Rep. Adam Schiff honors Volpei-Gussow, Porto as Women of the Year
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) recently honored two women with local ties as Women of the Year for 2017.
For many years, Burbank resident Karen Volpei-Gussow, a Realtor with Keller Williams World Media Center, has volunteered on numerous boards and special committees. She is currently on the boards of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, City of Burbank Heritage Commission, Burbank Arts for All, Burbank on Parade, Burbank Business Partners, and the Keller Williams Agent Leadership Council.
Volpei-Gussow serves on committees for the Providence St. Joseph Foundation Emergency Service Campaign, Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley, Burbank Temporary Aid Center and Family Service Agency of Burbank.
Her past community involvement includes ambassador chair for the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, docent at the Burbank Historical Society’s Gordon R. Howard Museum and board member of both the Kids Community Dental Clinic and the Burbank Assn. of Realtors’ Community Service Foundation.
Volpei-Gussow was named Realtor of the Year by the Burbank Assn. of Realtors in 2012 and named Community Leader of the Year at the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley’s gala dinner in 2013.
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Betty Porto is co-owner of Porto’s Bakery & Cafe, which has locations in Burbank, Glendale, Downey and Buena Park.
The success of the Porto family stems from humble beginnings in Manzanillo, Cuba. After Fidel Castro’s violent revolution erupted in Cuba in the 1950s, Raul Sr. and his wife, Rosa, requested permission to leave the country. As they waited for approval, both Raul Sr. and Rosa were dismissed from their jobs.
To support their three children — Betty, Raul Jr. and Margarita — Rosa, a talented baker, refined her recipes and started selling her cakes to neighbors and friends.
The Porto family’s request to leave the country was eventually approved, and they entered the United States in the early 1970s. Once here, they opened a bakery in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles that quickly flourished, and Betty Porto, in addition to her siblings, was there to lend a helping hand.
Betty Porto attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles and simultaneously worked at the family’s bakery.
Upon graduating from high school, Betty Porto earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in political science from CSU Los Angeles, and UCLA, respectively.
She said her goal was to attend law school, but she changed her mind after spending time with her family at the bakery, and she said she wanted to support her parents, keeping in mind all the sacrifices they had made to give her a better life.
Over the years, Betty Porto and her siblings became increasingly involved in the community by supporting many organizations, including Glendale Healthy Kids, American Red Cross, Glendale police and fire departments, and the Alex Theatre.
For the past seven years, Betty Porto, a La Cañada Flintridge resident, has been a supporter of Union Rescue Mission, donating the remaining food from Porto’s Bakery & Café at the end of each day.
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