Deirdre Weaver steps in as Interim Executive Director, Chloe Rahimzadeh Lurie joins as Operations Manager
Deirdre Weaver. Photos courtesy Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce.
SANTA PAULA — The Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce has named two accomplished community members to lead the organization forward: Deirdre Weaver, a longtime Santa Paula business owner, educator and Chamber board member, as Interim Executive Director, and Chloe Rahimzadeh Lurie, an arts administrator and civic leader, as Operations Manager. Together, the two appointments represent a deliberate investment in local knowledge, operational credibility and community trust as the Chamber is focused squarely on deepening its service to Santa Paula’s business community.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Deirdre and Chloe to the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce. Both bring exactly the passion, drive, and deep commitment to the city and community of Santa Paula that will help our Chamber thrive and serve our business community with excellence. This is a tremendously exciting step forward for the Chamber, and we look forward to the energy and leadership they will each bring,” states Elena Brokaw, Chair of the Board, Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce.
Deirdre Weaver — Interim Executive Director
When the Chamber’s board sought leadership, Deirdre Weaver, already a member of the Chamber’s board of directors, was the natural choice: someone who knows the organization from the inside, understands Santa Paula’s business landscape intimately, and brings exactly the blend of entrepreneurial experience and institutional fluency the moment requires.
Weaver’s roots in Santa Paula go beyond advocacy — she has put her own capital on the line here. As co-founder of Nanni and Deeda’s Toys and Gather and Play Café on Santa Paula’s historic Main Street, she has navigated the full arc of small business ownership, retail operations and a significant property acquisition that gave her business a permanent downtown Santa Paula home. A U.S. patent awardee, Weaver offers a lifetime of business experience.
Alongside her work in business, Weaver, who holds degrees in business, psychology and education, has spent the last 15 years innovating in higher education, both in the university and community college settings she has built programs from the ground up, developed and managed budgets and community partnerships that allowed the institutions to reach further into the communities they serve. That capacity to build infrastructure, connect people and translate a vision into functioning programs is exactly what a Chamber executive needs to do every day.
Deirdre offers, “Santa Paula’s business community is the backbone of this city, and the Chamber exists to make sure those businesses have a strong, connected and credible advocate in their corner. I’m proud to serve in this role and committed to making sure the Chamber is working as hard as the people it represents.”
Chloe Rahimzadeh Lurie — Operations Manager
Chloe Rahimzadeh Lurie.
A chamber runs on the quality of its operations – in Chloe Rahimzadeh Lurie, the Santa Paula Chamber has found someone who has spent her career thinking seriously about exactly that problem, and who brings to it both formal training and deep community roots. Rahimzadeh Lurie studied Arts Administration and Policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a graduate program known for its rigorous focus on organizational management within mission-driven institutions. The result is an administrator who approaches operational problems not as a bureaucrat, but as a problem-solver with genuine conviction that good management is itself a form of community service.
That conviction is already on display in Santa Paula. Rahimzadeh Lurie currently serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Santa Paula Art Museum and is slated to become Board President in June, where she has been part of governing a cultural institution at the center of downtown civic life. Her professional experience spans membership and customer systems management, billing and financial operations, grant program administration, and event coordination across nonprofit, academic and private-sector settings — each directly aligned with the operational demands of a chamber of commerce.
“The Santa Paula business community deserves a Chamber that runs efficiently, delivers on its commitments and shows up consistently. I’m here to help build that — to ensure day-to-day operations are solid and dependable so that our members feel the value of their membership every time they interact with us,” suggests Chloe.
About the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce:
The Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce has served as the voice of business in Santa Paula for over 100 years, supporting local economic development, advocating for the business community, and fostering connections that help businesses and the community thrive. Chamber members enjoy networking opportunities, business resources, and a strong voice in shaping Santa Paula’s economic future.
For more information, contact the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce at info@santapaulachamber.com or visit www.santapaulachamber.com.