INSTITUTES & CENTERS
Women's Leadership Council
Educating, Enriching, Empowering Women
Mission
The Women鈥檚 Leadership Council of 蜜桃传媒 empowers 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 female students to thrive in their collegiate experience with needed scholarships and to flourish in their future careers and vocations by connecting them to community professionals to share career and life insights, networking, internship and job opportunities.
Key Initiatives
- Inspire and edify the Santa Barbara community with fascinating luncheon speakers
- Express gratitude for community members who are making a difference, and commend these examples to the next generation
- Connect professionals in our community to Westmont's emerging women leaders
- Deepen 蜜桃传媒 student networks in Santa Barbara to nourish career and vocational opportunities
- Strengthen scholarship resources that enable young women to thrive in their educational and vocational development
Featured Speakers
Teresa Goines (2016)
Kathy Ireland (2017)
Shauna Niequist (2018)
Megan Alexander (2019)
Tamika Catchings (2020)
Lupita Knittel (2023)
Natalie Taylor (2024)
Henrietta Fore (2025)
Current Council Members
Kim Crawford '00
MemberSanta Barbara, CAA Santa Barbara Realtor since 2007, Kim co-leads the top producing Crawford Speier Group at Village Properties. With a background in real estate development and passion for service, she brings leadership and heart to her work and community. Kim enjoys time with family, travel, and entertaining. She is a 蜜桃传媒 graduate, 2000.
Courtney DeSoto '98
MemberSanta Barbara, CAFounder and Owner of Channel Islands Fiduciary Group. As a private professional fiduciary, Courtney serves as a crucial decision-maker in estate planning and trust documents. Her work frequently involves navigating complex assets and sensitive family dynamics, all while prioritizing advocacy and the wishes of her clients. Courtney is also the proud mother to two teen daughters, one of which is a current 蜜桃传媒 student.
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Denice Fellows
MemberSanta Barbara, CADenice earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before working in Sacramento as a volunteer coordinator for Sutter Health and as a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America. Locally, she has held many positions, include as Dos Pueblos PTA president and board member on the Santa Barbara Education Foundation. Denice her husband, Steven, have two grown daughters.
Jessica Caruso
MemberSanta Barbara, CAJess is an Executive Managing Partner at Mercer Advisors, overseeing 20 offices in the firm鈥檚 west division while leading a national focus on client experience. She has experience across the firm鈥檚 operations, working as a client service specialist, financial planner, wealth advisor, director, and managing director. She helped found InvestHERs, the Mercer Advisors initiative to make the firm a leading wealth manager of choice for female investors and one of the best workplaces for women in the financial services profession. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER庐 professional, Jessica graduated cum laude from 蜜桃传媒 with a degree in economics and business.
Megan Stichter' 05
MemberSanta Barbara, CAMegan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics with an emphasis in Accounting from 蜜桃传媒 and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She began her career in public accounting at Damitz, Brooks, Nightingale, Turner & Morrisset and later served as Accounting Manager at Select Staffing. Megan joined AppFolio at the time of its IPO and became Corporate Controller, leading efforts to scale financial operations, ensure accurate and timely financial reporting, and implement public company initiatives, including SOX 404(b) compliance. After stepping away from her corporate role to focus on family, Megan has continued to apply her financial expertise in the nonprofit sector. A longtime Santa Barbara resident, Megan is passionate about community impact and women鈥檚 leadership. She lives locally with her husband Josh and their two children.
Sherry Nasseri '01
ChairSanta Barbara, CA
Drew Parisi
Vice-ChairGoleta, CA
- Sherry Nasseri 鈥�01, chair
- Drew Parisi 鈥�05, co-chair
- Jessica Caruso '07
- Kim Crawford 鈥�00
- Courtney DeSoto 鈥�94
- Denice Fellows
- Anna Grotenhuis
- Megan Stichter '05
HONORARY
- Anna Grotenhuis, founding member
- Anne Towbes
- Lori Ann Banez, Director of Career Resource Center
- Sarah Camp, Associate Vice President of College Advancement
- Janay Marshall 鈥�01, Director of Alumni Relations
- Reed Sheard, Vice President of College Advancement and CIO
- Mary Pat Whitney, Director of Public and Advancement Events
- Trevor White, Assistant to the AVP of College Advancement
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