Professional Services

SANTA BARBARA, California – Renee M. Fairbanks, a prominent family law attorney and community volunteer, is the new president of the Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation.

Fairbanks was elected president by the foundation's board on April 21. The Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation is dedicated to the conservation, restoration, and educational legacy of the historic Santa Barbara Courthouse.

Attorney John W. Ambrecht, an expert in estate planning and estate tax law, has been named a Super Lawyer for 2020 in a newly published listing of top attorneys throughout Southern California. The designation is earned by 5 percent or fewer of Southern California-based lawyers annually.

This is the 14th time Ambrecht has been selected as a Super Lawyer, an honor he has received every year since 2007.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from some 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Nick Henderson has been appointed to Vice President of Support Services for Cottage Health.

He joined Cottage in 2006 in the Project Management Department as a Project Superintendent for the rebuilding of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Over the next 10 years, he was Construction Project Manager and then Senior Construction Project Manager, leading the successful completion of key projects at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital campus, including the Energy Center and several phases of the hospital rebuild.

39-Year Old Santa Barbara Associates Announces Sue Larsen as New President

The Santa Barbara Associates announced that Sue Larsen has been elected president of the board of Directors. Larsen is co-owner of Gulley & Larsen Insurance Services. Ms. Larsen is Past President of Santa Barbara Association of Health Underwriters and served as Vice President of Membership for the California Association of Health Underwriters and is Vice Chair, Workforce Investment Board, County of Santa Barbara.

Source: Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara

Barbara Robertson, who has held a succession of finance, operations, and administrative positions with several area nonprofit organizations, has been named president and CEO of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. She began serving in her new role on February 11.

Source: Foodbank SBC

Carol Olson, a California licensed professional fiduciary and chartered financial analyst at Quinn Fiduciary Services in Santa Barbara, has been named vice chair of the county's leading food relief organization.

Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, a nonprofit that distributes 10 million pounds of food a year to needy residents through a network of more than 300 community partners, named Olson as its new vice chair. George L. Bean is assuming the title of board chair.

Source: Service Objects

Service Objects, the leading provider of real-time contact validation solutions, has reached a major milestone in the company’s history by processing its four billionth transaction.

This milestone reinforces Service Objects’ role as the industry expert in contact data validation, with services that now include global address and email validation, phone validation and more. The company now serves over 2,800 customers, including major firms such as Amazon, Best Buy, Microsoft, Verizon and Mastercard.

Source: Pacific Pride Foundation

Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF), providing programs and services to more than 10,000 people in Santa Barbara County, proudly announces the launch of a new Development Director position. This full-time position, based in Santa Barbara but engaging with the County as a whole, is the first of its kind at PPF for more than a decade.

Source: Carpinteria Valley Chamber

The Carpinteria Valley Chamber Leadership Team is dedicated to creating a healthy local economy and building a strong environment for economic growth and sustainability.

Physician Executive Farid Hassanpour Joins Health Plan on Central Coast

CenCal Health, the publicly-sponsored health plan for Medi-Cal in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, announces the appointment of Farid Hassanpour, D.O., M.B.A., F.A.A.P. to its key leadership position of Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Hassanpour will provide medical leadership to the organization by ensuring medical quality and adherence to professional and ethical medical standards by the health plan and its network of providers.

Source: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Rick Wayman, newly appointed President and CEO of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), is ushering in 2020 with a vital, new direction.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is proud to announce Terrence Valeski as the new Chair of its Board of Trustees. Mr. Valeski has served on the Museum’s board for six years and previously served as Vice Chair for Finance. He accepted the chair position at the Museum’s annual meeting on January 28, 2020.

A positive-news media production and publishing organization, The Optimist Daily is a perfect fit for McKay, a genuinely upbeat person who remarkably has taken on her new role as CEO at the same time she’s taken on another role of a lifetime: first-time motherhood.

