City of Hope Orange County President Annette Walker and Chief Operating Officer Annette Morgan unveiled OC’s first region’s first cancer specialty hospital on Nov. 19, with an opening celebration attended by hundreds of business execs, local dignitaries and other community members. The six-story, 174,000-square-foot hospital opens for business on Dec. 1.
On Nov. 18, they were part of a second, smaller celebration, a dinner at Newport Beach’s Ocean 48 honoring the latest winners of the Business Journal’s Women in Business Awards.
Joining Morgan (a winner this year) and Walker (a winner in 2019, and the keynote speaker for the latest event, held on Oct. 15) were fellow 2025 winners Rebecca Hall of PR and marketing firm Idea Hall, Hagan Kappler of smart home tech services firm Daisy, Anna Ricardo of dietary supplement maker MeriCal and Katie Webb of luxe event planning firm Intertwined Events, along with the Business Journal’s Richard Reisman.
The attendees discussed various issues they’ve faced in their careers—from frequent relocations, to juggling careers and families, to having a banker suggest one winner get married, to improve the credit worthiness of their business.
Despite the tribulations, Walker thinks the future is bright for the next generation of female execs. “This is the best time in history to be a woman.”
With the newest addition to City of Hope OC’s $1.5 billion expansion coming online next month, Annette Walker has found a new mountain to scale.
This August, she’s joining friends in Northern Spain to walk the famed Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James. Walker says she’s aiming to navigate a nearly 400-mile section of the Camino Francés, or French Way, the route used by pilgrims that leads to the shrine of the apostle James. It’ll likely take over a month to complete.
Both Walker and Idea Hall’s Rebecca Hall have walked shorter stretches of the route in prior years.
Lisa Argyros is joining her father, famed local real estate exec George Argyros, in foreign relations work.
Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took up Argyros’ nomination to be the U.S. Ambassador to Latvia.
In addition to serving as a board member for several organizations, including Chapman University, New Majority, OC Boy Scouts of America and Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, she also serves as co-CEO and co-chair of the board of the Argyros Family Foundation.
George Argyros served as U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2001 to 2004.
The stars came out on Nov. 15, with the annual I Am Giving gala for Tilly’s Life Center, the Irvine-based nonprofit that tackles the youth mental health crisis by empowering teens with essential life and leadership skills.
Along with Tilly Levine, TLC’s founder and the co-founder of youth retailer Tilly’s (NYSE: TLYS), other notables in attendance at the event, dubbed Shoot for the Stars, included Tilly’s Executive Chairman and co-founder Hezy Shaked, TLC board chair Adrienne Matros and WD Land co-founder Tom Doyle.
The event raised over $457,000.
