> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Local YWCA names ‘women of the year’ - URL: https://www.smdp.com/local-ywca-names-women-of-the-year/ - Published: 2002-03-27T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:10:52.000Z - Author: Andrew Fixmer - Tags: local, Malibu, #archive-import Four westside women shared the honor of being named “Women of the Year” by the local YWCA. The annual fundraising dinner was held last week at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel to raise money for the organization’s many programs for women and children. Also, the organization expanded its name by changing it to the YWCA of Santa Monica/Westside to reflect its broad membership base. Members of the local YWCA live and work in 10 westside cities ranging from El Segundo to Malibu and from Hollywood to Inglewood. “Our scope has always been at-large,” said YWCA Executive Director Sally Young. “And now our name has changed to reflect that.” While this year’s honorees reflect the wide geographic region that the YWCA covers, they also are leaders in their communities. Sister Margaret Mary “Peg” Dolan, who is a religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary which is dedicated to the education and support of young women and children, spearheaded several programs at Loyola Marymount University that take students, alumni and friends into the community to help people and institutions in need. More than 1,000 people in cities around the nation have volunteered over the past six years to paint and repair homes and schools in economically depressed neighborhoods. Recently she helped in an effort to raise funds for St. Columbkille’s school in South Central Los Angeles, which was closing classrooms due to a lack of funds. Nancy Zacharias Freedman responded to a newspaper article about the decrepit state of her local fire station by founding “Adopt Fire Station 19,” a non-profit organization that raised money to help repair the fire station and improve the lives of the firemen. The program was so successful that it is being copied as a Los Angeles program to help underfunded fire departments citywide. Freedman also was highly involved in the Veterans Park Conservatory’s renovating the national cemetery and placing flags in perpetuity along Wilshire Boulevard from Veteran Boulevard to Federal Avenue. Ann Lederer, senior vice president, as well as general counsel and corporate secretary for First Federal Bank of California which is headquartered in Santa Monica, was honored for volunteering at a large number of organizations serving the community. She provides free legal services for Alliance for Children and for Public Counsel Children’s Rights projects to help families protect their legal rights. She also extends her legal expertise to Operation Hope, which operates inner-city empowerment programs. And for the last nine years she has tutored children as a part of a mentor program at Roosevelt Elementary School. Rachel Tarses was awarded the bronze star for her work with the Red Cross helping troops in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. She has served as coordinator of disaster volunteers for the Los Angeles chapter of the Red Cross and chairwoman of the Southern California Disaster Institute, a national training group for disasters. She was a member of the national Red Cross board that created a mental health program that serves victims of stress-related disasters such as the Word Trade Center tragedy. Since 1987 until the present, Tarses has been a staffing officer for national disaster operations throughout the country. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 27, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032702.pdf?ref=smdp.com)