Anti-Defamation League Honors Extraordinary Women Including Studio City's Mayim Bialik

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) will honor women from the fields of science, entertainment, public relations and law at its 18th annual Deborah Awards Women of Achievement Dinner on Thursday, April 26, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. 

The ADL’s Deborah Awards are presented annually to outstanding women whose leadership in their professions and civic contributions exemplify the qualities and ideals of the Anti-Defamation League.  Honorary co-chairs are Linda LoRe, Peter Roth and Charlie Woo. Event co-chairs are ADL leaders Jessica Babrick and Sharyn Nichols.

Being honored for their professional and philanthropic dedication to the Los Angeles community are: Mayim Bialik, Ph.D., Neuroscientist, Actress and Author; Renee White Fraser, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Fraser Communications; and Debra Wong Yang, a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office and former United States Attorney for the Central District of California.

Mistress of Ceremonies will be Jillian Reynolds, co-host of FOX 11’sGood Day LA.

The event begins with a 6 p.m. cocktail reception.  Dinner and program begin at 7 p.m.  Tickets are $400 each with sponsorship opportunities available.  Advance reservations are required.

For reservations or further information, contact ADL, (310) 446-4264 or email LA@adl.org.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is one of the nation’s premier human relations and civil rights agencies and is dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defending democratic ideals, and protecting civil rights for all. See www.adl.org/ www.adl.org/LA.

2012 ADL DEBORAH AWARDS HONOREE BIOS

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Hoya Bialik is best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the early- 1990s NBC television sitcom “Blossom.” Bialik was born in San Diego to first generation Jewish American parents, documentary film makers and teachers. Sheplayed the young Bette Midler in "Beaches" and also had guest roles on some of television's most beloved shows of the 1980s and 1990s.  Recent appearances include recurring roles on "Secret Life of the American Teenager," and her critically acclaimed role as Amy Farrah Fowler on the CBS Chuck Lorre hit, “The Big Bang Theory.”

Bialik earned a BS from UCLA and went on to the Ph.D. program in Neuroscience at UCLA, completing her doctorate in 2007.  In March 2012, Bialik released her first book on attachment parenting through Simon & Schuster, titled Beyond the Sling, which guides parents through her family’s experience with attachment parenting. Bialik writes regularly for Kveller.com. 

Bialik, who is married and has two sons, keeps a traditional Jewish home, cares for her boys with her husband all on their own, and is thrilled to be working again, as well as writing and speaking for a variety of Jewish organizations around the United States.

Renee White Fraser

Renee White Fraser is a social psychologist who has grown Fraser Communications into one of the top independent advertising agencies in Los Angeles and one of the fastest growing women owned businesses in the U.S.

As a full-service communications agency with over $50 million in billings, Fraser Communications creates award-winning, integrated advertising and public relations campaigns for such clients as Toyota, Business Wire, Metropolitan Water District, MarketSmith, East West Bank, Southern California Gas, First 5 California. The firm won “2011 Agency of the Year” Digital Media” by thinkLA, and its campaigns have received numerous industry accolades as well as national media recognition.

Fraser also has a successful radio show on CBS Radio called Unfinished Businesswhere she and co-host Betsy Berkhemer encourage and inspire entrepreneurship among listeners.

Fraser has distinguished herself and her company by “doing well by doing good.” She serves on the national board of Volunteers of America as well as the boards of United Way of Los Angeles and WISE and Healthy Aging. Fraser co-chairs the Business Leaders Task Force to end homelessness in Los Angeles, a joint effort between United Way and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.  Fraser is currently President of the International Women’s Forum, Southern California. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from USC, where she serves as an adjunct professor at the Annenberg School of Communications. Fraser has three wonderful, happily married daughters.

Debra Wong Yang

Debra Wong Yang is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Los Angeles office.  She is Co-Chair of the firm's Crisis Management Practice Group and the White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group.

Yang previously served as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, the largest office outside of Washington, D.C.  She was appointed by President George W. Bush, who made her the first Asian-American woman to serve as a United States Attorney.  After becoming United States Attorney, Ms. Yang was selected to serve on President Bush's Corporate Fraud Task Force and to chair the Attorney General's Advisory Committees on Cyber/Intellectual Property and Civil Rights.

Prior to being appointed United States Attorney, Yang was a California state judge, appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1997 and a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court bench in 2000.  As a judge, Yang acted as the Supervising Judge for the Hollywood Courthouse.  She served as an Assistant United States Attorney for approximately seven years prior to her judicial career, successfully prosecuting a number of high-profile cases. 

Yang previously served as President of The Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles, where she played an instrumental role in the creation of this new landmark for Southern California. She was a founding member and officer of the first Asian American Bar Association in Chicago, and she has been an officer and board member of the Southern California Chinese Lawyer Association. In 2002, both the Inglewood Courts and the Los Angeles City Council honored her for her long-standing commitment to victim's rights.