Dee Jennings has joined the leadership team of the Santa Barbara Foundation.
“Dee brings to Santa Barbara’s only community foundation an atypical combination of leadership and management strengths in strategy, operations, finance and technology,” said Ron Gallo, president and CEO of the foundation. “With her impressive business management background, Dee’s portfolio will include leadership of our financial operations, investments, technology, human resources and facilities management.
“At a time when the foundation is focused on even deeper community impact and extraordinary service to our donors, having Dee’s kind of first-rate investment and financial acumen and experience is a big asset. Dee’s appointment rounds out the senior management team now in place at the foundation. The trustees and I are delighted to have her on board.”
Jennings, who will serve as senior vice president of finance and administration, has more than 20 years of experience in financial operations and management in the Santa Barbara area.
She has held several senior management positions for Santa Barbara’s leading companies, including manager of finance and administration for Textron Inc. and senior manager in charge of day-to-day operations for Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf.
She was also a former director of contracts and finance for Tetra Tech Inc., an assistant business manager for Raytheon and a financial planner for IDS/American Express.
Jennings serves as a lecturer at UCSB Extension and Antioch University in finance. She has been involved in area nonprofits including, Guide Dogs of America, Animal Shelter Assistance Program and the Family Service Agency.
A native of Texas, Jennings has a master’s degree in business administration from Golden Gate University and a bachelor’s degree in education from Baylor University.
— Alixe Mattingly is the vice president of communications and marketing for the Santa Barbara Foundation.