Conference Reflects Women’s Diversity

It was an unusual combination: aerospace career promotion, tips on car purchases, information on breast self-exams and brisk sales of pashmina scarves.

Yet the hodgepodge of topics and products offered at the 2000 California Governor’s Conference for Women on Thursday reflected recognition of the diverse roles women play in the home and at the workplace, organizers said.

The one-day event at the Long Beach Convention Center attracted an estimated 10,000 women to its nearly 30 seminars and more than 100 booths offering various services and products. The annual conference was the largest in its 14 years of existence, according to Ruth Stergiou, its executive director.

“It’s not many days when women get to take the day off and focus on their needs,” said Stergiou.

Most of those in attendance were professionals in government, business or the nonprofit sector. Some were drawn to discussions by former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers and syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington. Others said they were impressed by Lulu’s Desert Factory President Maria de Lourdes Sobrino’s tales of a Latina making it as an entrepreneur in a mostly Anglo, mostly male world.

They praised speeches by Dr. Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to go into space, and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Teacher Susan Carte, who brought a group of students from the California Academy of Math and Sciences at Cal State Dominguez Hills, said the girls were ecstatic about seeing Jemison. “They all wanted to be her,” she explained. Carte said her students, who come to the magnet school from throughout Los Angeles County, rarely get to see so many professional women role models.

Both Jemison and Richards urged women to take initiatives in public and private life.

Richards, who began by speaking about women’s health, threw in a pitch for increasing the National Institutes of Health’s spending on research for issues related to women. “A friend of mine once told me that even the lab rats at NIH were white males,” she quipped.

After encouraging women to take a more active role in their health care, Richards concluded with a knock on materialism. “Jewelry, china and crystal, all that Martha Stewart garbage don’t mean anything. . . . The only thing that matters is those you love and those who love you,” she said.

Shirley MacLaine’s musings on the metaphysical symbolism of the yin and yang in the American dollar bill seemed to confuse many. More than a few left the arena during the actress’ talk to peruse booths elsewhere in the convention center.

For some, the whole day was about informal exchanges and networking. Irma Lopez, a member of the Oxnard Women’s Political Caucus, said just being around so many women from diverse backgrounds was invigorating.

Lopez said she thought it was important that women who might not otherwise meet could reach across traditional racial and ethnic boundaries.

“I think women are better able to transcend ethnic issues because we share issues like raising children and balancing family and work,” she said.

She added, however, that while more people of color attended this year, the $90 cost still makes the event prohibitively expensive for many. “I’d like to see it evolve to include women who are not professionals. We are reinforcing ourselves, but we could lead and awaken others,” Lopez said.

Stergiou said the cost of the convention is already heavily underwritten by the event’s 40 corporate backers, which included The Times.

The event is coordinated by the governor’s office.

Gov. Gray Davis attended Thursday and presented five scholarships to women studying in the areas of business, education, health care, public service and science.