Updated 12:07 p.m. April 27. To clarify, Marlene Carney was an interim executive director for the La Verne Chamber of Commerce.

The work that shapes a community doesn’t always come with recognition. In La Verne and across the San Gabriel Valley, it’s often happening quietly—in police training rooms, city meetings and arts spaces.

Each year, state Sen. Susan Rubio’s Women of the Year awards seek to bring that work into the spotlight. In March, La Verne Police Officer Adriana Ratiu, community volunteer Marlene Carney and Pomona arts advocate Margaret Inserra were among those honored for Senate District 22.

The awards are part of a statewide tradition during Women’s History Month. This year’s ceremony, held at the Covina Performing Arts Center, recognized 11 women from across the district.

The honorees’ work spans public safety, civic decision-making, education, healthcare, business, and the arts—areas that shape daily life in local communities.

Adriana Ratiu joined the La Verne Police Department in 2017, but said it took time to push past her own hesitation before taking the next step in her career. She entered the police academy in January 2022.

“The academy always scared me,” she said. “I told myself, it’s now or never.”

She submitted her application and never looked back, building experience across patrol, the bike team, field training, peer support, and recruitment. She recently became the department’s first female drone operator and said she hopes to make detective.

“I’m learning every day,” she said. “The learning never ends.”

Police Chief Sam Gonzalez, who nominated Ratiu, said her impact extends beyond her assignments. As a field training officer, she helps shape the department’s future by mentoring new recruits.

“They’re the future leaders of the organization,” he said. “She’s very positive and really provides an impactful, lasting impression on her trainees.”

Marlene Carney’s path into civic life grew out of what she describes as a longstanding sense of responsibility to others. A former executive director of the Irwindale Chamber of Commerce, now president of the La Verne-San Dimas Women’s Club, she also serves on the City of La Verne’s Planning Commission. Carney also served as interim executive director of the La Verne Chamber of Commerce.

“The way I was raised was you show compassion and tolerance and charity to people that are having a tough time,” she said. “That’s always been part of me.”

City Manager Ken Domer, who worked with Carney during a transition period at the Chamber, said much of her impact happens behind the scenes.

“Marlene does a lot of work behind the scenes, so most people do not know the full extent of the service she provides,” he wrote in an email.

Margaret Inserra, executive director of the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, has spent more than three decades building opportunities for artists of all ages. Her work in the region’s arts community has focused on expanding access and fostering creative development, contributing to what nominators described as a lasting cultural legacy. I was unable to reach Inserra for an interview before publication.

The honorees gathered in Covina represented a wide cross-section of the district—different cities, professions and paths into public life.

“For far too long, women, especially women of color from underserved communities, have been overlooked and sidelined, even as they have always been pioneers and leaders in their own right,” Rubio wrote in an email.

She said she hopes the recognition sends a broader message beyond the ceremony itself.

“I hope it sends a message to everyone watching, especially young girls, that their voices, their leadership, and their dreams belong in every space.”