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Blair Raber

Position
Individual Member Liaison
Biography

Blair Raber founded the Celiac Disease Program at Children’s National Health System
in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Steve. The Program is dedicated to improving
the lives of children having this disease by pursuing innovative treatments, increasing
awareness, and improving diagnosis rates. Blair served on the Children’s Hospital
Foundation board for 10 years.
Blair and Steve have two daughters, Kate and Maggie, and a son-in-law, Will. Before
raising her family, Blair served as an environmental technical editor at SAIC, Inc. in
McLean, Virginia. Her work included researching medical waste tracking methods in
French speaking countries for the Medical Waste Management Act of 1988. Blair was
born and raised near Richmond, Virginia. She received her B.A. in French from the
University of Virginia. During the pandemic, Blair became certified as an EMT and
started a compost operation for her garden that provided homegrown berries, kale, and
varieties of lettuce.

Cece Harris

Position
Individual Member Liaison
Year Joined
2024
Biography

Cece Harris is a retired Corporate Executive from Abbott in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to that, she taught at the U Kentucky Med School, was a Clinical Lab Director, and chaired a Microbiology Dept. in an Iranian Med School. She has a PhD in Microbiology (U Oklahoma) and did post-doc studies at the Harvard School of Public Health. Cece is a past Board Chair for the American Society for Quality and the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society. In 2018, she published a memoir of her experiences in Iran entitled “Khanoum Doctor”. She and her husband bought a home in Santa Barbara in 2009. Recently widowed in 2019, she decided to make Santa Barbara her home and enjoys all it offers. She is Recording Secretary of the local DAR Chapter and serves on the Library Board of Santa Barbara. She joined the Women’s Fund in 2021 because it is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with other women and serve our community.

Chris Silverstein

Position
Membership Liaison
2023-24
Biography

Chris first came to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB. After graduating, she spent the next 20 years living and working in many beautiful cities around the world (Boston, Kyoto, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Seville, Spain) before finally returning to her favorite city of all — Santa Barbara. Chris has an MBA from UC Berkeley, worked in international finance, and spent 15 years at UC Santa Barbara in the education abroad office. Although happily settled in Santa Barbara, Chris and her husband Mark continue to explore the world as avid travelers.

Cristina Castelo Rodriguez

Position
Online Contributions Manager
2023-24
Year Joined
2021
Biography

Cristina Castelo Rodriguez has been a member of the Women’s Fund since 2021. She received her BA from UCLA with a double major in Psychology and Sociology, Masters in Counseling from LMU and Doctorate in Education from USC. She worked as a High School Counselor and College Office Director for four years. She transitioned to higher education in the Community College sector working at various colleges before obtaining a tenure Counseling position at Los Angeles Pierce College. She currently works as the Articulation Officer focusing on transfer curriculum development. Cristina has volunteered in various capacities at her children’s schools as well as the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation. Currently, Cristina is on the Women’s Funds Membership Committee assisting the Contributions Director.

Elizabeth Weems

Position
Membership Events
Year Joined
2022
Biography

Elizabeth enjoys organizing events for the Membership and Educational Events Committees. She grew up in Santa Barbara, attending Dos Pueblos High School and Santa Barbara Business College. She has extensive experience organizing large sand small scale events for the fashion and art industry. She is an accomplished professional portrait artist who has been in the arts for 30 years. She has two children, Kathryn and Charlie, both of whom reside in Los Angeles. She enjoys Pilates, Mah-Jongg and lunches with friends.

Ginny Holt

Position
Individual Member Liaison
Biography

Ginny and her husband Terry are transplants to Santa Barbara from the Chicago suburbs. They are proud parents of four children and 5 grandchildren. (Two of her daughters are new members of the Women’s Fund!) In Chicago, Ginny worked as an Audiologist and was active with several philanthropic organizations. She was on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Foundations for Women and founded a giving circle that focused on the needs of women of color in the northern suburbs. Ginny has been a member of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara since 2017. She spent several years volunteering as a Grantee Liaison. She is now a member of the Individual Member Liaison team, helping Individual Members become acclimated and engaged with the Fund. Ginny is drawn to the power of collective giving that is front and center at the Women’s Fund. She is pleased to be part of this inspiring group of generous women.

Hilary Chapman Moss

Position
Group Captain Liaison
Year Joined
2019
Biography

Hilary Chapman Moss is our newest Group Captain Liaison. Hilary has been a member of the Women's Fund since 2019 and is the captain of Dreamweavers.

Hilary grew up in Santa Barbara and attended San Marcos High School. She went to college at SMU where she played golf and earned a degree in Public Relations. Hilary returned to Santa Barbara to attend Westmont and UCSB where she received her multi subject teaching credential. Hilary taught kindergarten, second and third grades in Maryland and Virginia. Prior to that she had the privilege to home school her children for eight years in Bellevue, Washington. Hilary is happy to be back in SB teaching at Inspire HomeSchool Academy after being away for thirty years.

When she is not teaching, she enjoys playing golf, walking on the beach, being with friends and family and visiting her three grown children.

Julie Sorenson

Position
Group Captain Liaison
2022-23
Year Joined
2006
Biography

Julie Sorenson has been a member of the Women's Fund since 2006 and a captain of INSPIRED since 2008. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development/Family Studies with a minor in Psychology at Cal Poly. Her work experience began with direct care and management in group homes. She worked at Devereux for ten years, working primarily as a medical case manager. Since 2013, she has been V.P. of Customer Service for Sprigeo, a web-based reporting system for student safety. She is married with two daughters in their twenties. When her children were younger, she worked with ParentClick/SBParent.com, doing Marketing/Sales. Julie manages social media and newsletters for Leading From Within. She is also the Community Coordinator for the Katherine Harvey Fellows (KHF) alumni. A program alum from the KHF class of 2010-11, Julie is an involved community member, volunteering at local organizations. Still inspired, she is excited to share her passion for the Women's Fund by supporting both captains and members as one of the Group Captain Liaisons.

Kathy Weber

Position
Contributions Manager
2022-23
Year Joined
2009
Biography

Kathy joined the Women's Fund in 2009 and is captain of the Funding Friends group. She joined the Finance Committee as Contributions Manager in 2019. She is originally from Pasadena and has BA and MS degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Her 35-year career at the University of Michigan included information technology and bioengineering, focusing on child passenger safety. Since moving to Santa Barbara in 2004, she was active in Newcomers as newsletter editor and database manager, and she served on the SBMA Women's Board as webmaster and treasurer. Kathy is currently Secretary of the Ensemble Theatre Company Board of Directors, and she is an active supporter of the SB Symphony and the SB Maritime Museum.

Lauren Trujillo

Position
Membership Chair
2020-2021
Year Joined
2019
Biography

Lauren Trujillo first came to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB where she received a B.A. in History. She is a UCLA MLIS graduate and is the Foundation Director of the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation. Lauren is also a member of the Junior League, Santa Barbara Northside Optimist Club, Santa Barbara Young Professionals, and sits on the board of the Women’s Literary Festival of Santa Barbara. She is thrilled to join the membership team and give back to our community as a member of the Women’s Fund.

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