Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry Announces Sandy Knapp as 2022 Female Business Leader of the Year

The Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry (CCCBI) is revealing the two women it will honor as 2022 Female Business Leader of the Year as well as 2022 Rising Star. Sandra L. Knapp, a partner at Gawthrop Greenwood, has been named the 2022 Female Business Leader of the Year by CCCBI. The award honors the accomplishments of a female executive who has made a positive impact in her business and the region, been a champion for women in business and worked to make her community a better place. Daisy Lara, MD, of LCH Health and Community Services and Resilio Mental Health Solutions, has been named the 2022 Rising Star.

Both women will be honored at CCCBI’s Women Influencing Business Dinner to be held June 1, 2022 at White Manor County Club. Tickets are available now at chescochamber.org.

2022 Female Business Leader of the Year:

Sandra L. Knapp, Partner, Gawthrop Greenwood, Attorneys at Law

Just two years after joining Gawthrop Greenwood, PC, Sandra L. Knapp became the first woman in Chester County to be elected to manage a mid- to large-sized law firm, a position to which she was re-elected in January 2018 and completed in January 2021. A nationally recognized leader in transportation law, Knapp is also a highly respected practitioner in business law, commercial transactions, finance, banking and real estate law.

Under Knapp’s leadership, Gawthrop Greenwood  navigated the onset of COVID-19 while maintaining the entirety of its valued workforce. The pandemic began just as Knapp completed management of a complete remodel of the firm’s West Chester headquarters to accommodate the flexible work and meeting spaces required in a modern office environment. Knapp was also instrumental in opening the firm’s Wilmington office and was responsible for the relocation of that office to expanded headquarters to accommodate client demand and growth in the region. She has also focused on the firm’s mentorship program for young lawyers, including for young women in the law. At Gawthrop Greenwood, women comprise 40 percent of partners with projected growth.

Knapp serves on the Chester County Economic Development Council’s Global Business Advisors group, which helps companies grow internationally and provides assistance to foreign companies looking to locate or expand in Chester County. She serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Greater Brandywine and is a driving force behind Gawthrop Greenwood’s support of YMCA initiatives. She has also championed Gawthrop Greenwood’s Community Service Leave policy, which provides flexibility in work schedules as well as a single paid workday toward a community service project of an employee’s choice.

2022 Female Rising Star of the Year:

Daisy Lara, MD, of LCH Health and Community Services & Resilio Mental Health Solutions

Dr. Lara is double board-certified by The American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. She has extensive advance practice nursing experience in both outpatient and inpatient settings. She has spent years diagnosing, treating, and helping adult, geriatric and adolescent individuals in Chester County to manage their acute and chronic mental health illnesses. She attained her doctorate from Wilmington University and focused her DNP project on the integration of a Spanish speaking Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner within a primary care office. She was adjunct faculty at University of Pennsylvania nursing program and continues to mentor nursing students in collaboration with the Minority Fellowship Program, NAHN Philadelphia and PA-ACCEL Lincoln University Mentorship Program.

Dr. Lara is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), American Nurses Association (ANA), Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners ChesMont chapter, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She was appointed Fellow for the Minority Fellowship Program for her leadership in mental health and substance use disorders, prevention, treatment and recovery in nursing. She is a member of the Equity Task Force at Collegium Charter School in Exton, PA.  She is also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) and is the most recent past President of the Philadelphia Chapter.