Effective July 1, Tony Morris will become president of the Rotary Club of Montecito (Contributed photo)
MONTECITO — An accomplished communications professional, author and outdoors aficionado has been tapped to lead the Rotary Club of Montecito. Tony Morris assumes the two-year presidency on July 1.
Morris is a lifetime learner whose passion to speak to people, verbally and in written form, began early. By the time he was a teenager, Morris was writing a once-a-week column that appeared in five area newspapers. And before that, the native Alabamian had been creating and selling magazines.
“I love this area and the people in it,” Morris said. “I’m excited to do what I can to make this community even better, with the co-leadership and support of the amazing people who keep this organization strong.”
Morris graduated from Troy University with a journalism major and headed into the world of corporate communications, eventually holding senior management positions with Fortune 500 companies including MCI Telecommunications, The Coca-Cola Company and Brown-Forman.
Earlier this year, Morris became the executive director of The Rona Barrett Foundation, a nonprofit that provides housing and wellness services to help seniors live high quality of lives, regardless of their incomes.
He is also on the board of directors for the Montecito Trails Foundation which ensures wide access to and protection of recreation areas in Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria.
Morris also offers one-on-one psychic-medium intuitive consultations, working with people to gain clarity, direction, and a deeper spirituality. He’s in the process of writing his first book, Little Red Wagon, which details his own spiritual journey.
Outgoing president Tom Fisher will become president of the Club’s foundation, which gives donations and grants to organizations and projects that seek to improve the greater Santa Barbara area.
The Rotary Club of Montecito was found in 1953 as a way for area residents to engage in service and create fellowship. Over the past year, its members have worked to reduce food insecurity, sent donations to individuals and families in the Ukraine and worked to beautify outdoors spaces throughout neighborhoods.
It meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month at noon at the Music Academy of the West at 1070 Fairway Road in Santa Barbara. For more information, or to join, visit MontecitoRotary.org