The UC Berkeley (BA) and UCLA (MBA) educated McKay had been building successful “do-good do-well” businesses for 20 years and was a consultant with The Optimist Daily when she was invited last year to take the leadership reins on the online publication.

Allen & Kimbell, LLP is pleased to announce that David E. Graff has been made a partner at the firm.  Admitted to the bar in 2004, David has been practicing law for the past ten years at Allen & Kimbell.  

A dual certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, as well as Taxation Law, David is equipped to advise clients in estate planning, trust administration, and tax planning.  

With a mission to enhance our community’s awareness and appreciation of the built environment since 1983, the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara continues to adapt to the needs of today’s community with its new website. The fresh user-friendly and mobile-centric design showcases expanded resources for community members and architecture enthusiasts.

The longest continuously meeting Toastmasters Club in the world, chartered 1929, entertained a distinguished visit from Deepak Menon, President of Toastmasters International. Menon, who is here from New Delhi, India, attended the 7 a.m. meeting and spoke to the Members on the value of developing self-confidence and leadership skills through the public speaking opportunities the Toastmasters Club provides.

Dear stakeholders and constituents of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary,

We are currently seeking applications for six (6) seats on the Sanctuary Advisory Council:
Public At-Large (one alternate position)
Recreational Fishing (member and alternate)
Education (alternate)
Chumash Community (member and alternate)
Conservation (member)
Tourism (member)

Noted family law attorney Renee M. Fairbanks has been accepted to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

“I’m proud, thrilled and extremely gratified to have earned this distinguished affiliation,” said Fairbanks, an attorney and certified family law specialist with family law offices in Santa Barbara and Los Olivos. “It took some real time and effort, and it was absolutely worth it. The AAML is the gold standard in my area of law.”

The Coastal Housing Coalition announced that Tony Tomasello has been elected to the board of directors.

Tomasello is a senior planner and project manager at RRM Design Group in Santa Barbara. He works with local agencies and private landowners in the management of a broad range of projects including multifamily, mixed-use, and commercial developments from due diligence and project programming, community outreach, entitlements, permitting, and compliance.

Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara has announced Joshua Weitzman as its new Executive Director. Mr. Weitzman was appointed to the role after holding the position of Associate Executive Director for the past year and a half, working under Kim Olson, who recently retired after a 40-year career with the organization.

Montecito Sanitary District staff members Daniel Jacquez, Chief Plant Operator, and Marc Ciarlo,
Operator Grade 5, recently received their Advanced Water Treatment Operator (AWTO) certifications.
The AWTO certification program was recently developed using a nationally recognized process to define
the roles and responsibilities for advanced wastewater treatment. This new certification program is
jointly administered by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the California Water

Montecito Sanitary District staff members Daniel Jacquez, Chief Plant Operator, and Marc Ciarlo, Operator Grade 5, recently received their Advanced Water Treatment Operator (AWTO) certifications.

Santa Barbara City College is proud to announce that John Connelly has been selected as the Director of the Atkinson Gallery. The Atkinson Gallery is the Art Department's showcase for the visual arts, which hosts exhibitions of contemporary art each academic year featuring international, national, regional and student artists working in a wide range of styles and media.

Casa Serena, the longest-serving, non-profit residential treatment program for women challenged by addiction and related mental health diagnoses, recently received accreditation by the Joint Commission (jointcommission.org). This accreditation provides patients, families, referral sources, and insurance companies with assurance that the highest standards of care and outcomes are being achieved.

Source: Avalan

Avalan is excited to announce that Austin Muller has joined the firm as a Junior Financial Advisor.

Muller is a recent graduate from Westmont College, where he received a baseball scholarship and a bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in business. Muller accepted an internship last year with Avalan and proved to be a natural at connecting with clients.

“Austin’s passion for building relationships and serving our clients’ needs make him an ideal fit for our team,” says Avalan’s Founding Partner Rich Schuette, CFP®.