Tag archives: equity

The Fund for Santa Barbara
By Montecito Journal   |   July 9, 2024

The Fund for Santa Barbara was founded way back in 1980 as a means to support local organizations working for progressive social change. Nearly 45 years later, while the issues, its methods and organization might have grown, that purpose has not been altered at all: The Fund remains dedicated to helping to find solutions to […]

The Fund for Santa Barbara
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 1, 2023

The Fund for Santa Barbara’s Development and Communications Manager – Alina Rey Keswani – is understandably proud that Bread & Roses, the organization’s major annual fundraiser, is marking its 30th anniversary this fall. The benefit event that has long been a staple on the social calendar of many in the community has survived massive growth, […]

And the Grant Goes to…
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

The Fund for Santa Barbara hosted its spring grand awards celebration handing out checks totaling a record $330,000 at the Lobero Theatre Courtyard, including $230,000 in racial equity funds. “The money has come in fast,” says Patricia Solorio, associate director. “The recession has been a bit of a wet blanket, but I think the future […]

Black History Month Feature Interview Part 2: Warren B. Ritter II
By Joanne A Calitri   |   February 28, 2023

As we near the end of Black History Month, hopefully all of us have given ourselves the opportunity to explore and experience Black history, culture, contributions, and successes.  The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. writes, “Carter G. Woodson and his co-workers were many, ranging from college presidents and government […]

The Fund for Santa Barbara
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 5, 2022

The Supreme Court ruling that reversed the half-century old landmark Roe v. Wade decision had been handed down only hours before, but The Fund for Santa Barbara was already scrambling to respond in the wake of the decision.  “It’s a national issue, but there’s actually so much that could be done at the local level […]

Women’s Equal Pay Day
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 22, 2022

Tuesday, March 15 is known as Equal Pay Day, a public service awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. The National Committee on Pay Equity began recognizing this symbolic day in 1996, in an effort to bring awareness on how to solve wage inequity. The date of the event symbolizes how […]

In the Pursuit of Equity
By Dan Meisel   |   December 21, 2021

I previously wrote in this space about how only recognizing perspectives “for” or “against” an issue can get in the way of understanding and potentially resolving conflicting views. The recently heightened polarity around discussing race and bias in school classrooms is a prime example. We are seeing advocates frame debates in ways more likely to […]

Bringing Stories of Diversity, Equity to the Stage
By Scott Craig   |   September 28, 2021

The Westmont Festival Theatre launches the first of three staged readings that explore diversity, equity, and inclusion Saturday, September 25, at 7:30 pm in Porter Theatre. The series of readings, named NEXUS: Readings from Black Playwrights, will include a post-reading discussion, and is free and open to the public.  Johnny Jones, a writer and professor […]

Grant for Equity & Excellency in Science Applications Open September 2021
By Joanne A Calitri   |   September 21, 2021

Attention all stargazing scientists and students, sharpen your galactic pencils to apply for the first equity grant in astrophysics to work with the Rubin Observatory’s LSST (Legacy Survey of Space and Time) Project newly constructed 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey 3-mirror telescope and 3-billion-pixel solid state detector digital camera. The camera records time-evolution 6-color images for both […]

Justified Pivot: Organization Doesn’t Stop Fight Against Discrimination
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 9, 2021

Just Communities (JC), the nonprofit whose mission includes “dismantling all forms of prejudice, discrimination, and oppression,” works towards its vision of an equitable and inclusive Central Coast by offering cultural competency training to organizational leaders, education seminars for the general public, leadership training for students and teachers, and customized consultation to local agencies for diversity […]

Empowering Women Through Financial Education
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 29, 2021

Women’s Economic Ventures has been helping women start and run businesses for more than 30 years, helping in a variety of ways to many of the local shops and services that provide the fabric of our community. Indeed, the statistics of its success are staggering: Nearly 50 percent of clients do end up starting a […]

Developing Inclusivity and Community Go Hand-in-Hand
By Kalyan Balaven   |   May 6, 2021

Inclusion is not a special interest; it is a human right.  For the educator in me, this is a mantra that safeguards the term inclusion from how it trends currently in our discourse. In the rhetoric of our time, it has lost both its efficacy and meaning. It has become threadbare in its overuse and […]

Stop Asian Hate: A call to action and why I’m speaking up today
By Susan Salcido   |   March 25, 2021

Born and raised in the United States, I have never pledged allegiance to any other flag but ours.  This country is my home.  I am that person who sings patriotic songs on road trips, and if we’re driving together, there is a high likelihood that, at some point, our windows will be down, and we’ll […]

Property v s Humanity?
By Robert Bernstein   |   August 13, 2020

George Floyd was killed by police officers over a claim that he had a fake $20 bill. How much power should be given to property versus to humanity? Property vs humanity is in the forefront of my mind now. Imagine that someone has lived in a home for over 30 years. But in a matter […]