First published in the Oct. 20 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.
Altadena resident Hazel Perera has become chairwoman of Pasadena-based Stars’ board of directors. She takes over for Rosiris Paniagua, who held the role for three years.
Perera, a Pasadena native and Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, joined the Stars board in 2020. She is a founding member of Sarkissian+Perera Group, which ranks in the top 1% of all Berkshire Hathaway agents nationwide. She has served on the board of directors and on several advisory committees for Pasadena Foothills Association of Realtors in addition to decades of volunteer work in varying roles when she attended Lake Avenue Church.
Perera “is passionate about the mission of Stars in the community and the invaluable benefits it provides to the next generation,” according to a Stars press release. “As a daughter of immigrant parents and being raised by a single mom who valued education, Hazel has a keen awareness of the challenges families can face as they work to provide opportunities for their children.”
Perera, who graduated from Maranatha High School, holds a political science degree from Westmont College.
Stars’ previous board chair, Paniagua, is a mortgage broker and has been in the mortgage field for almost 20 years. She started volunteering locally when she joined the Junior League of Pasadena and Kids Reading to Succeed, a one-on-one Saturday reading program. She has also volunteered at Families Forward, assisting with its fall gala. Paniagua has served as a deacon at La Cañada Presbyterian Church and is becoming the elder of Outreach.
The Altadena resident is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s in sociology and communication and then attended USC for her master’s degree.
