On October 30, 2014 the Women's Fund was honored for giving a transformational grant of $150,000 to the Dos Puebles Engineering Academy in 2008. Amir Abo-Shaeer, Founder and Director of DPEA is pictured with Parm Williams, a longtime Women's Fund member and researcher in 2008.
On May 19, 2014, the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara was honored at the Girls Inc. of Carpinteria Women of Inspiration Luncheon. In 2013, the Women's Fund gave a transformative grant.
The grant funded a year of training for one first- and one second-year cohort (50 girls) participating in the year-round, coordinated five-year Eureka! Program.
This UCSB summer program is designed to expose young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to the university experience and to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
The Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County presented its fourth annual "Heroes for Justice" awards on May 14, 2011 to a full house at the DoubleTree Hotel. The Women's Fund of Santa Barbara was the nonprofit selected to receive this prestigious award. Pictured with Parm Williams are: Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa (honoree), Ellen Goodman (Executive Director of the Legal Aid Foundation), Allan Ghitterman (honoree) and Sylvia Barnard (Executive Director, Good Samaritan Shelter of Santa Maria - honoree).
On October 13, 2012, the Women's Fund received the Santa Barbara Education Foundation's 2012 HOPE Award, given annually to honor those who are champions of public education in our community.
The 17th Annual Wildlife Sanctuary Awards was held at the Biltmore on April 7, 2013. The event is sponsored by the SB Wildlife Care Network which rescues and rehabilitates both birds and mammals. The Women's Fund, CALM and the Garden Club were presented with awards by Irene Macias, the director of the SB Library.
"Each year the Wildlife Sanctuary Awards are presented to those whose generous donations of time, energy, and financial support have made a difference in our community, 'our sanctuary'. We are honored to celebrate those women, men, and institutions that have contributed so much to making Santa Barbara County the unique and wonderful place it is. Congratulations and sincere thanks to the 2013 Honorees."
At the annual Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Shining Star Luncheon in 2007, the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara received one of two "Shining Star" honors. The Women's Fund gift came at a critical time when the Center moved to new headquarters.
The old quarters were overcrowded and in extremely substandard condition. Finding a place was difficult because many landlords would not rent to this type of agency. Therefore, when the current location was found, SBRCC needed to immediately take the lease, with no funding for remodeling or furnishing for the interior spaces in place.
Our gift has resulted in a warm, inviting and safe space for clients in the reception area and treatment rooms of the new headquarters.
At their eighth annual Table of Life Gala In September, 2019, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara honored the Women’s Fund “which typifies the powerful impact of women taking collective action for the common good.”
In 2018, the Women’s Fund awarded the Foodbank a grant of $95,000 for a new refrigerated truck.
On September 19, the Women’s Fund received the 2018 Kiwanis Community Collaborative Award for our support of Teen Court. In May 2018, CADA – Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, received a $75,000 Women’s Fund grant to provide mental health support to help prevent possible reoffending and incarceration of Teen Court youth.
In the photograph: Pictured (left to right) Marsha Gray, President of Kiwanis; Jill Frandsen, Director of the Daniel Bryant Center; Shelley Hurst, Women's Fund Steering Chair; Sabina White, Women's Fund Researcher; Eduardo Cue, Teen Court Program Manager
Banding together to parlay small donations into large — and often transformational — grants for worthy causes, the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara “expects to award one million dollars or more in 2024, our largest grants pool ever,” shared Jamie Dufek, the all-volunteer board chair who leads this diverse “giving circle” of about 1,300 local women. Since its establishment in 2004, for the past 20 years, the Women’s Fund has been on a mission to educate and inspire women to engage in making lasting change in our community, and together they pool their charitable dollars to create a significant impact on the lives of women, children, and families in South Santa Barbara County.
At the 2007 opening of the Twelve35 Teen Center, the Women's Fund was honored as "Best Executive Producer" for donating equipment and furnishings to the Santa Barbara Teen Center! The Library/Study Room is dedicated to Harriet Miller, WF member and former city mayor. We can feel good knowing that our gift is keeping many teens off the street and out of harm's way.