SANTA BARBARA — At its regular monthly meeting on Dec. 16, 2021, the Santa Barbara City College District Board of Trustees elected Kate Parker as president of the Board for the 2022 calendar year. Jonathan Abboud was elected Board vice president.
President Parker joined the Board in December 2018 and represents Area 7 (Santa Barbara). Born in the Philippines, Parker moved to the Santa Barbara area in 1977 and attended schools in Carpinteria before heading to UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degree. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she returned to Santa Barbara in 1992, where she and her husband raised three children. She was elected to the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education in 2006 and served three terms working on behalf of local children and families. Kate received her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University in 2015 and served as the library director at Cate School in Carpinteria. She is dedicated to advancing educational opportunities for learners of all ages, and particularly for first generation college students.
Vice President Abboud joined the Board in December 2014 and represents Area 6 (Isla Vista, UCSB and Hope Ranch). A first generation American and college graduate, Abboud was born and raised in Los Angeles and has lived in Isla Vista since 2010. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the UCSB in 2014. As a student, he became increasingly involved on campus, especially in the student movement against budget cuts in the early 2010s, and served as Associated Students President his final year. Upon graduation, Abboud co-founded the Isla Vista Self Governance Initiative that appeared on the November 2016 ballot. The initiative succeeded in designing, lobbying for and passing the Isla Vista Community Services District, a specialized form of local government.
The members of the SBCC Board of Trustees now include Kate Parker (Area 7 – Santa Barbara), Jonathan Abboud (Area 6 – Isla Vista, UCSB and Hope Ranch), Dr. Peter O. Haslund (Area 1 – Carpinteria and Montecito), Robert Miller (Area 2 – Goleta), Veronica Gallardo (Area 3 – Santa Barbara), Dr. Anna Everett (Area 4 – Santa Barbara), Marsha Croninger (Area 5 – Mission Canyon and Santa Barbara) and Student Trustee Chernor A. Diallo.
For more information, visit the SBCC Board of Trustees webpage.
