From the Conference CEO & Founder

Our conference is an event that is of, by, and for the community. A thriving community is filled with dedicated volunteers who give of themselves. Similarly, our conference is powered by incredible volunteers who give of themselves year after year.

The lifeblood of a nonprofit organization or event is its volunteers . Consistent with that, an amazing team of evolving volunteers has made the SoCal Women’s Conference the premier San Gabriel Valley health conference for 21 years . Our volunteers bring their ideas, their time, their energy, their connections, their spirit, and simply their wonderful selves .

Our conference is an event that is of, by, and for the community . A thriving community is filled with dedicated volunteers who give of themselves . Similarly, our conference is powered by incredible volunteers who give of themselves year after year . We often hear that much of success simply entails just showing up . That axiom certainly applies to our conference . Our success can be directly traced to the many volunteers who keep showing up year after year . In the midst of busy personal and work lives, it takes someone special to carve time to give back to their community . We have been blessed over the years to have a group of special volunteers .

Mere words cannot do justice to the depth of my gratitude to the many wonderful volunteers who make this conference happen . Some have been with the conference since the beginning 21 years ago . I want to specifically acknowledge and thank from the bottom of my heart: Mrs . Sam Yarbrough has been a source of inspiration and strength from day one of this conference . She advised me in ways no one else could have and made introductions to other great volunteers . One of Mrs . Yarbrough’s first introductions was to the Gwen McMullins who is a member of the Pasadena chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority . Not only did Mrs . McMullins become a volunteer, but also, she brought the Deltas . The Deltas have been dedicated volunteers who have shared their expertise, served as moderators, chaired committees, and provided educational training for all 21 years of the conference . The Deltas show up and show out . Diane Franklin and DeBorrah Carter also started volunteering with the conference 21 years ago . So many many other hardworking volunteers have made this conference happen over the last 21 years . Each and every one of you holds a special place in my heart and I thank you . My gratitude also extends to our sponsors and partners . Sponsors and partners are also vital elements of a thriving community and successful events . When you find corporate or individual sponsor who understands and values what you do and the lives you can change together, you have found a true partner . We have been quite fortunate

to find multiple true partners . Our corporate sponsors have included: Aon, AT&T, Capital Group, City National Bank, City of Hope, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Edgewood Realty Partners, The Gas Company, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Methodist Hospital, and Andrew Oliver and Associates . Our individual sponsors have included: Janet Braun, Sandra Choi, Ellen Daigle, Julia Gouw, Tina Hostovich, Carolyn Williams, and Linda Williams . Our community partners have included too many nonprofits to name who have enabled us to serve over 33,000 people over the last 21 years . The last two years have brought unimaginable change and disruption to the world we knew . COVID-19 has caused not only the largest global health pandemic in 100 years, but also the greatest global economic crisis in 90 years . How we live, work, and play has been altered – likely in permanent ways that we will fully realize only in years to come . The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed longstanding inequalities in so many aspects of our society and our world . All members of our society do NOT have access to quality health care . All members of our society do NOT have access to high speed Internet, which leads to commensurate educational, vocational, and recreational consequences . All members of our society do NOT have the financial resources to withstand a figurative or literal body blow . COVID-19 has also exposed and, in many instances, made worse fault lines in our society . We have learned of the occupational risks endured by essential workers . We have learned of the vulnerability and consequences of limited or no access to health care as well as preexisting conditions . We have learned who has the luxury and safety of working from home . We have learned of the through line from slavery to today in so many areas – while no longer “Jim Crow” separate, our society remains stubbornly unequal . We have learned of American historical atrocities that have been deliberately covered up and erased from history books . Our challenge is transforming all that learning into action .

COVID-19 has caused us to rethink what really matters and who really matters . Any list of what matters begins with our health . If we have it, we have just about everything; if we don’t, we have little . COVID-19 has tragically reminded us that we are all in this life together . We are our brother’s keeper . We are our sister’s keeper . Contagious diseases respect no national boundaries, personal boundaries, or other artificial boundaries . Accordingly, personal health and community healthy are intertwined . Maintaining our personal health contributes to the health of our communities . Additionally, we cannot allow ourselves to be disillusioned or distracted by those whose sense of the “greater good” begins and ends with their selfish selves as they vehemently, and sometimes violently, oppose measures to address COVID-19 . Shortly after COVID-19 changed our world in ways we will not fully know or appreciate for years, the barbaric murder of George Floyd exposed additional, deeply troubling inequalities in our judicial and penal systems . These systems have often treated Blacks as second class citizens who are underserving of equal treatment or equal justice . The stunning, unspeakable 9:29 of video of a murder on a public street in the middle of the day vindicated the decades long, unheard cries by Blacks of police brutality . Far too often, for far too long, too many police officers treated Blacks as an occupying force would, rather than as citizens to be protected and served . The unfortunate realities exposed by the George Floyd murder extend to mistreatment of other racial minorities, women, religious minorities, the trans community, and others . Mistreatment and injustice damage the mental

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health of the victims as well as the compromised larger society . As if we needed another shock to the system, the last two years have also brought an all-out assault on the pillars of our democracy . As a disappointingly large segment of our society has contorted themselves into believing that a lost election means a stolen election, those of us who believe in our democracy are obligated to defend our democracy . We cannot allow those with ulterior motives to equate lawful protests against mistreatment with insurrections against our government and our democracy . We should fight with every fiber of our being any twisted notion that attempts to dictate which citizens are or are not worthy of the right to vote and, more chillingly, who gets to count or not count the votes cast .

Ultimately, the challenge becomes what can we do individually and collectively to create a more just society in which equality of opportunity and equality of treatment is a reality, rather than an empty, obligatory but meaningless “greeting card” type statement . More specifically, what actions do we take based on what we have learned? How do we bridge the divisive mindset of “them” vs . “us?” How do we realize that when we work together, we can create a synergy that results in 1 plus 1 equaling 3? How do we realize that our world is not a “zero sum game” in which someone has to lose for someone to win? If we think of ourselves as all being on the same human team, we can all win together . I hope this conference promotes that spirit . We need to hold ourselves and each other accountable . We cannot allow our limited, collective attention span to quickly move on to the next shiny object as longstanding problems fester and remain unsolved (often for lack of will, rather than lack of options) . We need our media to focus on facts, accuracy, and transparency, rather than selectively fixating when certain people go missing . We need our corporations to recognize that no ethnicity, gender, or religion holds a monopoly on talent or excellence and to recognize that mistreatment of their workers directly or indirectly means mistreatment of their customers . We need our government entities to serve the people, not only the well-connected or those with deep pockets . We need our nonprofits to keep on doing what they are doing and to be appropriately supported . Individually, we need to embrace the notion that “if it’s to be, it’s up to me .”

In the midst of all that has

dramatically changed in our world during the last two years, we remain committed to maintaining a constant in the form of our conference . We remain committed to the health and well-being of our community by bringing information to help everyone lead their best, healthiest lives . We remain committed to marginalized communities, to making a difference, and to rising together step by step . I thank you for sticking with us and allowing us to be of service to you and our community . To our health and 21 years more!

Lena L . Kennedy Conference CEO & Founder