Monrovia Businesswoman Among L.A. County Women of the Year Award Recipients

An environmental scientist who has worked in the Santa Monica Mountains area for more than two decades and the chief of staff to a county supervisor were among nearly a dozen Los Angeles County Women of the Year award recipients honored today.

Rosi Dagit, who was chosen for the honor by Third District Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, is the senior conservation biologist and educator for the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Dagit has worked in the Santa Monica Mountains since 1987, serving as a volunteer with Arson Watch, the California Native Plant Society and the Topanga Canyon Docents. She has taken part in annual surveys of the endangered Steelhead Trout and Tidewater Gobies, as well as western pond turtles, bat bridges and California's native oaks.

As part of her work with the Resource Conservation District, Dagit teams with landowners, community stakeholders and local governments to turn information from field studies into policies.

She also organize the Topanga Creek Stream Team, whose yearly creek clean-ups include the removal of wrecked cars from the creek, and published a children's book called "Grandmother Oak" to help fund the planting of oaks at Topanga State Park.

Also honored at the 29th annual "Women of the Year" Awards and Scholarship Luncheon were:

• Alma Martinez, who is chief of staff for Supervisor Gloria Molina
• Linda Griego, president of Griego Enterprises, which oversaw the renovation of a historical 1912 firehouse into offices and a downtown restaurant
• Candace Bond McKeever, president of Strategic Solutions Group, Inc., which specializing in strategic marketing community relations and outreach
• Mariko Kahn, educational director of Pacific Asian Counseling Services, which provides mental health services to children and adults who are diagnosed with a severe mental illness
• Joan Schmidt, East Valley editor of the Mountain View News in Monrovia
• Judy A. Cooperberg, executive director of the Antelope Valley Services for Mental Health America of Los Angeles, where she is responsible for the development of a psychosocial rehabilitation program in the Antelope Valley
• Kathryn Suto, vice president and general manager of Bloomingdale's in Century City
• Brenda Lyle Dyson Robinson, a Lancaster School District educator who was chosen as "Teacher of the Year" at Sierra Elementary School
• Dr. Robina M. Smith, a breast cancer surgeon at St. Joseph Center
• Pamela Booth, head deputy of the family division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The Los Angeles County Commission for Women puts on the awards luncheon to put the spotlight on women who work to make a difference in the lives of Los Angeles County residents.

—City News Service