Women taking a stand
A doctor, a surfer, a community activist, a service provider — all women of the year.
Amidst the backdrop of a $175-plate chicken and orzo pilaf dinner, free-flowing wine and hundreds of supporters, the YWCA Santa Monica/Westside on Thursday night honored four Westside women for their contributions to the community at the 29th Annual Women of the Year Dinner at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.
This year’s honorees were: Mary Setterholm, founder of Santa Monica’s official surf school — the Surf Academy — and of LA Surf Bus, which provides ocean safety and surf lessons to inner city children; Santa Monica resident Janet Salomonson, M.D., whose surgical skills and dedication to volunteerism have transformed the appearance and lives of hundreds of children born with cleft palates not only in the United States, but also Central and South America; Flora Gil Krisiloff, co-founder of the Brentwood Community Council; and Patti T. Tanenbaum, the founding chairwoman of the Beverly Hills School District’s Community Service Program, which exposes students to the value of community service at an early age.
The women accepted their honors with their families and supporters cheering them on.
Mary Setterholm
A lifelong surfer, mother, businesswoman and the winner of the 1972 Women’s U.S. Surfing Championship at age 17, Mary Setterholm is the co-founder of the Women’s International Surfing Association, and founder of the Surf Academy, which in 2002, became the official surf school for the city of Santa Monica. She also is the founder of the non-profit LA Surf Bus, the only non-profit organization in the greater Los Angeles area that offers free ocean safety and surf lessons to inner city children.
When Setterholm first started LA Surf Bus, she went to the toughest neighborhoods in LA.
“I figured they think they’re tough, let a wave take them on,” she joked during her acceptance speech on Thursday. “Plus, they’d be too tired to fight.”
In all seriousness, Setterholm believes that nature is the missing link between peace and harmony with children, and the beach is a perfect neutral ground to show them that, she said.
She also understands what it means to face adversity and believes that surfing is all about perseverance. After getting married and having children, Setterholm left the marriage after years of abuse by her husband. She sought help at a shelter for battered women and children. She was familiar with the pattern of abuse since she had been abused by a baby-sitter and clergy when she was a child.
As a single mother, Setterholm worked several jobs, went back to school and turned to triathlons. In 1997, she won the U.S. Triathlon Series at Oceanside and qualified for the national championships. Then one day while bicycling, she was hit by a car.
“When I came to, I was overwhelmed by a sense of urgency, a feeling that I had unfinished business to attend to,” she told the Westside Woman, YWCA’s magazine. “While I was recovering, I went down to the beach and prayed for inspiration.”
And that was when the Surf Academy was born. The academy actively promotes and advocates on behalf of women and girls. She has developed “Surf Sisters,” an ocean safety and surfing instruction program designed specifically for women and girls, providing all the necessary equipment and instructors.
Setterholm resides in Hermosa Beach and can be found in the ocean giving lessons each morning, going to school every afternoon at Loyola Marymount University while also maintaining her family of five children and her numerous business ventures.
Janet Salomonson, M.D.
Growing up as an only child in a middle-class neighborhood in Minnesota, Janet Salomonson, M.D., led a sheltered life. So at 20 years old, she sought to broaden her experience and became a camp counselor for a group of inner-city kids.
The kids were from broken homes, lacked basic life skills and didn’t feel empowered. But by the end of the summer, after overcoming many challenges, Salomonson and her kids learned valuable lessons.
She considers that summer her wake-up call. She reapplied to medical school after being turned down once for not possessing a social conscience, according to the school’s dean. She was eventually accepted into the University of Minnesota and is now considered one of the best plastic surgeons in her field.
Salomonson began international volunteering in the mid 1990s, working with the Nicaraguan Children’s Fund, Fundacion Pediatrica Guatemalteca, Healing the Children and Rotaplast. The missions to Central and South America have been partnerships with local providers with opportunities for teaching in addition to providing cleft lip and palate reconstruction for hundreds of children.
