Keynote Speaker – First Residency
Gloria Soto was born, raised, and educated in Santa Maria. She comes from an immigrant family whose example taught her the value of hard work and determination, and whose parents made numerous sacrifices to ensure she would have a chance at a better life. Gloria took advantage of every opportunity that her family and community offered her. She was part of the first graduating class of Pioneer Valley High School, and she holds degrees from Allan Hancock College and Chapman University.
Gloria is a non-profit professional who, since 2011, has worked with Planned Parenthood California Central Coast in a variety of positions, including education, public affairs and development. Currently, she is the Regional Development Manager. Her work in non-profit work also includes the hundreds of hours she has worked with youth by directing leadership programs, serving on boards, and volunteering. Gloria is a member of the Board of Directors for Future Leaders of America, the largest Latinx youth serving organization in the state of California, and the Fund for Santa Barbara.
Today, her parents, brother, niece, and nephew all live in Santa Maria. Gloria is a homeowner and resident of the Westgate neighborhood in District 3. She is bilingual, bi-cultural, and deeply connected to her many communities of the Santa Maria Valley. As a lifelong Santa Marian, Gloria understands the everyday struggles of families in our city.
Gloria is the first new Councilmember to be elected since the City Council began converting to district elections from the at-large voting system, which was the practice before November 2018. At age 29, she is the youngest woman elected to the Council in the history of Santa Maria, and is only the sixth Councilwoman since the City’s incorporation in 1905.
Polly Chandler – Lead Faculty, First Residency
Polly Chandler is a Leadership Development and Career Transition Coach and Trainer for Chandler Coaching. Her career path evolved from an intentional decision to focus on what energizes her most: coaching, mentoring and training facilitation. Her previous career was in higher education where she served as the Chair of the Department of Management and Director of the MBA in Sustainability at Antioch University New England. Polly now works with individuals and teams in multiple sectors. She is particularly interested in helping people to discover their greatest leadership potential so they can best serve the needs of communities, organizations and the environment.
Polly is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and certified Executive Coach from College of Executive Coaching. She holds certifications in EQ 2.0- Emotional Intelligence, Strengths Strategy, Crucial Conversations, Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance, and SDI (Strengths Deployment Inventory).
Polly began her career in environmental and science education. Her consulting style is rooted in that experiential approach. She blends dialogue, activities and even outdoor adventure learning, thinking and strategy sessions for individuals and teams. Her unique “walking coaching” sessions allow clients to step away from the office to envision what’s possible in their professional lives. Polly blends her interest and passion for values-based leadership into her work with both individuals and teams.
Polly was raised in Minneapolis, MN. She taught at nature centers, on an oyster dredging sailboat, at an educational farm, and at private schools in the Philadelphia and Boston areas. She transitioned to a 10-year career in higher education at both Keene State College and Antioch University in Keene, NH. Polly now lives in the San Francisco Bay area in Tiburon, CA with her husband. They enjoy hiking on the many coastal trails of Northern California.
Dr. Lize Booysen – Lead Faculty, Second Residency
Dr. Lize A.E. Booysen is an internationally recognized scholar-practitioner in the field of leadership, culture and diversity. With 35 years of experience in leadership and research and a 27 year long career in higher education Lize has served thousands of leaders in educational institutions, corporate organizations, government agencies, and nonprofits in her capacity as educator, facilitator, consultant, trainer or coach.
Lize particularly enjoys working with organizational leaders optimizing their own potential and sphere of influence as they move into broader leadership roles. She focuses on the development of authentic and relational leadership practices utilizing a systems and contextual approach to the leadership process. Her teaching and coaching draw on her understanding of leadership and change theory and practice, crosscultural leadership, diversity, inclusion, organizational culture, systems thinking, individual change and business practice.
