Past Honorees

National Philanthropy Day is always a special day to recognize and pay tribute to the great contributions that philanthropy — and those active in the philanthropic community — make to our lives, communities and world. Annually in November, AFP Santa Barbara/Ventura Counties Chapter celebrates inspirational individuals, organizations and businesses in our community who generously give their time, talents and resources to all that philanthropy makes possible. 

Click on the honorees' names below to view their video.

2023 Honorees
Philanthropist of the Year - Santa Barbara: Anne Jackson Family Foundation
Philanthropist of the Year – Ventura County: Doug Yarrow
Volunteer of the Year – Santa Barbara: Dr. Ahmad Nooristani
Volunteer of the Year – Ventura County: Mary Looby
Youth in Philanthropy - Jackson Gillies
Professional Fundraiser of the Year – Stephanie Wilson, CFRE
Champions for Social Justice – Simone Akila, Jordan Killebrew, and Chiany Dri, Juneteenth Santa Barbara

2022 Honorees
Philanthropist of the Year – Santa Barbara: The FUND for Santa Barbara 
Philanthropist of the Year – Ventura County: Steve Hearst from the Morgan Hearst Charitable Foundation
Volunteer of the Year – Santa Barbara: Planned Parenthood of CA Central Coast Book Sale Committee 
Volunteer of the Year – Ventura County: Lynda Bowman, Chair, TEACh Scholarship Fund

Professional Fundraiser of the Year – Rich Block, President & CEO, Santa Barbara Zoo
Champions for Social Justice – Diversity Collective of Ventura County

2021 Honorees
Philanthropist of the Year, Santa Barbara County: Elisabeth Fowler
Philanthropist of the Year, Ventura County: Ellen Brokaw
Volunteer of the Year, Santa Barbara County: Lucille Boss, Santa Barbara Housing Authority
Volunteer of the Year, Ventura County: Susan Burgos, Casa Pacifica

Champions for Social Justice: Connie Alexander and Audrey Gamble, Founders, Gateway Educational Services
Youth in Philanthropy: Jordan and Jaden Lind, The Jordan Elf Project
Professional Fundraiser of the Year: Stacy Swanson, CFRE, Interface Children & Family Services
Exceptional Achievement Award: Foothills Forever Donors and Volunteers


2019 AFP-SBV NPD Honorees, left to right: Talia Gerstenfeld and Isa Mireles, Youth Philanthropists of the Year; Jill Levinson, Philanthropist of the Year, Santa Barbara County; Ken Bauer, Volunteer of the Year, Ventura County; Karen and Tom Pecht, Philanthropists of the Year, Ventura County; Anne Paul King, Professional Fundraiser of the Year; George Leis, Volunteer of the Year, Santa Barbara County


2018 AFP-SBV NPD Honorees, left to right: (back) Carrie Hughes, Professional Fundraiser of the Year; Mark Sherman, relative of Wilson Sherman, Youth Philanthropist of the Year; Heidi Whitcomb, Volunteer of the Year, Ventura County; (front) Loretta and Mike Merewether, Philanthropists of the Year, Ventura County (Not pictured: Judy and Jack Stapelmann, Philanthropists of the Year, Santa Barbara County; Peter Schuyler, Volunteer of the Year, Santa Barbara County) 

2017 AFP-SBV NPD Honorees, left to right: (back row) Jim Jackson, Volunteer of the Year, Santa Barbara County; William Roland, Philanthropist of the Year, Ventura County; Chuck Cohen, Volunteer of the Year, Ventura County; (front) Dorothy Largay, Philanthropist of the Year, Santa Barbara County; Elana Alcerro, Youth Philanthropist of the Year; Elaine K. Mah Best, Professional Fundraiser of the Year; Eloise Cohen, Volunteer of the Year, Ventura County


