Our inaugural Spotlight, kicking off the League of Extraordinary Women’s Facebook group is Beth Sparkes, Vice President of Human Resources for the Towbes Group and a Founding Member of the League of Extraordinary Women.
In the 80’s, Beth worked at Santa Barbara Research Center (SBRC) as a cost accountant in the Space Satellite division. She enjoyed the excitement of watching a satellite start out as an idea on paper, get launched and end up in the Smithsonian. She once worked on a project that became so expensive she dubbed it “the Gucci Box” and the name stuck. It was while with SBRC that she made the transition to Human Resources.
“When a position as a human resource manager opened up in my division they approached me and asked if I’d be interested in switching careers. So much of the HR interaction was about working with people so since I already knew a lot of people from different departments it was a natural transition for me,” Beth explained.
She was first exposed to WEV in 2014 when her niece took the SET class, and then in 2015 was invited to WEV’s Empowerment is Priceless breakfast. “I was at the Fess Parker and looked around and saw many of my colleagues and people I’d known throughout my life and we were all in the same room for the same purpose and it was one of those things that magically touches you,” said Beth.
Sitting in that same room this year, Beth decided to join the League after seeing that her donation would more than cover the $2,500 cost for someone to participate in the SET class. “I just thought that if that amount could help one individual then that was a great opportunity to give back.”