Lize is full professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior and core faculty in the Graduate School of Leadership and Change, Antioch University, adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) doing executive coaching and research, Professor Extraordinaire at University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa, and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Industrial Psychology at University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Lize is also a distinguished fellow of the International Leadership Association (ILA), and past Chair of the Business Leadership Member interest group of the ILA. Prior to relocating to the USA end of 2008, Lize was full professor at the Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL), University of South Africa (where she worked since 1992 teaching on the MBA and DBA degree programs and executive leadership training and development programs. She served on the SBL Board of directors and was part of the leadership team as Academic Director, Director Human Resources Development, and Research Manager during her tenure. She also served as internal conflict mediator at UNISA and is the past Editor of the Southern African Journal of Labor Relations, and ran a seminar program for Women in Leadership for eight years. Lize started her career in 1983 as a researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), she worked at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital as a Clinical Psychologist, and also served as a Captain in the SA Police Service’s Institute of Behavioral Sciences.
Lize holds a Doctorate in Business Leadership (UNISA, ‘99) and masters degrees in Clinical Psychology (Univ of Johannesburg, ‘88), Research Psychology, and Criminology (Univ of Pretoria, ‘88) all with distinction. Lize is registered as a Clinical and a Research Psychologist in SA, and is a certified user of the assessment instruments used in the CCL leadership and coaching programs. Lize authored or co-authored 22 peer reviewed articles in scholarly Journals, 24 Chapters in Leadership Books and 23 articles in popular leadership Journals. She also co-authored or co-edited 7 Leadership Books, and 3 Special Edition Journals.
She presented or co-presented more than 50 peer-reviewed papers at international conferences and has lectured at many Universities worldwide. Lize is included as one of 50 role models for SA women in the book Inspirational Women @ Work, (2003), and received numerous awards for her work in transformative learning and scholarship.
Wendy Sims-Moten, Executive Director of First 5 Santa Barbara County – Panelist, Second Residency
A 30-year resident of Santa Barbara County has a deep-rooted interest in the progress, development, and well-being of this community and its residents. Wendy has worked for the County of Santa Barbara for 23 years. She started her career in the County General Services Department in 1996 as an account clerk, then in 1999, as the Senior Departmental Assistant for First 5 Santa Barbara County, where she worked her way up through the department to her current position of Executive Director. Wendy also served on the original Santa Barbara County Employee University Governing Council and also served as a mediator in the County’s Mediation program.
Her civic and community involvement includes serving as the current President, Board of Trustees, Santa Barbara Unified School District. Board Member; Chair (2017), Gateway Educational Services, Board Member CAUSE Action Fund, Organizer and Chair, African American Women of Santa Barbara County Luncheon, former grant-making committee co-chair Fund for Santa Barbara, Emerging Leaders Alum, member of St. Paul AME Church, member United Way Women United, member Santa Barbara Women Political Committee and member Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County.
When not involved in work or civic activities, she loves spending time with her husband, adult son and laughing and talking with family and friends. Additionally, her interests include reading, watching tennis, acting, and singing.
One of her favorite quotes: “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls”. Howard Thurman
Dana-Rene Randolph – Panelist, Second Residency
Dana-Rene Randolph is the director and general manager of Santa Barbara Focalplane (SBF), Lockheed Martin’s innovation hub for infrared (IR) and multispectral sensor technologies that guide the most advanced platforms on and above the planet. In this role, she is responsible for SBF’s development and production programs, which include the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, F-35 Electro-Optical Targeting System and F-22 Missile Launch Detector, as well as other military and commercial ground, aerial and space IR solutions.
In her previous role, Ms. Randolph served as international director of Asia-Pacific programs for Lockheed Martin’s Air Mobility & Maritime Missions (AMMM) organization in Marietta, Georgia. She was responsible for C-130, P-3 and S-3 aircraft delivery and sustainment, as well as execution of international offset programs. Nations in her portfolio included Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, India, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Prior to joining the AMMM team, Ms. Randolph was acting director of subcontract program management for Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. There she led the supply chain management organization overseeing subcontractors and critical subcontracted systems for all Skunk Works Advanced Development Programs contracts and programs.
Ms. Randolph is an exuberant and pragmatic leader with 25 years of experience leading domestic and international teams engaged in complex and technical pursuits, including aerospace systems, advanced development programs, product sustainment, service and logistic programs and large Antarctic construction and logistics projects. She has a broad background in managing all aspects of the program life cycle for both military and commercial programs, and extensive experience leading subcontract program management and supply chain management organizations.