PAST HONOREES

Philanthropist of the Year | Santa Barbara Foundation - 1987 | Clifford & Alma Pearson - 1988 | Malinda & Yvon Chouinard/Patagonia - 1989 | Robert L. Mobley - 1990 | The S.G. Foundation - 1991 | Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation - 1992 | Joseph T. Brusca/First American Title - 1993 | Paul & Leslie Ridley-Tree - 1994 | Wood-Claeyssens Foundation - 1995 | Michael Towbes - 1996 | Amgen Foundation - 1996 | Leni Fe Bland - 1997 | Martin V. & Martha K. Smith - 1997 | Sara Miller McCune - 1998  | Limoneira Foundation - 1998 | Cox Communications - 1999 | Helen M. Yunker - 1999 | George & Dale Cavalletto - 2000 | Barbara A. Caufield - 2000 | Eli & Leatrice Luria - 2001 | Florence “Jimmi” Clapp - 2001 | Hutton Foundation - 2002 | E.J. Harrison & Sons - 2002 | Richard & Maryan Schall - 2003 | Jack Gilbert - 2003 | Denny Franks - 2004 | Larry Janss - 2004 | Paul & Natalie Orfalea - 2005 | Orfalea Family Foundation - 2005 | The Orfalea Fund - 2005 | Countrywide Financial - 2005 | Jean & Barry Schuyler - 2006 | Gloria Friedrich Reed - 2006 | Chad & Ginni Dreier - 2007 | Mary & Richard Carpenter - 2007 | Clifford & Juliette Sponsel - 2008 | Theodore R. Jensen - 2008 | Tom & Nancy Crawford - 2009 | Micheline Sakharoff - 2009 | Jackie Inskeep - 2010 | Barbara Meister - 2010 | William & Elise Kearney - 2011 | Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree - 2011 | McCune Foundation - 2012 | Jordan & Sandra Laby - 2012 | Virgil Elings - 2013 | Livingston Memorial Foundation - 2013 | Montecito Bank & Trust - 2014 | Ventura County Community Foundation - 2014 | Sarah & Roger Chrisman - 2015 | Terri & Mark Lisagor - 2015 | Sharon & David Bradford - 2016 | Keets & Hugh Cassar - 2016 | Dorothy Largay - 2017 | William Rolland - 2017 | Judy & Jack Stapelmann - 2018 | Loretta & Mike Merewether - 2018 | Jill Levinson - 2019 | Karen & Tom Pecht - 2019 | Kate McLean - 2020 | Elizabeth Fowler - 2021 | Ellen Brokaw - 2021 | The FUND for Santa Barbara - 2022 | Steve Hearst, Morgan Hearst Charitable Foundation - 2022 | The Ann Jackson Family Foundation - 2023 | Doug Yarrow - 2023

 

Volunteer of the Year | Dorothy C. Campbell - 1987 | Larry Crandell - 1988 | Norah Hamilton Strauss - 1989 | Barbara Gage, OTR - 1990 | Jean Hay - 1991 | Helen M. Caldwell - 1992 | Wallace T. Drew - 1993 | Alan M. Teague - 1994 | Barbara Meister - 1995 | Peter R. MacDougall, EdD - 1996 | John V. Newman - 1996 | Betty Rosness - 1997 | Joseph P. Brown - 1997 | Jean Schuyler - 1998 | Monty Clark - 1998 | Norman Sosner - 1999 | Karsten Lundring - 1999 | Sharon L. Monsky - 2000 | Laura K. McAvoy - 2000 | Nancyann Failing - 2001 | Patricia Richards - 2001 | Marion Stewart - 2002 | Joan S. Kemper - 2002 | Richard Welch - 2003 | Dottie Novatt - 2003 | Nancy L. Wood - 2004 | Mark Lisagor, DDS - 2004 | Michael Towbes - 2005 | Gerry & Bob Browning - 2005 | Harriet Miller - 2006 | Katie Waunch - 2006 | Sue Chadwick - 2007 | Jane Habermann - 2007 | Joanne Rapp - 2008 | Lynn Mikelatos - 2008 | Scott Brittingham & Paul Dore - 2009 | Duke Potts - 2009 | Tresha Sell - 2010 | Rosemary Allison - 2010 | Maggie Kestly - 2011 | Jelinda DeVorzon - 2011 | Julie Nadel - 2012 | Freddie Contarino - 2012 | Christy Kolva - 2013 | Mary Leavens Schwabauer- 2013 | Betsy Chess - 2014 | Janet Garufis - 2014 | Gerd Jordano - 2015 | Joanie Young - 2015 | Carol Kallman - 2016 | Tina & Andy Killion - 2016 | James H. Jackson - 2017 | Eloise & Chuck Cohen - 2017 | Peter Schuyler - 2018 | Heidi Whitcomb - 2018 | George S. Leis - 2019 | Ken Bauer - 2019 | Karen Allen - 2020 | Lucille Boss - 2021 | Susan Burgos - 2021 | Lynda Bowman - 2022 | Planned Parenthood of CA Central Coast Book Sale Committee - 2022 | Mary Looby - 2023 | Dr. Ahmad Nooristani - 2023

