Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County, a nonprofit organization that provides volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in foster care, is pleased to announce the appointment of Tony Papa as the new president of its Board of Directors.
“I am so pleased to have been elected president of CASA of Santa Barbara County,” Papa said. “There are so many incredible benefits to the work we do at CASA. I was initially drawn to the obvious impact our program makes on the trajectory of an abused and neglected child’s future.”
Papa joined the Board of Directors in 2009. He is a seasoned chief executive and corporate advisor. He is the founder and CEO of Ciralta Inc. He is also chairman and co-founder of Impulse Communications, a provider of business telephone and Internet services.
Papa is a director for both the Bank of Santa Barbara, where he also serves as chairman of the Information and Technology Committee, and India-based Desta Corp.
Also elected as Board of Directors officers were Lisa Murray, vice president; Brian Simas, secretary; and Marty Lynch, treasurer.
“CASA of Santa Barbara County is fortunate to have such a strong leadership presence on our board of directors,” Executive Director Kim Colby Davis said. “We look forward to leveraging their insights and expertise as we strive to continue to grow in meeting the needs of the most needy and vulnerable children in the county.”
Papa added, “At the end of our last fiscal year, CASA served 49 percent of the abused and neglected children who are dependents of our county’s court system. While this is a dramatic increase from years past, it is imperative we serve 100 percent. We are determined to get there by the end of 2018, and we believe we can scale our program very efficiently. The challenge is recruiting the additional men and women willing to volunteer their time and serve as advocates.”
CASA of Santa Barbara County is accepting applications from individuals who are interested in becoming Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers. For more information, contact Tara Gross at 805.739.9102 x2595 or tara@sbcasa.org.
— Tara Gross is an outreach coordinator for CASA of Santa Barbara County.