Dear SBWPC Members,
As the year comes to an end, so does my two-year tenure as President of Santa Barbara Women’s Committee, and it has been one of the most gratifying and rewarding experiences of my life. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with people who are fiercely committed to advancing women in our society and advocating for our rights.
I’ve seen how the SBWPC Board has worked diligently to ensure we achieve our Mission. Over the last two years, the SBWPC has attracted new members, held candidate development workshops, participated in women’s marches, written countless letters to our legislators, hosted panel discussions and campaigned for our endorsed candidates. We had tremendous turnouts of members, guests, and press coverage for our Presidents’ Circle Luncheons and Cosmopolitics. The community counts on the SBWPC for programs with inspiring speakers. We’ve presented outstanding women with unique expertise to share; this year our members enjoyed hearing from:
- Katherine Spillar, the Executive Director of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine,
- Robin Abcarian, Award-winning journalist and Opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Under the leadership of past President Lois Phillips, our media committee produced press releases and bi-monthly informative newsletters every other month, which kept members up to date on Committee activities, member events, accomplishments, endorsements. The newsletter also suggested multi-media resources such as numerous worthy writings or feminist analyses of politics, op-eds, books, and films.
While I will be stepping down as President of SBWPC I will remain on our Executive Committee as Vice-President and am looking forward to working with our newly elected Co-Presidents Lisa Guravitz and Elsa Granados. Marisol Alarcon will continue as Treasurer and Sandy Kievman will serve as our Secretary. (See the Member Spotlight to learn more about Sandy’s motivation as a feminist activist.) See the Board report for returning and new members. We also welcome three new women to our board.
I want to acknowledge that we were all hoping to end the year differently by preparing for the inauguration of our first woman President Kamala Harris. Instead, we are preparing for our most important battles ever: to protect the rights of women, the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized populations as well as to support women’s advancement into leadership roles in government. The incoming administration has already stoked fear about the further deterioration of our rights, our education and our healthcare systems with his cabinet selections and the promises of what he’ll do on Day One. For these reasons and many others, this is not a time to back down from our cause. It is a time to gather, organize and be prepared for the blows that are sure to come our way. In closing, please know that I am committed to keeping up the battle in 2025 and I am asking you to do the same.
