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.