Women of Inspiration

Every year, Girls Inc. of Carpinteria honors “Women of Inspiration” at an annual luncheon. The co-chairs Dawn Howard and Jacquelyn Pawela–Crew and their committee worked their magic – turning the gymnasium into a springtime luncheon garden of yellow and white. I wanted to win one of the centerpieces, they were such beautiful bouquets, but it didn’t happen.

The masters of ceremonies were all members of Girls Inc.: Alitza Gonzalez, 16; Laura Flores 16; and Monica Delgado, 14. They presented the 2019 Girls Inc. Scholars: Monica Delgado, National 8th grade scholarship; Jazmin Martinez, Camilla L. Calene Griffin Scholarship; Jazmin Vivero, Fuel Her Fire Scholarship; Alexa Silva, Patty and Terry Bliss Scholarship and Karla Marin, Strong Smart & Bold Senior Awards. The three Women of Inspiration are Maeve Juarez, Gail Persoon, and Emilie Neumann from the Weingard Foundation. Maeve is a Wildland Fire Specialist for the Montecito Fire Department with nearly two decades of experience working for the Los Padres National Forest. The last four years she was a Battalion Chief on the Ojai Ranger District. She has many awards to her credit besides being a wife to husband Andy (also a fire fighter) and a mom to three children.

Gail Persoon is a dedicated community volunteer and longtime Girls Inc. supporter and board member. She and her husband, Johannes, own a flower growing business. She is a past board president of Girls Inc., Family Services Agency, and Santa Barbara Schools Association. She’s volunteered in classrooms at several schools and many more groups. She’s been a Junior League Sustainer of the Year in 2002 and Girl Scout Woman of Distinction in 2003.

Emilie Neumann has been with the Weingart Foundation for more than eight years. The Foundation is a dedicated supporter of Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. She is also a Girls Inc. alumna and participated in programming at the Girls Club, before it became known as Girls Inc. The Foundation began in 1951 and has granted more than $950 million to support organizations addressing community needs.

Keynote speaker Jessica Clark attended Girls Inc. of Carpinteria, which was then known as the Girls Club. She is the recipient of the Carpinteria Chamber of Commerce 2010 Small Business of the Year award and Girls Inc.’s 2008 Women of Inspiration award. She took the Strong, Smart, and Bold motto and ran with it. She now owns five restaurants and manages 150 employees. She and her husband have Corktree Cellars and Peebee & Jay’s in Carpinteria and are involved in Port Hueneme as well.

As Jessica said, “I am so humbled and honored to be speaking at this year’s luncheon. I am continuously in awe of the enormously positive effect Girls Inc. has on young girls in our community and am a huge supporter of their mission.”  Her speech was all about support and how we all need it at one time or another. She told us about her hard times being widowed at 26 and business problems with the depression in 2008 and how many people had her back. Her “village” helped her through. Jessica wanted to touch the audience with her talk and she did.

Interim executive director Lisa Murphy Rivas praised Jessica for giving back so much and her success especially since she’s a product of Girls Inc. Board president Theresa Huerta thanked the 250 attendees and called the winning number for the flowers – five. I lost. Oh, well, I’ll try again next year.

Girls Inc. was founded in 1971 as a summer camp for 33 girls. It now proudly serves more than 700 girls and young women to be strong, smart, and bold.