Activating Equity in the Central Coast

Live virtual event on Wednesday, October 19, 2022
9:00 am – 12:30 pm PDT

Tarek Azzam, PhD | he/his

Professor, Department of Education, Center for Evaluation and Assessment
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Tarek is a Professor in the Department of Education. Tarek’s research focuses on developing new methods suited for real-world evaluations. These methods attempt to address some of the logistical, political, and technical challenges that evaluators commonly face in practice. His work aims to improve the rigor and credibility of evaluations and increase its potential impact on programs and policies. His research work involves studying the impact of politics on the evaluation process, and the integration of new technologies and resources, such as crowdsourcing, to develop new evaluation-specific methodologies.

Tarek has also been involved in multiple research and evaluation projects that have included the evaluation of student academic and retention programs at the K–12 and higher education levels, Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) education programs, children’s health programs, and international schools and development programs. He is also the director of the Center for Evaluation & Assessment (CEA) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an active member of the American Evaluation Association.

Jonnie Williams, PsyD | she/her

Founder & Principal Consultant
Evolve Equity

Jonnie is a licensed trauma psychologist and independent consultant. As the strategic planning consultant for the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative, she is honored to participate as a 2022 Partnership for Excellence speaker.
Jonnie is an enrolled member of the Tódich’ii’nii Clan Diné Nation, recognized Indigenous community leader, and recipient of the prestigious “Native American 40 Under 40” national award. She consults on best-practices for integrated clinical care for AI/AN children, as a member of a site visit consultation team for the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Native American Child Health.

As a direct service provider and credentialed health service psychologist, Dr. Williams treats mental health disorders in an integrated care setting. In addition to clinical services, she has expertise in community-based participatory research for federally-funded system change and prevention initiatives. She specializes in trauma-informed program design, implementation, and evaluation.

Jonnie is the Founder & Principal Consultant for Evolve Equity, whose mission is to advance equity and systems change through indigenous worldview and trauma-informed practices. Evolve Equity services include training, technical assistance, curriculum development, and evaluation.

Stacie R. Furia, PhD | she/her

Learning and Evaluation Manager
Santa Barbara Foundation

Stacie’s mission in life is to use data to make the world a better place. The Santa Barbara Foundation allows her to apply that passion in support of an organization with an extensive history of creating positive impact. She feels privileged to work with so many smart people devoting their talents in service to our community.

As Learning and Evaluation Manager, Stacie collaborates across teams to design and implement evaluation activities for programs, departments, and the organization. She applies evaluation insights to continually improve the quality of our programs and expand their impact.

Before joining the Santa Barbara Foundation, Stacie’s work focused on program and policy evaluation. Her projects supported equal access to military service for people who identify as LGBTQ+, increasing the impact of international aid in war-torn villages in Afghanistan, increasing educational access for students from under-resourced communities in the United States, as well as ensuring diverse populations have a positive university experience while studying at home and abroad. She earned her B.A. in Sociology and Gender Studies from Vanderbilt University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara.

Gary Clark | he/him

Director of the Collaboration for Social Impact
Santa Barbara Foundation

Gary grew up in a small, semi-rural town with a population of 1,500 and learned the value of community at a very young age. His key inspiration for working in the philanthropic sector is to help build and support a community where everyone feels they belong and are valued and appreciated for their contributions.

As the Director of the Collaboration for Social Impact, Gary brings his varied experience and collaborative leadership style to develop strategic partnerships, facilitate community connections and enhance nonprofit sector leadership and capacity. In addition to overseeing the Small Capacity Building Grant program, he focuses on identifying areas where the nonprofit sector needs support, and then works to build alliances and collaborations between businesses, nonprofits and government agencies to meet those needs.

Most recently, Gary was a member of the leadership team at The Fund for Santa Barbara. As Director of Capacity Building, his work served and fostered intersectionality among diverse community-based groups addressing the root causes of community problems. This included a robust nonprofit professional development program featuring nationally recognized trainers as well as the delivery of over 1,000 hours of consulting annually by a team of local issue and knowledge area experts. In addition, he co-developed and co-led a collaboration with the Santa Barbara Independent to launch Santa Barbara Gives!, which has raised over $1,000,000 for Santa Barbara County nonprofit organizations. He is a lifelong community advocate who transitioned a successful marketing/business development career in the software industry to the philanthropic sector. He holds a BA in Communications from UC Santa Barbara.

Lauren Trujillo | she/her

Director
Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation

Lauren Trujillo first came to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB where she received a B.A. in History. She received her Masters in Library and Information Science from UCLA and has worked with several nonprofits and organizations in Santa Barbara including the Isla Vista Memorial Project, the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. She sits on the board for the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara, United for Libraries, Women’s Literary Voices, the Northside Optimist Club, Association for Fundraising Professionals, EDC, and is a member of the Junior League of Santa Barbara.

Kathleen Knight | she/her/ella

Capacity Building Manager
The Fund for Santa Barbara

Kathleen is the Capacity Building Manager at The Fund for Santa Barbara, where she works with the community to advance progressive social change in the Central Coast. She manages the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative (CCREI), a collaborative community project that brings together diverse sectors, groups, and people to co-create regional transformation for equity. Her framework, rooted in recognition of our interconnectedness, is influenced by grassroots organizing experiences while living with and learning from communities in Costa Rica, and her background as a tropical environmental scientist.

Marcos Vargas | he/his/el

Executive Director
The Fund for Santa Barbara

Marcos is the Executive Director of the Fund for Santa Barbara. Prior to this, he served for fourteen years as the founding Executive Director of CAUSE, a social justice organization serving the California Central Coast.

Marcos’ non-profit experience also includes serving as the Executive Director of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latinx community advocacy and multi-service organization, and the Director of Planning for the United Way of Ventura County. He currently serves on several nonprofit boards, including the McCune Foundation, Runners for Public Lands, and Future Leaders of America. Awards have included the Outstanding Citizen Award from the
California Federation of Teachers, Cesar Chavez Leadership Award from the United Farm Workers, Earth Summit Leadership Award from the Ventura County Citizens for Peaceful Resolution, and Leadership Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus of Ventura County.

Marcos has a doctorate and masters degree in urban planning from UCLA. His dissertation addresses the expanding public policy and community development role of community-based organizations of color in California. A strong advocate for indigenous peoples rights, Marcos sees Native ceremonies as his medicine for bringing balance to his life, and connecting to the land, the creator, and the spirit of the land’s first people.

Rubayi Estes | she/her

Vice President, Programs
Santa Barbara Foundation

Rubayi is Vice President for Programs at the Santa Barbara Foundation. She uses collaborative learning strategies to strengthen the capacity of local organizations so they can achieve better outcomes with and for their communities. Her work draws from multiple disciplines including program management, evaluation, environmental action, public policy, and information technology. The focus of her work is building bridges between community-based organizations and civic systems to advance community health and equity.

Prior to the Santa Barbara Foundation, she was an independent evaluation and strategy consultant on projects for Open Health Systems Laboratory, World Bank, Orfalea Foundation, Root Change, Save the Children, and Oxfam International, among others. Her professional experience includes the private sector with International Business Incubator and Schering-Plough Biopharma in California’s Bay Area, as well as government with cities of Palo Alto and Goleta, and the 4th Congressional District of Massachusetts, United States.

She has a BA in Global Studies with a socio-economic and anthropological emphasis from UC Santa Barbara, and holds an MA in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, with certifications in Development Project Management and Global Peace and Security.