Las Madrinas Announces Young Women to be Honored in 2022

35 families daughters will honored for their service to the Southern California community and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on December 21, 2022. 

Amidst the delights of summer celebrations and graduations, Las Madrinas announced the 35 families and their daughters who will be honored for their service to the Southern California community and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles at the Las Madrinas Ball on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. 

The young women who will be presented at the Las Madrinas Ball include: 

• Katharine Valentine Albert, daughter of Ms. Gina Michelle Valentine (Venice) and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Mark Albert (Pacific Palisades) 
• Bridget Holt Belle Baier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Monte Holt Baier (Sierra Madre)
• Ashley Keleen Beal, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Scott Evans Beal (Pacific Palisades)
• Emily Beutner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Austin Michael Beutner (Pacific Palisades)
• Charlotte Keller Cox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ward Cox II (Los Angeles)
• Katharine Alexis Damico, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Damico (Pacific Palisades)
• Marine Alexandra Degryse, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Laurent Degryse (Beverly Hills)
• Leslie Joan Dick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Alford Dick (La Canada Flintridge)
• Margaret Maureen Dietrick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Francis Dietrick (Newport Beach)
• Laurel Sofia Elliott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mikel Elliott (Santa Monica)
• Fiona Jane Fisher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Damon Richard Fisher (Pacific Palisades)
• Maureen Roulett Foley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Raymond Foley (Buffalo)
• Ella Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Blake Welton Jones (Santa Barbara)
• Georgina Katherine Maisto, daughter of Mrs. Georgina Burdine Clayton (San Francisco) and Mr. Richard Phillip Maisto (Corte Madera)
• Samantha Momtazee, daughter of Mr. John Momtazee and Dr. Callene Momtazee (Pacific Palisades)
• Molly Lorraine Morgan, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Donald Leonard Morgan III (Pasadena)
• Caroline Hughes Patterson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Herbert Patterson, junior (Pasadena)
• Maren Halverson Pennell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Halverson Pennell (Los Angeles); Paige McCarthy Pennell, daughter of 
• Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Halverson Pennell (Los Angeles)
• Charlotte Rasmussen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hamilton Rasmussen, junior (Los Angeles)
• Isabel Rawlins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Justin Eli Rawlins (Pacific Palisades)
• Carolina Mitchell Rodriguez, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mario Esteban Rodriguez (North Palm Beach)
• Isabella Ryan Rodriguez, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mario Esteban Rodriguez (North Palm Beach)
• Amelia Russell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Anthony Russell (Pacific Palisades)
• Jacqueline Margaret Sabbag, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Raymond Sabbag (Pasadena)
• Elizabeth Reeve Sykes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Tiger Sykes (Los Angeles)
• Lucy Elizabeth Thrall, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Larry Burton Thrall, junior (Malibu); Marcella Victoria Tracy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John David Tracy 
• (Los Angeles)
• Emerson Colby Waite, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Corey Addison Waite (Pasadena)
• Nicole Carolyn Warren, daughter of Ms. Andrea Estelle Niven (Los Angeles) and Mr. Ross Warren (West Hills)
• Mary Millicent Wickstrom, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Johann Wickstrom (Los Angeles)
• Elizabeth Armstrong Williams, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Haven Williams (Los Angeles)
• Emma Zafari, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reza Darius Zafari (Los Angeles). 

On April 28, 2022, these civic-minded families and their daughters gathered at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for an informational meeting and tour. Paul Viviano, President and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, spoke to the families about the impact that giving to Children’s Hospital has both for research and patient care. Dr. Alexander Judkins, Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Executive Director of the Center for Personalized Medicine, then spoke about the significance of the Las Madrinas Diagnostic Innovation Endowment. 

Through the support of the newest Las Madrinas Endowment, Dr. Judkins and his team of nearly 275 faculty, physicians, laboratorians, and researchers will work to develop a new generation of tests used to diagnose and care for children with leukemia and other types of cancer. These tests will help detect disease earlier, determine which therapies may be most effective and guide decisions that minimize the long-term side effects of treatments. 

The young women, their mothers, and their grandmothers were guests of honor at a Tea given by Las Madrinas at the home of Colleen Shea Morrissey on June 8, 2022. The President of Las Madrinas, Elizabeth Williams Shoemaker, formally welcomed the families, thanked them for their contributions and commitment to the Southern California community, and articulated gratitude for the chance to educate this year’s group of young women with philanthropic literacy, awareness, and purpose. This year the Debutante Chair is Karen Miller Wicke, and the Ball Chair is Allison Reed Dietrick. 

Las Madrinas was founded in October 1933, at the heart of the Great Depression, by 65 Southern California women who recognized a dire need to save what was then known as the Convalescent Home of Children’s Hospital. As the first Affiliate Group of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Las Madrinas has been supporting equity, quality, and innovation in pediatric medicine for 88 years. Since 1939, Las Madrinas has honored families who have demonstrated a commitment to the civic, cultural, and philanthropic life of Southern California by presenting their daughters at the annual Las Madrinas Ball. Donations made in honor of the young women, together with the annual support of Las Madrinas members and friends, have enabled Las Madrinas to give over $60 million dollars in support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, including the funding of nine Las Madrinas endowments in the last thirty-four years alone. 

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital in California and among the best in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. The hospital is also one of America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.