Business Women's Network 2005 Entrepreneurial Star Award

Pictured (left to right): Patricia Parker, President, Native American Management Services; Debbie Rieger, President, A-TEK, Inc.; Aaron Bernstein, Director of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships U.S. Small Business Group Microsoft Corp.; Edie Fraser, President Diversity Best Practices & Business Women's Network.

Debbie Rieger, A-TEK's President, was presented the Business Women's Network Entrepreneurial Star Award at a ceremony held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC on November 16-17, 2005.

The Entrepreneurial Star Award is presented to an individual that has blazed the trail on behalf of women as well as minority entrepreneurs in the workplace. Such strides are not limited to internal initiatives; they extend in limitless directions beyond the boundaries of the organization resulting in a positive impact on business and community at large.

The award presented on behalf of Diversity Best Practices (DBP) and Business Women's Networks (BWN) recognizes those who have:

• Broken barriers and/or served in extraordinary circumstances
• Improved the lives of people around them and/or maximized their potential
• Served as a model for others
• Shown a sustained commitment to women and diversity issues
• Shaped the future by being visionaries and asking penetrating questions
• Reached "outside the box" with breakthrough approaches to time honored practices