Community Environmental Council CEO Sigrid Wright is among the winners of the fifth annual Congressional Women of the Year Award, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal has announced. The award honors six exceptional women across the 24th Congressional District who have left a positive impact on their communities.
“With the many daunting challenges of the growing climate crisis, Sigrid’s dedicated environmental leadership in Santa Barbara has guided the community in facing those changes,” Carbajal said. “I am honored to recognize her contributions to our community.”
“Sigrid is one of the most thoughtful and strategic leaders I know,” said Geoff Green, CEC Board member and CEO for the Foundation for Santa Barbara City College. “Her clarity, strength, and long-term vision are remarkable. She has an uncanny ability to find and connect people and resources from all corners of the community.
“Sigrid constantly strives to learn and grow. She’s innately curious, a voracious reader, and has a wonderful ability to seek input from all sources and make sense of it.”
Wright was recognized for her far-reaching contributions to the Central Coast. With some 25 years at the CEC, serving seven years as CEO, she has worked to transition the region to carbon neutrality and empower greater numbers of community members to become better stewards of the climate.
For 15 years, Wright led the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival, which she grew to one of the largest, consistently held Earth Day celebrations in the U.S.
Carbajal will present the award to Wright during the Environmental Hero Award Ceremony at CEC’s 2022 Santa Barbara Earth Day event, Saturday, April 23 at the Arlington Theatre. He also will emcee the Award Ceremony at 2:30 p.m., where CEC will recognize Kenny Loggins, as well as the inaugural cohorts of Community Environmental Council’s UC Climate Stewards course.
The six winners of this year’s award span a variety of backgrounds and professions and represent the thousands of women working to improve quality of life on the Central Coast. Joining Wright are: Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt of Santa Maria, Linda Tyler-Ryles of Buellton, Rev. Doctor Caroline Hall of Los Osos, Dee Lacey of Paso Robles, and Barbara Levenson of Pismo Beach.
Carbajal will recognize the winners by entering a special written tribute for each woman into the official Congressional Record, preserving their stories and their impact on the community. An award ceremony will be held at a later date and each honoree will also receive a special congressional pin.
A resident of Goleta, Wright has built multiple programs for climate, energy, and food-related issues. Under her leadership, CEC has grown its impact and stature. In 2020, CEC was recognized as a California Non-Profit of the Year by then-District 37 Assemblywoman Monique Limón; as well as a 2020 Spirit of Service Climate Hero by the City of Santa Barbara.
Wright is a co-founder and steering committee member of the Central Coast Climate Justice Network, a co-founder of the Central Coast Climate Collaborative, and a co-founder and board member of the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network.
She is the co-author or editor of more than a dozen policy and planning documents, including “The Santa Barbara County Regional Energy Blueprint.” Prior to becoming CEC’s first female CEO in 2015, she led the annual Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival production team for more than 15 years.
Wright sits on the boards of Leading From Within and the Santa Barbara Foundation’s Collaboration for Social Impact. She is an alum of the Santa Barbara Foundation’s Katherine Harvey Fellows program and the Courage to Lead program for nonprofit leaders.
Her achievements led her to receive the 2015 Women of Achievement Award from the Association of Women in Communications, Santa Barbara.
Wright holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, and a master’s degree in communications design from the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts at the University of Baltimore.