COPACABANA BEACH, IPANEMA BEACH,



The spiritual predecessor of the California Women’s Conference, namely the California Governor & First Lady’s Conference on Women, was an annual non-partisan event, and was created in 1985 by then-Governor George Deukmejian, to address the high failure rate among women-owned businesses by giving women entrepreneurs greater access to funding and other helpful resources. Selecting the city of Long Beach as the event’s host, city officials and businesses quickly became enthusiastic supporters. Then-First Lady Gloria Deukmejian assumed responsibility for the conference, which became known as the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference. In the recent past, this conference became a star-studded event.