Lisa Bentson, president of the Friends of the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Library, was born in Seal Beach, California, and graduated from Huntington Beach High School. After graduation her work as a civilian for the Army in an Armed Forces Recreation Center took her to Berchtesgaden, Germany, for two years. Back in the U.S., she spent five years in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, working as a travel agent.
In 1981 she returned to Southern California and in 1983 joined her mother in her Leads Club company where she is now chief visionary officer.
Lisa enjoys traveling and since Leads Club has chapters worldwide, she is able to do a lot of it.
Once she was settled in Cardiff-by-the-Sea she wanted to get involved in local philanthropic activities where she could make friends. She became a member of the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce where I met her and finding her a wonderful person who was always willing to help, I knew she would be an asset to our Friends of the Library so I invited her to join our group.
She served on the board for several years before she became president and has introduced our group to some wonderful ideas, i.e., Members Monday where Friends members may choose five books at half price in our Book Nook every Monday and Friends business cards that introduce people to our organization as well as our Book Nook, where gently used books are sold for bargain prices.
Even though she has a busy schedule she finds time to volunteer in our Book Nook, as well as work at book sales and says she is amazed by the dedicated individuals who have a passion for our library and community.
In addition to the Friends, she has been a SCORE mentor for 14 years, helping local entrepreneurs start a new business or take an existing one to the next level. She is also passionate about greyhound rescue where grassroots groups save greyhounds from certain death after they are relieved of their racing duties. She is often found at our lovely new dog park watching her girl Misty enjoy her newfound freedom.
It was a lucky day when she decided to settle in our community and join our organization. We are most appreciative of the fact that Cardiff-by-the-Sea is the place that she calls home.
