On the Town: Senator Carol Liu honors the Women of the Year

Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) was late to her own party. State business was the culprit that caused the senator to be just a little tardy. But she more than made up for it by opening her La Cañada Flintridge home to honor five local women as 2012 “Women of the Year” during a cocktail reception on March 23. The honorees and several dozen attendees awaiting Liu began their celebration of Women in History Month with nibbles and libation.

The party began in earnest once the senator arrived from Pomona, where she had visited with officials at Prototypes, a just-closed facility for women offenders. But lighter business was on tap as each honoree was introduced and given a large, framed certificate.

The honorees included Dominque Evans-Bye of La Crescenta. She is a biology teacher at Clark Magnet High School in Glendale where she developed a Geographic Information System software program for mapping. Her students work with these smart maps with layers of data for analysis. Evans-Bye is an accredited scuba instructor and a member of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Dive team as a volunteer public safety diver.

Honoree Armine Hacopian immigrated to the U.S. from Iran in 1965. Knowing no English, Hacopian eventually became the first Armenian American woman elected to the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees in 2001 and served three terms as president. Hacopian has been an educator for more than 40 years as a teacher, ESL specialist and counselor. She also owns her own business, Guiding Leadership to Success Consulting Services.

Also honored was Amy Navarette. She is vice president of Glendale-based Americans United Bank, a Latino commercial bank. Navarette is also president of the Glendale Latino Assn. and a member of Glendale Kiwanis. Navarette was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and is one of 15 children. Joining Navarette at the reception was proud husband Victor Navarette and daughter Arielle Navarette, 14.

Honoree and Pasadena resident Theresa Reed is the program director of the Foster/Kinship Care Education and Independent Living Programs at Pasadena City College. Reed entered the foster care system at 13 years old. Present at the reception were her foster mother, Willie Mae Brockman, and son, Amani Francis, 11. Reed’s years in the foster care system have been her inspiration to write a series of books to encourage foster youth and their supporters.

Also recognized was Pasadena resident Esther Takei Nishio. Nishio and her family were forced to leave the West Coast for an internment camp at Santa Anita Race Track, where she was drafted as a mess hall waitress. Some time later, Nishio came to Pasadena City College (then known as Pasadena Junior College) during World War II to challenge laws barring Japanese Americans from living on the West Coast. At 19 years old, Nishio was used as a “test case” to gauge a California community’s reaction to having a returning Japanese American in their midst. She was finger-printed and had a mug shot taken by the Pasadena Police Department. Meanwhile, she received support from servicemen around the world. Nishio’s husband, Shig Nishio, was present at the reception.

After congratulating the honorees, Liu discussed the legislation she authored in reaction to the state’s prison realignment. Liu wants to reintegrate non-violent women in the community through alternative custody arrangements such as wearing bracelets or living in custodial residents in which their children are able to visit them. Through mother-child bonding the foster care system may be avoided, thereby saving the state money. “We don’t want these women separated from their children,” Liu said.

RUTH SOWBY may be reached at ruthasowby@gmail.com.