Katherine Harvey Fellows Culminate Leadership Program

The grantees were AVID, Guadalupe Union Pre-K Camps, Just Communities Central Coast, Mobile Waterford, and SBCC Running Start.

Each year the Katherine Harvey Fellows Class selects a field of interest to invest in and fundraise. This year’s class focused their research and funding in the field of K-12 education and high school to college transitional assistance. Through the award of one-time grants to five nonprofit agencies/school districts, the Fellows seek to strengthen the ability of students and their families in Santa Barbara County to achieve their academic goals and provide a pathway to greater opportunity. This funding focused on two objectives:

* Programs that promote, support, and empower students in critical transition years (defined as pre-school to kindergarten, elementary school to junior high, junior high to high school or high school to college).

* Programs that result in increased levels of parent participation by preparing parents or other caregivers as partners in their child’s educational success.

The 2010-2011 class focus was to ensure that all children and their families have access to services that will help promote health, education, and general welfare. “We need philanthropy now more than ever,” said Ron Gallo, CEO and President of the Santa Barbara Foundation. “These individuals have risen to the call, taking on tough issues and seeking solutions.” Through these grants, the Fellows have expressed a commitment to developing future leaders and improving the lives of children in our community. Fulfilling this vision will be made possible through generous donations from several community members, with significant contributions by Santa Barbara Foundation, Hutton Parker Foundation, David W. Grotenhuis and Anna Gustafson-Grotenhuis, Jo and Ken Saxon, Arlington Financial Advisors, Marty and Peter Karoff, Mary and Jim Morouse, The Towbes Foundation, Jaime A. Valdez, and Daniel Zia.

Fellow Susan Salcido reflected on her personal experience saying, “We learned how to do philanthropy well, collectively working together with a focused team dynamic and values, working towards a great purpose. It was an experience to be remembered and utilized for a lifetime.”

The honored graduates were joined this morning by representatives from the five organizations as Fellow, Judy Taggart, introduced the grantees and presented the checks.

The Katherine Harvey Fellows Class of 2010-2011 represent a group of bright, committed, and outstanding young philanthropists who, through this program, have cultivated a deeper appreciation for our community and the power of philanthropy. Fellow, Patricia Madrigal expresses the privilege of this impact on a personal level saying, “The experience has allowed us a deep sense of renewal and inspiration towards committing to ensuring a healthy and successful community, while teaming up with local philanthropists of our generation.”

About The Katherine Harvey Fellows

The Katherine Harvey Fellowship (KHF) is a signature program of the Santa Barbara Foundation and is dedicated to perpetuating philanthropy throughout Santa Barbara County and to promoting community leadership. Named after past trustee, Katherine Harvey, this program was established in 1999 to honor the late philanthropist and give young leaders in our community the opportunity to engage with and learn from the most highly regarded philanthropists and organizations in our community. Fellows participate in an eighteen-month process to learn about various aspects of the non-profit sector, and the role and programs of the Foundation. They are mentored by Santa Barbara Foundation Trustees past and present, and provided with unique access to how nonprofit organizations positively impact our communities. The Class of 2010-2011 represents the seventh such group to participate. Collectively, the program has raised over $400,000 in grants distributed throughout the Santa Barbara county. Over 100 Fellows have graduated and gone on to serve in leadership roles in the non-profit, corporate and government sectors.

Current Fellows include: Dianne Gayoski Duva, Fahim Farag, Maria Garcia-Cacique, Austin Herlihy, Victoria Juarez, Patricia Madrigal, Sabina Netto, Charles Osiris, Kaye Palomarez, Christopher Pizzinat, Susan Salcido, Julie Sorenson, Judy Taggart, Jaime Valdez, and Daniel Zia.

About the Santa Barbara Foundation

The Santa Barbara Foundation is a community foundation established in 1928 to enrich the lives of the people of Santa Barbara County through philanthropy. As one of the largest private sources of funding for area nonprofits, agencies, and college bound students, the Foundation makes funds available to identify and strategically address critical community issues – to strengthen the nonprofit sector, to encourage collaboration and partnerships and to engage and align philanthropic capital with community needs in order to positively impact the county’s common good.

About the Grantees

Mobile Waterford is an interactive curriculum bringing English language and reading readiness training to the several hundred Latino four year-olds who would otherwise enter the Santa Barbara elementary schools without adequate English capacity. A van with 8 computer stations containing the Waterford program makes 8-10 stops in neighborhood locations and preschools, serving 64 to 80 children on a daily basis for the entire year prior to entry into kindergarten. Many of the parents and grandparents of children attending the van program often sit with headphones observing the computer programs along with their children. Mobile Waterford has been proven to have great effectiveness in helping Latino preschoolers acquire English and reading skills.

Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) Running Start

In Santa Barbara County there is a significant population of graduating high school seniors who do NOT plan to attend college. With multiple disadvantages including financial need, limited English skills, the need to work to help support their families, generally lower academic performance and other pressures of family life and cultural norms — many local high school students decide that going to college is just not an option. SBCC’s Running Start Program seeks out these students, and provides them with financial and motivational incentives to help them to overcome obstacles to obtaining a college education. Currently, ninety-three percent of students who participate in the program enroll at Santa Barbara City College in the subsequent fall semester.

Guadalupe Union Pre-K Camp fosters successful transitions into the educational system by preparing children for the expectations of the school environment. 60% of local youth enter Guadalupe Union School District with no opportunity to attend preschool, the Pre-K Camp provides school-readiness skills not available elsewhere and has a proven track record of increasing social and academic success for students who attend the camp. The Pre-K Camp also introduces parents to the children’s first teacher and works to teach parents how to support their child’s educational progress at home.

Just Communities Central Coast is an organization working to bring the values of diversity, inclusion, and social justice to our communities, schools, places of work, and institutions. The goal of the Just Communities’ Family Dialogue Program is to empower a diverse group of parents/guardians with knowledge about the academic achievement gap in local schools and the tools and support to be come leaders for equity in education. Graduates of the program at Dos Pueblos High School have helped to increase translation and interpretation opportunities for monolingual parents, therefore allowing these parents to be more engaged and involved. Graduates at McKinley Elementary School formed a new parent organization called PUEDE (Padres Unidos en el Desarrolo Educativo or Parents United in Educational Development. The Family Dialogue program is an element of Just Communities’ Equity in Education Initiative.

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) works in and out of the classroom to close the achievement gap and prepare all students for college through elective courses in middle and high school and family workshops. AVID is a voluntary program targeting students who would be the first in their family to attend college with a willingness to work hard and a desire to achieve. Elective teachers ensure students are prepared for benchmark college tests such as the SAT and ACT in addition to making academic progress while program coordinators teach parents to support their students in rigorous coursework and college testing as well as coordinate visits to four-year colleges and universities. AVID results are unparalleled with an average UC/CSU completion rate of 89%.