Jill Baldauf, Darlene Lasher Named ‘Women of the Year’

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley has selected Jill Baldauf of Santa Monica Canyon as Woman of the Year in the 41st Assembly district.   Simultaneously, State Senator Fran Pavley has chosen another longtime Pacific Palisades resident, Darlene Lasher, as Woman of the Year in the 23rd Senate district.   ’Jill Baldauf is a courageous, accomplished entrepreneur who has freely given her time and talent to the community,’ said Brownley, who presented Baldauf’s award during a special ceremony on the floor of the California State Assembly on March 21.   A 30-year veteran of the advertising industry, Baldauf held key positions at DDB; Brey, Ogilvy & Mather and Benton & Bowles until she formed her own agency, Ampersand Advertising, in 2003 with key client, Hasbro.   Baldauf is vice chairman of the board of Chrysalis, a nonprofit organization helping the homeless find jobs and become self-sufficient. She also serves on the boards of The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, Los Angeles Opera and Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association.   In addition, Baldauf is former chairwoman of the governing board at Canyon Elementary School and is currently co-chairing the three-day Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival at the Music Center, which next week brings 18,000 fifth graders to the Music Center for a performance by the Diavolo Dance Theater.   Baldauf and her husband, Steve Grossman, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, have two daughters (Andie and Ella) and all are avid tennis players. o o o   Darlene Lasher has served on the Board of Directors for the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) since 1994. She has also served as founder and project director for the OPCC’s Daybreak Day Center and Shelter for homeless and mentally ill women.   OPCC is the largest and most comprehensive provider of housing and services on the Westside to low-income and homeless youth, adults and families, battered women and their children, and people living with mental illness, particularly homeless mentally ill women.   Lasher received the Public Citizen of the Year award from the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers in 1995. She has also served on the seed fund board of the Liberty Hill Foundation, an organization that works for equal rights, social justice and environmental justice for the people of Los Angeles.