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Occidental Presents "Women of Power" Feb. 14

February 6, 2007

A panel of some of the country’s most distinguished women entrepreneurs and leaders will describe their paths to success in a Feb. 14 panel discussion moderated by Occidental College President Susan Westerberg Prager.

The 4 p.m. program in Thorne Hall on the Occidental campus will include a Q&A session, followed by a reception that will allow students to meet the panelists in a more informal setting.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for all of our students not only to hear the stories behind the success of these remarkable women, but to network with them as well,” said Prager.

Panelists for the program include:

  • Marthe Cohn, member of the French Resistance during World War II, winner of the Medaille Militaire, and author of Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany.
  • Marsha Johnson Evans ’68, who has served as president and CEO of the American Red Cross, head of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, one of the few women to reach this rank.
  • Renee White Fraser, Ph.D., president and CEO of Fraser Communications, the largest woman-owned advertising agency in Southern California. Honored by Advertising Age magazine as one of the “Ten brightest women in advertising,” Fraser is president of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Enterprise Institute and a founder of the Minority Advertising Training program.
  • Joanne Corday Kozberg M’69, partner in California Strategies, LLC, the national strategic consulting firm. Kozberg is the former president and CEO of the Music Center of Los Angeles County, and served as California Secretary of State from 1993 to 1998. A regent of the University of California, she also has served as Southern California director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
  • Joan A. Payden, founder, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Payden & Rygel, the $50 billion global investment firm. Past chair of the Investment Counsel Association of America, Payden also has served on the Occidental College Board of Trustees.
  • Maria de Lourdes Sobrino, founder and CEO of Anaheim-based Lulu’s Dessert Corp., one of the largest and fastest growing Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States. A native of Mexico City, Sobrino is a director of The Hispanic Press. Inc. and on the advisory board of Nacional Financiera, a Mexican investment bank, and of the NAWBO Enterprise Institute.

The panel is being presented in conjunction with the Young Presidents’ Organization-Graduates and Fred Hameetman ’61, chairman of the American Group and an Occidental trustee.