Businesswomen Honored For 'Making A Difference'.

Last Tuesday, September 19th, the Los Angeles Business Journal honored local women who have truly made a difference. At our ninth annual Women Who Make a Difference luncheon at Beverly Hills Hotel, we celebrated the accomplishments of LA's successful businesswomen, singling out seven outstanding women who have accomplished tremendous goals both as businesspeople and as humanitarians.

Selecting seven individuals for this year's special honors no easy task. The Journal received more than 100 nominees who were seriously considered -- which goes to show that there is indeed a large number of women making a difference to our communities and our society, at large. Short bios and photos of our seven outstanding honorees are presented in the pages of this special supplement. A complete list of nominees is also printed on page 42.

Special thanks are due to our panel of six judges who had: the painstaking task of reviewing the credentials and achievements of the many impressive nominees.

THE JUDGES

Kathy Aaronson is founder and CEO of The Sales Athlete, Inc. and author of the best seller "Selling on the Fast Track - How to Become a Sales Athlete" and the acclaimed "Kathy Aaronson's Compensation Guide."

Kathy Aaronson

Gail Berendzen

Gail Berendzen is founder and president of Women of Washington, Inc., a non-profit, nonpartisan organization created in 1991 and its affiliates, Women of los Angeles anf Women of Orange County.

Stacey Jones

Stacey Jones is the chief harbor engineer for the Port of Los Angeles, one of the largest and busiest containerports in the world. She is the first female chief harbor engineer in the Port's 93-year history.

Sonya K. Levy

Sonya K. Levy is the executive director of the National Association of Women Business Owners - Los Angeles Chapter. Committed to the development of women in business, the LA office boasts the fastest growing chapter of 90 NAWBO chapters nationwide.

Valerie Maxwell, Ph.D.

Dr. Maxwell is a Manhattan Beach based psychologist, She is also founder of the ADD Diagnosis and Treatment Center in Manhattan Beach and the director of the Structure of Intellect Learning, Testing and counseling Center.

Jocelyn B. Tetel

Jocelyn B. Tete[ is the Director of Advancement for the Skirball Cultural Center where she works closely with the Founder to advance the mission of Skirball through increased fundraising and public relations.

Finalists: Year 2000 Honors

Nancy A. Aossey

Nancy Aossey has been President and CEO of International Medical Corps for more than 14 years. IMC is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and medical relief programs.

A highly accomplished leader in the humanitarian relief business, she has been instrumental in bringing IMC's relief programs to the underserved populations at risk throughout the world. She has also recently been named chair of InterAction, the nation's largest coalition of organizations working toward refugee assistance, disaster relief and international development.

Blair Contratto

Blair Contratto is CEO and President of Little Company of Mary, a not-for-profit regional health care system based in the South Bay which encompasses two hospitals more than 30 individual medical and health care sites.

Her contributions to the health of well being of her community include the launch of Partners for Healthy Kids, a mobile system which brings free medical care to children throughout the South Bay. She also dramatically expanded the Mary Potter Program for Human Dignity which provides funding for the sick and dying. She is also responsible for Little Company of Mary's Women's "Wellness Center" and "Sexual Assault Response Team" Programs.

Patricia A. Means

Patricia Means is the Publisher of Turning Point Magazine, a publication dedicated to the positive images of people of color from a social and political perspective.

As a passionate advocate for minorities and women in business and society, he founded the California African American Business Summit and sits on the boards of the Jenesse Center (a shelter for battered women and children), the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital Foundation and Operation Field Trip, which provides inner city school children with free transportation for class field trips.

Gloria Pollack

Gloria Pollack is the Director of Public Affairs for Time Warner Communications where her responsibilities include public relations and community events.

She has combined her role spearheading Time Warner's community involvement and her personal dedication to the welfare of children, working with local schools on using media effectively and training parents through a PTA program called How to Take Charge of Your TV." She serves as a board member on a number of community non profit organizations and has led her company's efforts supporting the Organization for the Needs of the Elderly, the Granada Children's Theatre and other community efforts.

Carla Sanger

Carla Sanger is President and CEO of LA's BEST, an after school enrichment, education and recreation program for the City of Los Angeles.

Through LA's BEST, she has diligently worked to provide a safe and supervised after school enrichment program for the young children of Los Angeles. Under her leadership, LA's BEST serves 12,000 students (aged 5 to 12) in 69 schools and has become a national model for youth development and successful after school enrichment programs.

Anita Santiago

As president and creative director of Anita Santiago Advertising, Anita Santiago has built one of the country's most successful Spanish-language advertising agencies, dedicated to bringing blue chip clients to the Hispanic Market.

She is passionate about giving back to the community -- from refusing to work with clients that do not contribute to the good of the public (such as cigarettes and alcohol) to her involvement promoting pro bono clients such as the American Cancer Society, the American Lung association the Rainforest Foundation, AIDS Project LA, Victory Over Violence, the United Way and the little known Mary Magdalene Project, which is dedicated to timing around the lives of prostitutes.

Fran Volger M. D.

Dr, Fran Volger is President, medical Director and Founder of AIRescue Intemational, a worldwide medical air ambulance and air evacuation service company that represents the standard of excellence in the highly specialized field of aeromedicine.

She has taken her dedication to saving lives to a new level -- she cofounded a course of study at USC Medical School designed to promote humanity in medicine and enhance doctor-patient relationships. She volunteers at the Venice Family Clinic and serves on a volunteer basis as a Medical Team Leader for FEMAA's Urban Search and Rescue units of the LA County Fire Department.

Congratulations to all the honorees and thank you for providing the inspiration to Make a Difference' for the rest of us.