 



Professional Fundraiser of the Year | Kenneth R. Edwardsen, CFRE - 1987 | Deloria  (Dorie) Zabriskie, CFRE - 1988 | Frank J. Palmer, CFRE - 1989 | Warren Looker, CFRE - 1990 | Kenneth Siegele, CFRE - 1991 | Charles Slosser, PhD - 1992 | Diana L. Myers - 1993 | David T. McKee, PhD - 1994 | Della S. Greenlee - 1995 | Harriet A. Hart, CFRE - 1996 | David T. Dietrich, CFRE - 1997 | Sally C. Walker, CFRE - 1998 | Brian Stenfors, PhD, CFRE - 1999 | Billie Maunz, CFRE - 2000 | Tanya G. Gonzales, CFRE - 2001 | Anne Kratz, CFRE - 2002 | Debbie Arnesen, CFRE - 2003 | Jill Muchow Rode, CFRE - 2004 | Patricia O. Snyder, CFRE - 2005 | Edward N. Lewis, CFRE - 2006 | Rochelle Rose, CFRE - 2007 | Rebecca J. Merrell, CFRE - 2008 | G. Paul Didier - 2009 | R. Stephen Wheatly - 2010 | Margaret K. Bradley - 2011 | Arthur Merovick - 2012 | Rebecca Anderson - 2013 | Jim Dougherty - 2014 | Gretchen Hewlett - 2015 | Lynette Muscio - 2016 | Elaine K. Mah Best - 2017 | Carrie L. Hughes - 2018 | Anne Paul King - 2019 | Claudia Armann - 2020 | Stacy Swanson, CFRE - 2021 | Rich Block - 2022 | Stephanie Wilson, CFRE - 2023

 

Youth in Philanthropy | Erik Holliday - 2009 | Julie Farrell - 2009 | Katy Villanueva - 2010 | Dedria Brunett - 2010 | Elena Cruz - 2011 | Blakely Colvin - 2011 | Eliza Giles - 2012 | Alyssa Lawson - 2012 | National Charity League, Inc. Region V District 3 - 2013 | UCSB First - 2014 | Kylie Crane - 2014 | Akemi Levine - 2015 | Youth Making Change - 2015 | Paloma Angel - 2016 | Interface Children & Family Services’ Youth Advisory Board - 2016 | Elena Alcerro - 2017 | Wilson Sherman - 2018 | Isa Mireles & Talia Gerstenfeld - 2019 | Zoomers to Boomers - 2020 | Jordan & Jaden Lind - 2021 | Jackson Gillies - 2023

Champions for Social Justice | Krystle Farmer Siegart and Simone Akila Ruskamp - 2020 | Connie Alexander and Audrey Gambel - 2021 | Diversity Collective of Ventura County - 2022 | Juneteenth Santa Barbara - 2023

Exceptional Adaptability | Kids & Families Together - 2020

Exceptional Achievement Award | Foothills Forever Donors and Volunteers - 2021

Lifetime Achievement Award | Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree - 2011

Special Humanitarian Award | Jeannette Martinez - 2002