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# Women of the year for 2002 selected, honored
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/women-of-the-year-for-2002-selected-honored/
- Published: 2003-01-30T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:26:26.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import, Homeless

*Dinner highlights good works and deeds*

*By Daily Press staff*

Four women heavily involved in the Santa Monica community were honored on Tuesday for being YWCA’s “Women of the Year.”

The women are Julia Brownley, a Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Board member; Karen Hill-Scott, a child development expert; Patrice Weldon, a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica and Elizabeth Tarvin, a longtime teacher at Carlthorp School in Santa Monica.

Brownley, a Santa Monica resident, has been on the school board since 1994 and is seen at many community functions, usually through her volunteer efforts on advisory committees. She is described as being a champion of children’s educational rights and has spearheaded the board’s involvement in academic reform, including class size reduction, adoption of cohesive and progressive instructional materials in literacy and mathematics. She’s also been active in intervention programs to help bridge achievement gaps and social programs that assist students and families outside the educational environment. An MBA graduate of American University, Brownley is active in many organizations including the League of Women Voters, the National Women’s Political Caucus and the board of directors of Family Services of Santa Monica.

Hill-Scott is a child development expert who has had a wide-ranging career that blends university teaching, research, consulting and public service. She is the co-founder of Crystal Stairs, one of California’s largest nonprofit child development agencies. Crystal Stairs was founded to provide safe, affordable child care to welfare and low-income mothers and families. Hill-Scott also teaches at UCLA’s School of Public Policy and UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management. She has served on a number of boards and commissions. As president of her consulting firm, Hill-Scott provides content consulting for clients that include Discover Kids/NBC, the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and the Jim Henderson Company. Dr. Hill-Scott lives in Ladera Heights.

Weldon, also known as “Miss P,” is described as a source of compassion and inspiration to the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica, where she volunteers as the head of the club’s kitchen, among other duties. Miss P has raised two children, as well as two step-children and her deceased brother’s three children. Miss P also contributes her time to her church, the Windsor Hill Community Learning Center and Upward Bound, as well as local hospitals, among others. In the past five years, she has donated more than 3,000 hours of volunteer service.

Tarvin has been a teacher at Carlthorp School for more than 18 years and has dedicated her life to children and teaching them the joy of helping others. Through her early volunteer work with organizations that feed and clothe homeless youth, Tarvin realized more people needed to be included. She is the founder of the Carlthorp Services Program, established in 1996 to support a variety of local organizations and to involve both students and parents. Tarvin continues to volunteer for numerous nonprofits, including Schools on Wheels, St. Joseph’s Center in Venice and Temple Israel. A native of England, Tarvin lives in Santa Monica.

For more than 70 years, the YWCA Santa Monica/Westside has provided community services programs to women and children. Proceeds from the “Women of the Year” dinner support service programs, including a housing and education program for young women emancipated from foster care. The program provides housing, food, job preparation, independent living skills and mental health services.

Jane Kaczmarek, star of Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle,” and her husband, Bradley Whitford an actor on “The West Wing,” will be masters of ceremonies for the dinner honoring the “Women of the Year” on March 20 at the Loew’s Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/013003-04_02.jpg)

(Photo: Courtesy Photo)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 30, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/013003.pdf?ref=smdp.com)