How long have you been in Santa Barbara and what brought you here? Family and job—the usual—brought us to SB in 1982.  At the time, I had regrets about moving here from the Bay Area. Needless to say, it worked out.

What is the one word you would use to describe the WF? Powerful!

When and why did you join the WF?  I joined in 2009. I knew about the WF but had no idea that I didn’t need an invitation to join and that they offered group opportunities.

What do you do when you’re not…

Seven local nonprofits received a total of $460,000 in grants from the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara on Monday afternoon at the Montecito Country Club, bringing the organization's total contributions to the community, since it began in 2004, to more than $5.1 million.

"The Women's Fund is an all-volunteer organization based on a simple, creative model—women combining our charitable donations so we can make a larger impact in the community than most of us are able to do on our own," Women's Fund co-chair Sallie Coughlin said. "We give large grants, frequently for programs that wouldn…

The power of collective giving and its effect on communities was the emphasis of The Women’s Fund of Smith County’s Seventh Annual Power of the Purse Celebration Luncheon. More than 300 women attended the event on Tuesday at the CrossWalk Conference Center at Green Acres Baptist Church. The event, which had a theme of “In Harmony with Philanthropy,” featured Carol Palladini, founder of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara as the keynote speaker.

 As founder of The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara and that city’s Woman of the Year honoree, Ms. Palladini said she wanted to share with the…

If you build it, the saying goes, they will come. On Saturday, the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy showed off its newest handbuilt creation, the Capital Campaign Donor Wall, and people came indeed—the people whose generosity gave the award-winning educational experience the ability to build the Elings Center for Engineering Education on the Dos Pueblos High campus. Sandy Seale, DPEA Foundation president, proudly noted that all the metal panels on the wall were handmade by students and staff in the DPEA’s own machine shop. DPEA founder and Director Amir Abo-Shaeer addressed the crowd of…

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.

Women's Fund founder, Carol Palladini, to speak at Women's Fund of Smith County, Power of the Purse Luncheon on October 28, 2014.

Carol Palladini said she plans to tell the story of The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara and some of the interesting things about the organization’s 10-year journey during the upcoming event.

The luncheon, which is put on by The Women’s Fund of Smith County, is open to all women. Betsy Brush Hahn, The Women’s Fund of Smith County coordinator, said the annual luncheon provides an opportunity for the organization to celebrate women’s giving, talk about…

Annual site visit allows members to hear firsthand how their recent contributions totaling $550,000 are helping local nonprofits

The mood was particularly festive at the 10th annual Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara site visit on Wednesday as more than 200 members of the organization were greeted with the news that founder Carol Palladini had received the prestigious Woman of the Year Award from the Santa Barbara Foundation and Noozhawk the day before. 

Hundreds of friends and supporters gathered at the Four Seasons Biltmore to recognize Steve Lyons and Carol Palladini for their long-standing commitment to volunteerism and the significant impact they have had throughout the community.

Women's Fund of Santa Barbara Celebrates 10 Years of Collective Giving
If simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, then the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara has distinguished itself as one of the most sophisticated giving groups on the Central Coast. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Women's Fund has steadfastly held to a single vision: to change lives together.

An award of $90,000 from the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara will go to SBCC’s Single Parent Achievement Program to provide child-care support for low-income single mothers, allowing them to attend college.

"Thanks to this generous grant from the Women's Fund, SBCC is able to expand the Single Parent Achievement Program, providing one full year of exceptional child care,” said Vanessa Bechtel, executive director of the SBCC Foundation.