Community leaders gathered over Zoom for the 2021 Downtown Santa Barbara’s Annual Awards Ceremony, presented by Southern California Edison, Feb. 24. The ceremony honors noteworthy recipients in various categories for their contributions to the organization’s mission: to champion Santa Barbara’s downtown district and the businesses therein.
Honorees included:
Santa Barbara Foundation, Citizen of the Year award; Santa Barbara AIA Design Charette, George Gerth Volunteer of the Year Award; Economic Development Collaborative, Business Champion of the Year; Brandon Ristaino and Misty Orman of Good Lion Hospitality, Entrepreneur of the Year Award; Dorienne Larbig of San Marcos High School, Harriet Miller Youth Leadership Award; Police Chief Lori Luhnow (ret.), recognized for her years of service.
Event emcees were Robin Gose, 2021 board president, president/CEO of MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation; and Robin Elander, Downtown Santa Barbara executive director.
Southern California Edison thanked the Downtown Santa Barbara Organization Board and staff for their work to promote the economic and cultural vitality of downtown Santa Barbara.
Dani Anderson, government relations manager, said Edison is at the forefront of confronting one of California’s greatest challenges — climate change —which threatens the state’s economy and way of life. Edison’s vision for the future includes investing in a smarter grid and leading the way in creating a 100% carbon-free grid by 2045.
» The Santa Barbara Foundation’s Citizen of the Year award recognizes the group’s work in providing financial relief through grants to individuals, nonprofit organizations, and diverse businesses in need.
“We are so lucky to have a foundation as strong as the Santa Barbara Foundation as part of our community,” said Mark Whitehurst, Voice Magazine Publisher & Editor, as he introduced the Santa Barbara Foundation.
Whitehurst said the foundation has mobilized its philanthropic base and responded to the community’s needs, and has done so multiple times in response to other disasters, and now the pandemic.
“We’re a community foundation and our job is to harness collective wisdom, but also to mobilize philanthropic capital, and that’s what we did by partnering with so many people in the community, so all of the honor today really goes out to the many, many people that we work with on a daily basis,” said Jackie Carrera, Santa Barbara Foundation CEO.
“It goes to our donors, and it goes to all of the leaders in the business community and the nonprofits who are doing that work every day,” Carrera said.
» The Santa Barbara AIA Design Charette received the George Gerth Volunteer of the Year Award for its work mobilizing the minds and creativity of some 200 design professionals and 16 teams to strategically reimagine and re-envision downtown, block by block, via a virtual multi-month design charette.
Cassandra Ensberg, a co-chair of the AIA Design Charrette, accepted the award on behalf of the AIA.
» The Economic Development Collaborative was awarded the Business Champion of the Year, which was accepted by Clare Briglio, director of communications.
The organization fielded hundreds of calls daily in English and Spanish supporting businesses to navigate the challenges of the pandemic, apply for grants and loans, and organized business task forces and resources bi-weekly to connect and distribute resources to area partners. The award was presented by Sarah Sinclair of The Santa Barbara Independent.
» The Entrepreneur of the Year Award was presented to Brandon Ristaino and Misty Orman of Good Lion Hospitality by fellow entrepreneur Geoff Andrews of Carpe Data. Ristaino and Orman own hospitality businesses and bars throughout downtown Santa Barbara, including Good Lion Cocktail Bar, Test Pilot, Shaker Mill, and newly opened Venus in Furs.
“We feel incredibly honored, excited and stoked. After the dumpster fire of 2020, this award couldn’t be any sweeter,” Ristaino said. “It was the most challenging year in our professional life by far, and we couldn’t be more excited. And before I pass it to Misty, I just wanted to say that of all the people to say thanks to — you are the one I should say thanks to the most.”
» Dorienne Larbig of San Marcos High School, earned the Harriet Miller Youth Leadership Award. The honor, presented to Larbig by Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo, recognizes a local high school senior for leadership and community service.
Larbig has logged more than 590 hours of community service and maintains an above A grade point average. A few of her roles include advocate parliamentarian for her school’s Student Council, swim team captain, Girl Scout Ttroop ambassador, and junior lifeguard.
As a young leader with a love of the ocean Larbig created a campaign called Mylar Mistake to educate the community on the hazardous impacts of Mylar balloon plastic pollution on the environment.
» Police Chief Lori Luhnow received recognition for her years of service after her recent retirement as chief of the Santa Barbara Police Department.
In her acceptance speech, Luhnow said she “accepts [the] acknowledgement due to the compassion and dedication of all the men and women that work with the Santa Barbara Police Department.”
She said she is “glad that this year has proven the theory that public safety is a shared responsibility, and [that] they’ve come with partnerships, relationships, collaboration; and that highlights what I think is going to be needed to keep our community safe and resilient and provide for future success.”
The 2021 Downtown Santa Barbara Annual Awards Ceremony was presented by Southern California Edison and sponsored by Carpe Data, The Santa Barbara Independent,Voice Magazine, Kiwanis Club of Santa Barbara, and Santa Barbara Beautiful.
Downtown Santa Barbara represents some 1,400 downtown merchants and property owners. The organization sponsors programs, activities and events throughout the year, including the Holiday Parade, LIVE Art & Wine Tour, State Street Flag Program, and the monthly 1st Thursday Art Walk.