Rebecca Anderson’s Journey from SBCC to Lotusland

The Ganna Walska Lotusland CEO Shares About Her Time at Santa Barbara City College

Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Branded Content Presented by Santa Barbara City College Office of Communications

When Rebecca Anderson, now Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Ganna Walska Lotusland, began her studies at Santa Barbara City College in 1994, she had a vision of a life of service.

“Early on I became passionate about volunteerism and community service,” she recalled from the conference room at Lotusland, which overlooks the blooming rose garden.

At just 16, she began volunteering at the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center—one of her first community service experiences. That formative commitment sparked something deeper: a commitment to service. She also had a curiosity about the world beyond Santa Barbara. She realized that to learn about people, she had to see the world. So, she enrolled in SBCC’s study abroad program.

“The world was my oyster,” she joked. “I mean, that’s cliché, but these experiences made me a global citizen at a young age.”

Living and studying abroad via SBCC in Cambridge, England, and Florence, Italy, sparked her fascination with people and culture. “Travel has informed my career,” she said. “It’s about the intersection of people, science, cultural heritage, and environmental protection.”

Anderson grew up in Santa Barbara, where her father, Ron Adler, taught in the communications department at SBCC for 27 years. She remembers visiting the campus often:

“He had a significant career at City College,” she mused. “It was, in many ways, the backdrop to my childhood.”

At SBCC, Anderson encountered teachers who made learning exciting. One such teacher, Marshall Hattori, taught English using lyrics from modern music.

“He was a unique teacher,” she recalled. “His class opened a different type of learning experience.”

She also fondly remembered film studies professor Mace Perona, who created the SBCC course Literature and Film. He was known for his deep, insightful interpretations of cinema—“a master class on film,” Anderson recalled. Perona’s class sparked her curiosity through his passionate approach to art, design, and film analysis.

After SBCC, Anderson transferred to UC Santa Cruz, where she graduated in 1998 with a B.A. in sociology. Soon after, she took her first nonprofit role at Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, managing a mentoring program that connected teenage mothers with experienced mothers in the community.

Following this, she became Director of Development at CALM, where she discovered a passion for nonprofit fundraising. It was then that she returned to school to earn a master’s degree in organizational management and continued her career at Cottage Health System and the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, excelling in institutional advancement.

She was initially drawn to Lotusland for its striking beauty. Her grandfather, Eugene Weston III, was an accomplished architect, and her grandmother, a designer.

“I grew up appreciating aesthetic beauty,” she shared.

But it was more than that. She saw the garden’s cultural and environmental value—and the challenge of preserving it—as a new calling.

She has held several roles at Lotusland, first as Director of Development, and then as Executive Director and CEO in 2024. In each of her career roles she’s asked: How can I make a lasting impact?

She saw an opportunity to work with the community and the Lotusland board to “save, restore, and sustain not only the living collections, but the architecture, artifacts, and art” at Lotusland.

“This drives my sense of purpose and motivation—to safeguard and help share this special garden and its grounds.” That mission is closely tied to SBCC, where Lotusland maintains a unique partnership through its docent program—a training initiative for volunteer tour guides that includes instructor Matt Kay, a research biologist and adjunct biology professor at SBCC. The collaboration also extends to SBCC’s Environmental Horticulture Department, where students visit the garden and participate in internships that often serve as a pathway to staff positions.

Anderson is grateful that cultural organizations in Santa Barbara offer such programs.

“Part of what makes Santa Barbara so special,” she said, “is the incredible depth and inspiration provided by local institutions and my job is ensuring Lotusland is accessible.”

Looking back on her journey, she says the supportive environment at Santa Barbara City College helped launch a rewarding academic and professional path. The mix of dedicated faculty and travel opportunities enriched her interests and led to a meaningful career in nonprofit management.

This article was paid for by Santa Barbara City College. For more information on Santa Barbara City College and the hundreds of programs they offer, visit sbcc.edu or call (805) 965-0581. If you are an SBCC alumnus, please join SBCC Alumni Connect at sbccfoundation.org/alumni.