Sierra Club SB Group executive committee members are democratically elected by our members. Four of the Santa Barbara Group’s executive committee’s seven seats are up for election this year. Here are the nominee bios.
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Emily Engel is an independent scholar, educator, activist, and philanthropist whose work focuses on the intersection of culture and environment to mitigate the ongoing challenges of climate change. Emily works as an activist through the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters, Rachel’s Network, and the PSI Maverick Collective. She received her PHD from the University of California, Santa Barbara and attended Tulane University as an undergraduate. Emily is currently the Secretary of the Santa Barbara Group and she looks forward to supporting all the great work our chapter leaders and volunteers do every single day. |
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Olivia Craig
Osiyo! (‘Hello’ in Cherokee) I am a third-year Environmental Studies student at the UC-Santa Barbara and being a student is just one of my many hats. My passion for advocacy sits at the center of numerous campus and community involvements.
I currently sit on the Isla Vista Community Services District’s Board of Directors as the youngest elected official in Santa Barbara County – aiming to drive environmental change by improving sustainable transportation solutions in and out of IV and working closely with the IV Compost Collective. I also work as a Global Food Fellow for UCSB Sustainability, incorporating regenerative agriculture and traditional ecological knowledge practices in our campus gardens.
While I am newer to the Sierra Club, it is a community I am eager to get to know better and work with to create tangible environmental solutions aimed at addressing the global climate crisis.
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Wendy Santamaría is a community organizer based in Santa Barbara where her work focuses on the intersection between affordable housing, environmental protections, and workers’ rights. She graduated from UC Santa Bárbara and currently works as the Labor Organizer for AFSCME 3299 at UCSB.
In her spare time, Wendy works closely with the City of Santa Barbara to address the ongoing housing crisis and find ways to enact better protections for tenants and promote affordable housing.
She currently serves on the Santa Barbara ExCom and wants to continue with a focus toward supporting our ongoing work by bringing workers and community members together to improve public transportation, mitigate the dangers of climate change and to preserve public lands to ensure adequate nature accessibility for all.
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Bill Woodbridge graduated from UCSB in Combined Social Sciences and is now retired, living in Goleta.
“I spend about 3 hours a day responding to at least 80 emails from as many organizations asking for petitions to be signed, letters to be written and politicians to be called, regarding environmental concerns, wildlife safety and well-being, endangered species, clean air and water, stopping oil/ gas drilling, promoting forests and sea life, banning assault weapons, etc.“
He has been attending the SB Group ExCom meetings and volunteering for nearly 3 years. He also volunteers for the SB Environmental Defense Center and does wildlife rescues and transport for the SB Wildlife Care Network.
“I give keynote presentations to high school/college classes, and other groups, regarding climate change and global warming, on behalf of the Climate Reality Project. I attend and speak up at SB County Planning and Supervisor public meetings regarding environmental issues, such as the recent Exxon pipeline and oil trucking permit requests.
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