Salomonson and her team bring hope to parents devastated by the birth of a child with severe facial deformities. She considers it an honor to be given the opportunity to improve the quality of life for so many children, both here and around the world.
“I feel a little guilty for receiving this award because I enjoy the work so much,” she said during her acceptance speech.
Salomonson began a private practice in plastic surgery in Santa Monica after completing her residency at UCLA in 1982. She is the medical director of the Cleft Palate Center at Saint John’s Health Center and is a member of the pediatrics committee. She is a clinical assistant professor of plastic surgery at USC and consults at the craniofacial program at Orthopedic Hospital in Los Angeles. She has published and presented modifications of cleft lip reconstruction at national and international conferences.
Flora Gil Krisiloff
Flora Gil Krisiloff’s parents planned to leave their comfortable lives in Hong Kong and move to America so their children could have the best education possible.
With a degree in nursing (specializing in public health), a master’s degree in nursing (with a specialty as a family nurse practitioner) and an MBA in finance and marketing, Krisiloff’s education shaped her path as a lifetime learner, risk-taker, negotiator, planner and inspirational leader.
“I want to share this award with my mom because there is no one as selfless as she is, she sacrificed a lot,” Krisiloff said.
Considered a community powerhouse, Krisiloff’s organizational and community building skills have shaped the Brentwood community. Through her volunteer efforts, Krisiloff co-established the Brentwood Community Council, an 18-seat community group that has put an indelible mark on the landscape of Brentwood. Krisiloff’s leadership and persistence has paid off. She has spent the last 20 years as a full-time volunteer, wife and mother of three sons. As a member of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Land Use Advisory Committee, she has been instrumental in fighting to save the VA property from being sold for commercial development.
Most recently, Krisiloff became the Westside Senior Field Deputy for County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
Patti T. Tanenbaum
Patti T. Tanenbaum is being recognized for her devotion to community service. Tanenbaum pioneered the effort to create a K-12 community service program for the Beverly Hills Unified School District and served as the program’s first chair for six years. She then led the effort that resulted in funding for the district in the amount of $300,000 over a six-year period. Tanenbaum has spearheaded numerous projects, including Camp Heartland, an AIDS awareness service learning project for eighth graders.
Most recently, she has been an active board member of Book Ends, a group that provides service-learning, facilitating student-run book drives to combat the critical shortage of books in many inner-city schools. With a background in teaching, she has used her talents in working with children and parents to create the effective, life changing Community Service Program for students of all ages. The program annually interfaces with more than 40 different agencies affecting a wide variety of social issues.
A member of the Community Service/Service Learning Advisory Board for more than 15 years, Tanenbaum recognizes the importance of helping children become aware of the needs of children outside their comfort zone and empowering them to help improve their world. She believes that by repeatedly giving students such experiences, throughout their schooling, it then becomes a part of them to reach out and help.
For more than 75 years, the YWCA Santa Monica/Westside has provided community service programs to women and children. The annual Women of the Year Dinner serves as a key source of funding for the organization, which operates solely on contributions from individuals, foundations, service clubs and corporations.
Community service programs of the YWCA benefit more than 2,500 women and children from 10 communities on the Westside of Los Angeles.
Proceeds fund the following YWCA programs:
• Housing and Education Program for young women emancipated from foster care, a national model program which provides shelter and guidance while young women earn an academic degree or certificate.
• LIFE program, which combines evening high school diploma classes with a child literacy/tutorial program.
• ENCORE, an exercise and support program for women who have breast cancer.
• Child Development Center, which provides on site year-round child care
• Girls In Action, a leadership program for middle school girls attending John Adams Middle School.
Sally Young, executive director of the YWCA, located at 2019 14th. St., said it is the volunteers and donors who drive the success of the organization.
“These services rely on the generosity from the people like you,” she told the packed hotel ballroom.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 13, 2006. Read the original PDF.