State Sen. Jack Scott helped organize the event along with Assemblymen Paul Krekorian and Anthony Portantino.
“For years, we had blocks in the way of the talent and ability of individuals because of the color of their skin, because of their ethnicity, because of their gender,” Scott said. “We are beginning to break those barriers down.”
Scott, who is retiring from the Legislature this year, organized the first Women in Business award ceremony in 1999 when about 100 leaders gathered, one-fifth of Friday’s attendance.
“Women in business is a phenomenon that is increasing,” he said.
The event also featured the co-owners of the Los Angeles Sparks as keynote speakers.
Katherine Goodman and Carla Christofferson bought the basketball team in 2007 after successful ventures in the entertainment and legal fields. Together, they relayed to the crowd the tribulations inherent in buying a major sports franchise and some of the limitations of working as a woman in business.
“When you get knocked down, you get back up,” Christofferson said. “For any woman in business, you know that’s your life. You just get knocked down, and the key is to get back up. Sometimes you have to come up swinging, and sometimes you have to get up and walk away. We learned this really well our first season.”
During the Sparks’ 2007 season, the team finished with a league-worst 10 wins. This season, they made the playoffs and are vying for their third WNBA championship.
While Christofferson and Goodman represented the glitz of owning a national sports team, other women business leaders who gathered at the luncheon symbolized the everyday slog in working for local organizations.
