The Community Environmental Council (CEC) has announced that Charles A. Newman is new member of its board of directors, which plays a vital role in the organization’s mission and leadership.

The nonprofit also announced that Christine DeVries has joined the Partnership Council, which has a broad spectrum of community members who act as ambassadors to advocate, network and promote on behalf of CEC.

Newman is a native Southern Californian. He holds a B.A. degree from UCSB and a law degree from Washington University’s School of Law. In a career spanning 38 years, he specialized in the defense of complex, class action suits.

Locally, Newman has served the Montecito Water Board as director and chair of multiple committees. In January he was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve as a commissioner on the Montecito Planning Commission.

He is also a member of the Environmental Defense Council, Human Rights Watch, the Montecito Association, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Photo Futures, the Sierra Club, Social Venture Partners, and UCSB’s Capps & Taubman Centers.

DeVries is a financial services consultant executive with 30-plus years of providing client-relationship management, employee development and facilitating collaboration among banking and investment divisions.

An active community volunteer, she has served on the boards of Bishop Garcia Diego High School, Carpinteria Valley Chamber of Commerce, Girls Inc. of Carpinteria, Coast Village Business Association and both the Montecito and Carpinteria Rotary Clubs.

DeVries’ work on committees has earned her the American Heart Association’s Passion Award and United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Community Investments Volunteer Award.

CEC’s 2017 appointed officers remain: Laura Burton Capps, board president; Jordan benShea, vice president; John H. Steed, secretary; and  
Karl Hutterer, treasurer.

Since 1970, CEC has worked to find creative solutions to difficult environmental problems. CEC pioneers real-life solutions in areas with the most impact on climate change. Its programs provide paths to clean vehicles, solar energy, resilient food systems, and reduction of single-use plastic.

Find CEC on the web at www.cecsb.org.

— Kathi King for Community Environmental Council.