Stories

Jeff Bochsler, Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending Katherine Harvey Fellows Jeff's career path as a senior vice president of Mortgage Lending feels almost destined. His father was in the…

Mario Mendez, Community Awareness Accountability & Action Manager/ Senior Field Staff Wilderness Youth Project, Emerging Leaders Cohort 8 After a childhood marked by movement, from Colombia to Saudi Arabia to…

Sarah York Rubin, Executive Director Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture Courage to Lead Sarah's early interest in the arts was cultivated by her parents, both public school…

Chelseá Jensen, Director of Mental Health, Good Samaritan Shelter Leading for Community Impact It was a quarter-life crisis and a period of self-reflection that led Chelseá Jensen to leave her…

Lucille Boss, Emerging Leaders Program Housing Programs Manager, County of Santa Barbara Even from a young age, Lucille Boss's career has been guided by her interests and inquisitiveness. She was…

Katherine Harvey Fellows Cohort 4, 2006-07 LFW Board Member, Emerging Leaders Facilitator It was due to the difficulties of her experience as a college student at UCSB that Katya Armistead…

Santa Barbara City Council Member Emerging Leaders Cohort 9 Santa Barbara City Council member Oscar Gutierrez always wanted to know what was going on in the world, even at a…

Shop Manager Bici Centro Emerging Leaders Cohort 9 Michael Velasquez remembers first discovering the joy of riding his bicycle when he was a child, cycling with friends around the neighborhoods…

Founder, PEAC Foundation Director of Evaluation & Programs, James S. Bower Foundation The Katherine Harvey Fellows (2010-11), Courage to Lead (2018-19) Programs Dr. Patricia Madrigal carries the lessons from her…

Executive Director, North County Rape Crisis & Child Protection Center Leading For Community Impact, 2016-17 Ann McCarty’s journey leading to her current role as executive director of the North County…

Katherine Harvey Fellows 2008-09 Former Leading From Within Board Member Senator Monique Limón discovered a passion for public service as an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley. The first…

Executive Director, Public Affairs and Communications at SBCC Emerging Leaders, 2017 Growing up, Jordan moved around a lot – from various homes around Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas to…

Co-founder and CEO of Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade Courage to Lead, 2019- 2022 Decades before Abe Powell became known as the master behind the Bucket Brigade, he was a 25-year-old…

Executive Director, Good Samaritan Shelter Leading For Community Impact Sylvia Barnard was a single mom living on welfare when she put herself through college. She believed that education was her…

Executive Director, Carpinteria Children’s Project Emerging Leaders, 2016 Teresa Alvarez knows firsthand how critical the services are that her organization, Carpinteria Children’s Project, provides. The nonprofit preschool prepares children for kindergarten…

Executive Director, Future Leaders of America Council Member, City of Santa Maria  Emerging Leaders, 2017 Cohort     When Gloria Soto’s 8th-grade guidance counselor encouraged her to apply to Future Leaders…

Development Director | Pacific Pride Foundation Katherine Harvey Fellows 2019-2020 Tyson Halseth has spent the better part of his career working for the Pacific Pride Foundation. He started fresh out…

Deputy Director | AAPI Equity Alliance Courage to Lead Participant The Tans were one of just two Asian American families at Norbert’s high school in Westchester County, just outside New…

Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director | Gateway Educational Services Courage to Lead Participant Connie comes from a long line of activist women, devoted to the idea that if you see something…

Health Education Specialist | Department of Health & Wellness (UCSB) Katherine Harvey Fellows Alumni If you wonder if positivity is contagious, Michael Kenji (Maka) Takahara’s laugh might make you a…

Program Director | Future Leaders of America Emerging Leaders Alumni At Future Leaders of America (FLA) we treat students like individuals, and at that age that’s transformative,” says Gabriela, having…

Executive Director | Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Courage to Lead Alumni  We can only be transformed for the better through art, and I am a passionate believer in that,” says…

Executive Director | Garden Court Courage to Lead Alumni Garden Court independent living community in downtown Santa Barbara is transforming low-income senior housing on a national level and significantly improving…

First 5 Santa Barbara County | Executive Director & Santa Barbara Unified School Board | President Emerging Leaders Alumni Wendy Sims-Moten has served as Executive Director of First 5 Santa…

Policy and Communications Associate | CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy) Emerging Leaders Alumni Frank Rodriguez is the person you want advocating for you. The son of…

Finance and Human Resource Director | North County Rape Crisis & Child Protection Center Emerging Leaders Alumni Karin Powers graduated from Cal Poly at the age of 40. If she…

Dr. Nicolasa “Niki” Sandoval, the first member of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians to earn a doctorate in education, never even considered going to college. She didn’t think…

The Little House by the Park is anything but little. The friendly faces and numerous activities that fill the center are driving big changes in the city of Guadalupe, thanks…

Chuck is a beam of light when you see him – always with a smile and sense of honest compassion. However, he proves that anyone can get stuck in the…

Elisa Pardo learned how a social services organization can change a life when she became a teenage parent. The Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County (CACSB) helped her in…

Partner | Bartlett, Pringle, & Wolf Katherine Harvey Fellows Alumni Danna’s talents extend well beyond her accounting and business consulting expertise. With exceptional candor and positivity, Danna juggles a big…

State Director | Community Solutions, Inc. Leading for Community Impact Alumni For someone who spent 10 years in prison, Michael Heck’s path to leadership was anything but ordinary.  And yet,…

Executive Director | Future Leaders of America, Inc. Emerging Leaders Alumni As a Latino youth, Eder Gaona-Macedo felt his voice didn’t matter. He grew up as an undocumented immigrant in…

(Former) Director of the Family Service Center | SB Unified School District Emerging Leaders Alumni Alejandra is a Santa Barbara local, having grown up intertwined in two different cultures. Her Mexican…

(Former) Community Recovery and Engagement Coordinator | Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management Katherine Harvey Fellows Alumni Ben Romo draws inspiration from his personal experience as he helps lead in disaster…