Every year, the Switzer Learning Center honors four incredibly dedicated, hard-working, innovative and generous women who have made significant contributions to the South Bay through their work in the community. We are proud to once again congratulate longtime Board Member and dedicated volunteer Lea Ann King for being among this year's honorees.

 

Lea Ann was nominated by Torrance City Council Member Heidi Ashcraft and honored for her work to champion social inclusion. The 2018 honorees also included Laurie Brandt, co-owner of Red Car Brewery & Restaurant, for community unity; Supervisor Janice Hahn, representing the 4th District on the LA County Board of Supervisors, for civic leadership; and Jill Smisek Maroney, current president of the Torrance Historical Society, for volunteerism. An honorary Woman of the Year award was also bestowed upon the event's emcee, Carolin Keith Wade, an equally dedicated and generous woman with a strong history of contributions to the South Bay, including the Volunteer Center.

 

Fellow Board Member Jean Adelsman presented the award to Lea Ann, noting that she is a "bias buster" who began a life after college focused on others, and she lives to bring people together. Lea Ann began her remarks by saying it is "so great to be a part of all the women who rock the South Bay" and continued with an informative civics lesson - partially for the benefit of her children and grandchildren in attendance, whom she noted as the motivation to build a more inclusive society. She spoke about her efforts to further diversity and inclusion in our community, as well as her work at the Volunteer Center.

 

Supervisor Janice Hahn summed up the contributions of the women nicely when she joined in the congratulations to her fellow honorees and said, "You are making your corner of the world so much better and so much more valuable," and we couldn't agree more!