Brain Injury Center Chooses New President

“I have been very fortunate in my life and I’ve always wanted to give something back to the community,” says Mitzi Webber, a longtime volunteer with the busy Betty Clooney Center for Persons with Brain Injury.

Webber, a Century City resident, was recently elected president of the center’s foundation.

“The new position will be a tremendous responsibility, but this is where I want to concentrate my time,” she said.

The center, located in Long Beach, offers vocational and recreational services for individuals who have suffered brain injury as the result of an accident or illness.

“I’ve always been a people person,” Webber said. “I enjoy working with them on a one-on-one basis.”

As one of the center’s founding members in 1983, Webber helped plan the facility and its programs. After the center opened in 1985, she served as a member of the executive committee and chair of the public relations committee.

She said she hopes that one day the center can expand and build an independent living center. “A living center would help restore the independence and self-esteem that these individuals have lost,” Webber said.

Bet Tzedek Legal Services will honor immediate past President Alan Friedman, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Friedman, a longtime supporter of the organization, will be honored at a dinner Jan. 26 at the Century Plaza Tower in Century City.

Dorothy Rupert will coordinate West Los Angeles College’s new Institutional Advancement Program. The program, which is federally funded, is aimed at strengthening the college’s capabilities and increasing student retention.

Rupert will continue to serve as executive director of the college foundation in addition to managing the advancement program’s $2.5-million budget.

She has a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University with a bachelor’s in English from UCLA and a secondary teaching credential in English from Cal State Northridge.

Ron Hall, a Pepperdine University photographer, is one of four artists participating in the exhibition “Myths & Transfigurations” at the BC Space Gallery in Laguna Beach through Jan. 19.

Hall is a resident of Santa Monica.

Anne Wagner has been named social and special events director for Park La Brea in Los Angeles.

Her duties will include coordinating programs and events for residents and the local community.

Park La Brea is the largest apartment complex in Los Angeles with 4,200 apartments and 10,000 residents.