The first item on the agenda at Tuesday’s Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting was a resolution of commendation presented to community member Maria Long.
First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal recognized Long for years of dedicated service to the residents of Santa Barbara County.
Long served as an executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County, where she worked tirelessly to implement and expand the mission of the organization.
While raising awareness for the programming that CASA provides to some of the most vulnerable and traumatized youths, she secured funding of more than $1.4 million and increased the operating budget by 100 percent in three years. During her time at CASA, it received the largest grant award ever distributed from the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara.
Long has advised and served on the boards of several local community organizations. She is an active member of the Strategic Planning Committee of Santa Barbara Girls Inc. and on the Development Committee of the Mental Health Association in Santa Barbara County.
She coordinated and served on the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse’s 2010 Amethyst Ball Women’s Committee, which raised more than $300,000. Currently, she is coordinating both the Summit for Danny Mont Blanc Climb and Local Climb at CADA.
She is also in charge of the marketing and public relations for Arch Rock Fish, a new restaurant owned by Los Angeles Galaxy Assistant Coach Cobi Jones, Hell’s Kitchen Chef Scott Leibfried and Jeremiah Higgins, restaurateur extraordinaire.
She was personally featured in National CASA Magazine, was nominated to the “Courage to Lead” inaugural group of Santa Barbara Nonprofit Executives in 2009 and received the Santa Barbara Grand Jury commendation for exceptional work at CASA in 2007.
— Tess Greenberg is a media and special events coordinator for the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.