Heart & Soul

2011 Heart and Soul Award Recipient

Heart & Soul

Dr. Martha Bernadett Founder of The Molina Foundation

dr._martha_molina_pic_0.jpg The 2011 Heart and Soul Award recognizes a prominent South Bay woman for outstanding contributions through activities with mentoring girls, working with children and other charitable activities. It also recognizes their success in business and dedication to service and excellence. The Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce and the MB Women in Business Committee has chosen Dr. Martha Bernadett & The Molina Foundation as the 2011 South Bay Conference for Women Heart & Soul Recipient.

Dr. Martha Bernadett is a Family Physician and daughter of the founder of Molina Healthcare, Dr. C. David Molina. She has been actively participating in activities related to addressing health disparities and cross cultural medicine. She has focused on disparities linked to language barriers to access and written low-literacy multi-lingual communication since the mid 1980s. After several years of clinical practice at Molina Medical Centers, she assumed progressive health plan responsibilities over medical and administrative areas including cultural and linguistic services, health education, contracting, credentialing and provider relations as well as serving as the General Manager for twenty-nine of Molinas medical practices before her current post.

Since receiving two Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awards totaling $1 million to improve Access to Healthcare for Limited English-speaking populations in 2002 under the Hablamos Juntos program, Dr. Bernadett has served as the Executive Vice President of Research and Innovation at Molina Healthcare. She founded The Molina Institute for Cultural Competency to improve healthcare access for diverse populations, Book Buddies ™, to promote early childhood and family literacy, and The Molina Foundation, a non profit organization to promote access to education and healthcare to reduce disparities experienced by underserved populations. Read more »

Previous Heart and Soul Award Recipients

Heart & Soul

2010 Heart and Soul Award Recipient

Terry Gilman Founder of Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore

Manhattan Beach resident, business owner, philanthropist, wife and mother, Terry Gilman has devoted herself to giving the underprivileged a voice, sharing a love of literature, and building community in the Los Angeles area. These are just a few of the reasons MBWIB has chosen Terry as our 2010 Heart and Soul Award recipient.

2009 Heart and Soul Award Recipient

Nancy and Jim Miller, Founders of The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation

The Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce Women in Business committee has selected Jim and Nancy Miller, founders of The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, as the recipients of this year's Heart & Soul Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals for the magnificent contributions they have made to the community. The conference, which is sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce with Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance, will honor Mr. and Mrs. Miller for their efforts in keeping their son, Jimmy's spirit alive by furthering his work.

2008 Heart and Soul Award Recipient

Jane Phillips, Founder of the Crown Jewel Club

El Segundo resident Jane Phillips and her work with the Crown Jewel Club exemplify the values of the Heart and Soul Award. The Crown Jewel Club teaches etiquette and manners, but the most important gift of the Crown Jewel Club gives its participants is increased self-esteem. As Jane has said, from her first foray into this, she "fell in love with the girls." She showed them that she cared for them and wanted them to succeed.The Crown Jewel Club teaches girls how to act - and shows them that they have the power to make choices about their behavior.