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Celebrating Women: Westmont Women’s Leadership Council

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Hundreds turned out for Westmont's 8th Annual Women's Leadership Council Luncheon at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.

Anne Smith Towbes was recipient of the Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree Spirit of Santa Barbara Award for her years of service to the community and local nonprofits including The Granada Theatre, Unity Shoppe and Cottage Hospital. Towbes is also co-founder of The Women's Fund and the Alzheimer's Women's Initiative.

Henrietta Holsman Fore was featured speaker at Friday's event. Fore has held an array of leadership roles in business, corporate boards and, U.S. Government. Fore served as the first woman in key positions including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She also held the position of Executive Director of Unicef and Director of the U.S. Mint.

Fore encourages young women to educate themselves and specifically emphasized finance and stem.

"Learn about other cultures and learn about history and understand technology. For most of, us we think that we should be going out to get a job and selling ourselves," said Fore. "But this generation is going to be different, they're going to be creators and entrepreneurs and they're going to innovate. They're going to create businesses. So, let your mind and your curiosity take you places where we haven't been before. Make the world a better place."

Fore also stressed the importance of failing, learning from mistakes and moving forward with new knowledge.

Towbes shared what Friday's recognition meant to her, especially as a close friend to the late Ridley-Tree.

"It was such an honor to be here and invoke Leslie's spirit and memory. She was such a wonderful lady, so important in our community. She made so many organizations shine with her encouragement and her generosity. I still feel honored to be able to help organizations make our wonderful city even better."

Towbes, a former English and drama teacher, has been devoted to various philanthropic causes. She credited both of her late husbands for the continued honor of helping the Santa Barbara community: Michael Towbes, philanthropist and developer, and Bob Smith, former owner of KEYT.

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Beth Farnsworth

Beth Farnsworth is the evening anchor for KEYT News Channel 3. To learn more about Beth, click here

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