athena has been involved with Festival Napa Valley since its inception in 2006, and was a founding member of the Board of Directors. Along with her husband Timothy, Athena is a major sponsor of the Festival’s Blackburn Music Academy, an immersive summer conservatory for emerging professional musicians.