Congressman Adam Schiff recently presented 14 outstanding women in California’s 28th congressional district with the annual Woman of the Year Award, recognizing their myriad contributions to education, health, housing, homelessness and arts initiatives in their communities.

“I am proud my district is home to so many incredible women – brilliant and hardworking individuals, many of them leaders in their fields, who go above and beyond to share their wisdom and passions with their neighbors, and to enrich our communities day in and day out,” said Schiff. “Each of these women has made a profound impact on the people and places they love. We all benefit from their dedication and expertise, and we can only hope to emulate their spirit of service in our daily lives.”

Schiff celebrated the honorees at a luncheon in Atwater Village where he thanked them for their exemplary volunteerism and service to communities in his district. See photos from the luncheon here.

The 2022 honorees include Mariam Barnes of La Crescenta, Lucy Levinsohn Berman of Sunland, Becky Gelhaar of La Cañada Flintridge, Carmenita Helligar of Burbank and Dr. Ramella Markarian of Glendale.

Mariam Barnes was born and raised in La Crescenta, and devotes her spare time giving back to youth in the community. She served on the Crescenta Valley Town Council for two terms where she focused on creating opportunities for local students, helping launch the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow program, which gives students a booth to sell their products at the Montrose Harvest Market, as well as planning workshops that focus on building self-esteem, providing information on vocational schools, interview coaching and helping students with their college applications. Barnes has also participated in local drug awareness efforts and volunteered as a mentor to young women.

Lucy Levinsohn Berman from Sunland has been a well-known leader for nearly a decade in the Sunland-Tujunga Jewish community. As an enthusiastic member of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council’s Arts, Recreation and Culture Committee, she founded Hanukkah in the Foothills, an annual inclusive celebration open to everyone that features traditional Hanukkah music, food and the Hanukkah story, and volunteered for Love The Neighborhood, a Sunland-Tujunga community beautification group. Levinsohn Berman is also a songwriter, singer and recording artist whose music has been featured in film and television.

Becky Gelhaar and her husband moved to La Cañada Flintridge in the mid-1960s, and she has been active in the community ever since. She co-founded the La Cañada Junior Women’s Club and became involved with American Red Cross, serving as president of the La Cañada Flintridge chapter and on the board of the Pasadena chapter. Gelhaar has also held several Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) chairmanships, served on the board of the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation, and as a Girl Scout leader and on the Girl Scout Council. Other organizations Gelhaar has participated in include Chapter OM, P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization), La Cañada Valley Beautiful, the Assistance League of Flintridge, and the La Cañada Flintridge Coordinating Council.

Carmenita Helligar is a successful business owner and activist, as well as a dedicated volunteer in the Burbank community. She serves on the board of Library Trustees for the City of Burbank and on the BUSD’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which fosters inclusive curriculum and equity of college prep classes for all students. Helligar is one of the founders of The Destiny Education Project, a non-profit BIPOC-led organization that strives for every student to feel safe as well as learn in an inclusive and supported educational environment. An avid supporter of small businesses, Helligar is the founder and CEO of Local As Can Bee, an e-commerce marketplace for small business owners.

Dr. Ramella Markarian of Glendale is a skilled healthcare professional who has served as vice president of Business Development at Adventist Health Glendale since 2012. In addition to leading Adventist Health Glendale’s strategic growth and development and overseeing various clinical and non-clinical departments, since 2015 she has helped organize annual medical missions to Armenia bringing together dozens of physicians, clinicians and surgeons to provide surgeries and medical consults to many Armenians living in Armenia and Artsakh. Dr. Markarian is also the founder of Glendale Healthy Woman, a program that provides free mammograms to uninsured and underinsured women in the community, as well as one of the founders of the annual Glendale Health Festival, which has been serving the healthcare needs of many underinsured and uninsured people in Glendale and neighboring communities for over a decade. Dr. Markarian also serves as a guest speaker at local high schools, colleges and universities where she avidly shares her expertise and knowledge to inspire youth.