Houghton Hyatt and her husband were visiting friends in Montecito and knew instantly they found their future home.

“We were driving around Montecito, driving around Santa Barbara, and we just decided this would be a great place to raise a family,” she said. “It’s been amazing.”

Hyatt was pregnant at the time, but once the baby was born, she and her husband, Ben, packed up everything and moved from Atlanta to Santa Barbara.

That was 14 years ago.

“This community really drew us in,” Hyatt said.

Now, after spending the past several years volunteering in the community in a variety of ways, Hyatt was recently hired as the new executive director of the Montecito Association.

“I think that everybody should know about the Montecito Association,” Hyatt said. “Everybody in this community should know about it. We advocate on their behalf on major issues.”

Hyatt previously worked on the board and served on the Events Committee.

As executive director, Hyatt said she wants to focus on growing the membership, helping residents with their insurance challenges post-fire and debris flow, provide them information on Highway 101 construction, and myriad other issues facing Montecito.

“If people are having a hard time getting insurance, or renewed, or being dropped by their insurance carrier, we want to help them find a solution,” Hyatt said.

Regarding Highway 101 construction, the group wants to be a resource.

“We’re just trying to minimize the pain to our community,” Hyatt said.

In her new role, Hyatt said she is looking forward to working on the “Hands Across Montecito,” a homeless outreach project, where they walk with Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies along the train tracks to do homeless outreach, among other efforts.

She said her new role is about “problem solving, helping and supporting.”

“I like to take action,” Hyatt said. “If something needs to be done, I like to do it.”

Hyatt is also trying to draw people’s attention to a survey to get a sense of what the priorities should be for the Montecito Association.

In her spare time, Hyatt works as a Realtor for Sotheby’s.

Hyatt is originally from Louisville, Kentucky. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in financial management from Clemson University. Early in her career, she worked in the mutual fund, insurance and financial planning sector.

Her husband works in marketing for the pharmaceutical industry.

They live in Hope Ranch and have two children, Riley, a seventh-grader, and Jack, a ninth-grader. They have two dogs, Loki, 5, a ridgeback mix, and Zeke, 3, a German shepherd.

Hyatt said she is thrilled about her new role in the community, which pulled together after the Thomas Fire and debris flow.

“The amount of love and support for this community was incredible,” Hyatt said. “That is what this community is all about, is coming together in those kinds of times. You don’t necessarily get that in Santa Barbara. But this community is different.”

She has big shoes to fill left by the prior executive director, but she says she is up for the challenge.

“I’m delighted the Montecito Association chose Houghton as executive director,” said Sharon Byrne, former executive director. “I support her due to her excellent track record as an event chair, during her tenure on the board of directors. She endured a middle-of-the-night emergency evacuation in the Thomas debris flow, with her family. Her kids went to Montecito Union.

“She knows the community, and in the post-Thomas recovery and post-pandemic era, she’s the perfect person to help set a new course forward for Montecito.”