Santa Barbara Foundation

President & CEO Jackie Carrera leads the organization, with oversight from a board chaired by Matt Rowe of Raymond James. The board includes principals such as Kiah Jordan of Impact Family Office and Zohar Ziv, former COO of Deckers Brands. Day-to-day portfolio execution is supported by the foundation's internal investment staff and its Professional Advisor Network.

The foundation sources deals through its board's operating-executive and family-office networks, as well as its Professional Advisor Network of local legal, financial, and accounting professionals. Direct real estate and private-market investments often originate from relationships within the Santa Barbara and Central Coast business communities. Trustee George Adam, owner of Innovative Produce, also connects the foundation to the region's agribusiness sector through his role with the Grower-Shipper Association.

It operates as both. The foundation makes grants to Santa Barbara County nonprofits while managing a diversified long-term endowment that invests in private equity, real estate, hedge funds, infrastructure, and natural resources. The investment strategy includes fund commitments, direct co-investments, and ownership of commercial real estate vehicles such as CAL REAL PROPERTIES, L.P. and SBR ASSOCIATES.

The Santa Barbara Foundation engages in both. Its strategy explicitly spans fund of funds, secondaries, and direct investments across venture, growth, buyout, and distressed debt. The portfolio also holds interests in real estate and infrastructure partnerships alongside direct property positions.

Confirmed sector focuses include health-care services, with additional thematic alignment toward ESG, digital equity, and youth mental health. The foundation's Digital Equity Coalition targets internet affordability and technology access in the region.

The foundation is governed by a board of trustees that blends trust-company principals, foundation executives, and local operating-business owners. This structure deliberately integrates institutional asset-management discipline with on-the-ground knowledge of Santa Barbara County's economic and philanthropic landscape. The board oversees both investment policy and community-program strategy.

The foundation serves as a fiscal sponsor and partner to several aligned philanthropic vehicles, including Social Venture Partners Santa Barbara, the Art Foundation of Santa Barbara, the Towbes Foundation, and the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara. It also co-invests directly, as with the Youth Mental Health 4R Fund alongside philanthropist Carrie Towbes.