Throughout her career, Ms. Randolph has been recognized for inspiring her employees and empowering her engineers, creating healthy collaborative environments that encourage innovation and risk-taking, and working with suppliers to deliver reliable parts and assemblies on cost and on schedule.
Ms. Randolph received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Antioch University and holds a Master’s Certificate in government contracting from George Washington University. She is a graduate of Lockheed Martin’s Program Management Development Program (PMDP). She resides in California and has three adult daughters.
Monique Limón – Keynote, Third Residency
Assemblymember Monique Limón was elected to the Assembly in November 2016 and represents the 37th district that includes over half of the County of Santa Barbara, as well as nearly a quarter of the County of Ventura.
Born and raised in the 37th district, Monique has worked continuously to serve her community as an educator, leader, and an advocate for causes advancing the quality of life in her community.
For Monique, education has always been a priority. A UC Berkeley graduate with a Masters degree from Columbia University, Monique served two terms on the Santa Barbara Unified School Board and as Assistant Director for the McNair Scholars Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara prior to serving in the Assembly.
Monique has worked with countless local students at Santa Barbara City College and UCSB as an advisor and mentor to help them achieve their professional and academic goals through higher education.
Women’s issues are also a priority for Monique. As former Commissioner on the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women she helped connect private and public resources with women in the community. Monique has a passion for bringing community groups together and building strong coalitions among local nonprofit organizations and civic groups.
Monique’s roots go deep in the 37th District. Her extended network of family and friends include a range of small business owners and important leaders in the community. Her husband, Michael Medel works at Santa Barbara City College as Director of Admissions and Records and serves as President of the 19th District Agricultural Association. Monique and Michael were both raised in the area and currently live in Goleta.
Committee Assignments:
1. Banking and Finance (Chair)
2. Budget Subcommittee #2 Education Finance
3. Health
4. Housing and Community Development
5. Natural Resources
6. *Chair of Select Committee on the Non-Profit Sector
Dr. Jacqueline Reid – Director, Lead Faculty, Third Residency
Dr. Jacqueline Reid holds a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education from UC Santa Barbara in the Teaching and Learning Emphasis in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education (GGSE). She is an Affiliate faculty member and currently teaches courses in the Master of Arts in Education (MAE) program with an emphasis in Social Justice and Educational Leadership, the Master of Education (MEd) program, and in the Bachelor of Arts program at Antioch University Santa Barbara (AUSB). She also serves as the Director of the Women in Leadership Certificate program and is the Credential Analyst for the Teacher Education program at AUSB. She is Co-Director of the non-profit, Teachers for the Study of Educational Institutions (TSEI). She is recent past President, Vice President and current Clerk of the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Trustees.
While pursuing her doctorate at UC Santa Barbara, she held the position of Director of Projects for the Center for Education Research on Literacies, Learning & Inquiry in Networking Communities (L2INC) developed and maintained within the GGSE. Later, she became Project Director for the New Multiculturalism Initiative in the Department of Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Prior to this, she held the position of Associate Regional Director and Director of Education for the Santa Barbara/Tri- Counties Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a non-profit organization that has been a leader in combating bigotry, prejudice and anti-Semitism nationally and internationally.
Dr. Reid holds both an MEd and Multiple Subject Credential (K-12) from Pepperdine University, Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She began her career as an elementary grade school teacher for ten years and then developed her own educational consultancy, where she provided training and workshops that supported the social/emotional needs of students while promoting safe and peaceful school environments. She launched TSEI in 2012 to engage preschool -20 educators in a collaborative effort to provide opportunities for all students to develop academic literacies and cultural proficiencies necessary for 21st-century college and career readiness. She currently implements professional development in designing FAIR K-12 curriculum that meets the FAIR Education Act (SB48), a law mandated in California in 2012.
Dr. Reid has developed and is currently implementing the History Harvest Program in school districts in Ventura County, California. This inquiry-based design and community-linked curriculum uses oral history as a pedagogical approach, providing opportunities for students to investigate personal family histories as well as the histories and culture of the indigenous community members that live in the local school communities. This culturally responsive pedagogy has encouraged the development of inclusive school cultures within the districts in an effort to alleviate the long-term bullying and exclusive practices the indigenous students have faced in the area.
Learn more about AUSB’s Women in Leadership Certificate