This week we held the inaugural lunch of the 7 Awardees of the scholarships that I have endowed through Southwestern School of Law and Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Management PKE, Presidential Key Executive and EMBA programs.
I graduated from Pepperdine Graziadio School of Management PKE program with an MBA and from Southwestern School of Law with a JD many years ago – and set up these endowments when I sold my last business in 2007. The women who have earned these awards are stars in different ways – each of them has special attributes and have evidenced interest in Strategic Alliances and relationships of collaboration – another reason why they were chosen. They have formed their own linked-in group of support and encouragement and will be mentored by me for my lifetime. My mission is that their relationships and those with the two women each year who are added to the group in perpetuity, will outlast my lifetime as they pay it forward to each other and future generations of women in business and law.
I am also grateful to Debbie Leathers, Associate Dean of Southwestern and Kay Rosen Senior Advancement Officer of Pepperdine without whom this program could not have launched. They facilitated the promotion of the scholarships, screened the applications and selected the finalists who were presented to me for final selection. This process was arduous and took many months and effort by them and their staff. Thank you Kay and Debbie!
Here the winners are – from left to right:
- Mehrnaz Hadian MD, JD Candidate Southwestern School of Law, Intensivist Staff Physician, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Fellow of American College of Critical Care Medicine
- Larraine Segil ( me!)
- Paulette Pantoja PKE MBA Candidate, CEO BluFocus Inc
- Linda LoRe PKE MBA Former CEO Giorgio of Beverly Hills, Former CEO Frederick’s of Hollywood, CEO of InJoy Global Inc
- Phoebe Chang Ph.D, PKE MBA Candidate, Senior Scientist Lotus Clinical Research
- Esme Williams MBA Candidate, COO, Master and Muse
- Meredith Lierz JD Southwestern School of Law, MBA from Claremont Drucker School of Management ( a joint program with Southwestern School of Law) ( a star in the making…..)
- Lauren Plunkett JD Candidate, Former Director of IT Enterprise Architecture, State of Colorado
We plan to meet four times a year for lunch and will connect many times in between to ensure that the mutual support and encouragement grows.
Do join me in sending your congratulations to all of these fabulous women!
