Monterey Park, CA—The East Los Angeles-Montebello Business and Professional Women (BPW) has selected community activist Lilian Kawaratani, as its 2021 “Woman of Achievement.” She will be honored at a dinner at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 2009 S. Garfield Avenue, Monterey Park, on Wednesday, October 27th. The meeting starts at 5:00 p.m. with the dinner starting by 5:30 p.m. Cost of the dinner is $15 by check or cash only. The dinner is open to the public, but attendees need to be vaccinated and wear a mask. Contact Linda Wilson (626) 307-5650 or lindalwilson@juno.com to make a reservation. Reservations are required as attendance will be limited due to the pandemic.

Kawaratani is an active community volunteer. Before retiring she taught for 18 years  for the Adult Education Division of the Alhambra School District for 18 years. While her children were in school she was a Brownie and Girl Scout leader. She was involved in the financing, purchasing and installation of playground equipment at Repetto Elemenary School. She helped to restart the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Monterey Park and volunteered at the festival for many years. Most of her volunteer work involved the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Memorial Library. She was actively involved in the passage of Measure C, which helped fund the addition to the library which doubled its size and also funded Sunday hours of opening. She and her husband Yukio were major donors to the library and the ground floor wing of the library is named in their honor. She helped rejuvenate the Friends of the Library and has served as its Treasurer since then. She started and taught as a volunteer the citizenship class at the library until the pandemic. She also tutored and mentored members of the class to help them become citizens of the United States. Probably more than 100 people owe their citizenship to Kawaratani’s efforts.

This recognition program is part of East Los Angeles-Montebello BPW’s celebration of National Business Women’s Week® (NBWW). National Business Women’s Week® 
lets communities, companies and organizations celebrate the contributions of workingwomen and companies that have made strides toward improving working women’s lives in their communities. Emma Dot Partridge, Executive Secretary of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, came up with the concept of National Business Women’s Week® with the first celebration being April 15-22, 1928. In 1938 NBWW moved to the third week of October. U.S. President Herbert Hoover was the first President to issue a letter recognizing NBWW and the contributions and achievements of working women. Every President since then has issued a proclamation recognizing NBWW.

East Los Angeles-Montebello BPW is a member of the California Federation of Business and Professional Women and also a member of the National Federation of
Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, inc. (NFBPWC) and BPW International. NFBPWC is 102-years-old this year and is the oldest organization of its kind in the world; devoted entirely and actively to the interests and needs of all women irrespective of their occupations and of their status. Our mission is to achieve equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information. Today, we continue the fight for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, the ratification of the CEDAW treaty and equal pay for women. Membership is open to anyone who supports this and other items on our Public Policy Statement.
The recognition dinner is open to all interested people. Attendees must be fully vaccinated and wear a mask. Reservations are required. For more information about the dinner or about BPW, contact Linda Wilson, East Los Angeles-Montebello BPW, at (626) 307-5650 or lindalwilson@juno.com.