With her professional drive and excellence, unwavering commitment to the community, and a mentor to many young women, Sarah Borland, this year’s ATHENA Leadership Award Recipient, embodies the values of what the award stands for.

Sarah has distinguished herself in the legal profession with the highest standards of excellence. After earning her Juris Doctor and an LLM in Comparative Legal Theory from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, she practiced in New York before returning to her hometown of Wilkes-Barre in 2018. She joined Borland and Borland, L.L.P., where she became a partner in 2021. Her legal practice is diverse, focusing on family law, estate planning and administration, and federal employment and discrimination law. In addition to her professional work, many know Sarah for her dedication to numerous organizations in our community. 

While still a student at E.L. Meyers High School, Sarah founded their school’s speech and debate team and would help build the club from the ground up. She would continue to be involved in leading the team for two decades, even while attending school or working in New York. In this role, she guided countless young women, fostering skills that would serve them in their future careers; many of the women she mentored have pursued successful careers in fields such as law, government, finance, and social work, and they continue to seek her advice and support on a regular basis. 

Sarah has also been a dedicated volunteer to Valley Santa, an organization founded by her parents. In this role, for nearly her entire life, she has spent from mid-October to December 24th organizing, wrapping, and delivering holiday gifts to kids who, for a variety of reasons, would not receive anything for the Christmas holiday. This effort supports over 4,000 children in our area annually. 

In addition to the above, she also serves as the current President of the Board of Directors for the Osterhout Free Library, First Vice President of the Family Service Association, Vice President of Valley Santa and Northeast Sight Services, a board member for CASA of Luzerne County, the Corresponding Secretary for the Fine Arts Fiesta, a member of the Rotary Club of Wilkes-Barre, a pro-bono legal counsel to the Rainbow Alliance, and an alumna of Leadership Wilkes-Barre, where she later served on its Advisory Council.

Thank you to Riggs Asset Management for sponsoring this Award!  

Join us on Thursday, November 13th at Mohegan Pennsylvania for an evening of connection and to celebrate with our award recipients! Register on our events page here.