Dr. Tessa Albert Warschaw started to feel it as if it were a young woman’s world.

“As a therapist, I began to see that women 50-plus who were sharp, successful and driven, who weren’t getting the same support that younger women were,” Warschaw said. “We’re not really interested in the same things they are, either. There are different issues and we wanted to answer people’s questions.”

So the 73-year-old psychotherapist, life coach and author did something about it: She founded Big Thinking Women Unlimited, a Woodland Hills-based non-profit networking group for women over 50.

The 4-year-old group staged its first “50 @ 50+” awards luncheon last week at the Millennium Biltmore to honor fifty older women.

Among the honorees were County Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Los Angeles office director Billie Greer, actress Della Reese, West Hollywood City Councilwoman Abbe Land, Central City Association President Carol Schatz and Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick.

The 50 women feted at the event were selected from a group nominated by corporate partners, strategic partner women’s organizations and local community members.

Court TV anchor and attorney Rikki Klieman emceed the awards event and her husband, Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton, gave opening remarks; nearly 350 people from the local business community turned out for the event.

Century City-based MassMutual agent Kimberly Michel and the Michel Financial Group of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. were the event’s primary sponsors, contributing $15,000 to the awards luncheon, while Mullin TBG and Johnson & Johnson’s Neutrogena Corp. kicked in $5,000 each for silver sponsorships.

Annual membership for Big Thinking Women is $250 a year, and the group’s 125 members attend monthly lectures and seminars.

Anne Riley-Katz