The Junior League of Santa Barbara (JLSB) is proud to announce its three finalists for Woman Of The Year: Michele (Talkington) Schneider, Beverly Schwartzberg and Nancy Sheldon.

The Woman of the Year is honored by the Junior League for her achievements in alignment with JLSB’s mission to promote volunteerism, develop the potential of women and improve youth literacy.

The Junior League will honor all three nominees for their contributions to the community, but only one will be named Woman of the Year at JLSB’s Seventh Annual Gala, “Legacies are Forever,” presented by Tiffany & Co. and held at the Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club on April 11.

Here are some insights into these three philanthropists:

Michele (Talkington) Schneider

Michele (Talkington) Schneider is passionate about volunteering, motivating others to volunteer and promoting great causes. She is actively involved as a volunteer for the American Heart Association, Fairview Gardens, The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County’s annual Corporate Food & Funds Drive Challenge, and has been a longtime Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce ambassador.


Michele sits on the board of the Cox Cares Foundation, she is a past chairwoman of the Heart Walk and was this year’s Cox’s team captain, helping the team come in second place and raising nearly $7,000. She has been deemed “The Lemon Princess,” through her years of supporting the California Lemon Festival in Goleta, where she has consistently raised the bar as a volunteer.

She is actively involved in Old Spanish Days and Fiesta Ranchera. She walked to raise funds for Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County and helped in the preparation of the event.

“Michele is like the Energizer Bunny,” says those who work closely with her. “She is unstoppable in the energy and time she devotes to others. She continuously goes above and beyond for every organization she works with and is a champion for our community.”

JLSB would like to honor Michele (Talkington) Schneider for her philanthropic contributions to Santa Barbara.

Beverly Schwartzberg​

Beverly Schwartzberg has been the Adult Literacy Program coordinator at the Santa Barbara Public Library since 2003, supporting adult learners and their volunteer tutors in the community. She also works as a team member with library staff, the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation, and the Friends of the Santa Barbara Public Library to develop and promote new initiatives. These include the Children’s Library Campaign, the recent three-year National Leadership Award from the federal Institute of Museum & Library Services promoting reading together, the Big Read program from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and many other projects.

Bev holds a Ph.D. in public history from UC Santa Barbara, and has worked in the museum world and as a high school and college teacher.

JLSB would like to honor Beverly Schwartzberg for her commitment to youth literacy and to the Santa Barbara community.

Nancy Sheldon

Nancy Sheldon grew up in the merciless chilly Midwest city of Milwaukee before branching out to the even colder city of Boston, where she received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

She spent 13 years in investment banking with UBS in Chicago and New York before relocating to civilized Santa Barbara with her husband, Mike, in 2001. They quickly started populating the community and now have four children: Max in sixth grade, Kate in fifth and Charlie in third at Crane Country Day School. Eve, at 4 is still making her way through preschool.

Nancy spent the past 14 years in the nonprofit world. Her interests and passions are for helping kids not only survive but thrive in an increasingly complicated world. She served as the preschool trustee on the board of Congregation B’nai B’rith and was head of the Beit HaYeladim Parent Association. She also served on the board of Postpartum Education for Parents (PEP).

Currently, she chairs the capital campaign for MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, and is on the board’s executive committee. She recently joined the Board of Trustees for Crane Country Day School.

JLSB would like to honor Nancy Sheldon for her dedication to Santa Barbara’s youth and for her leadership in the community.

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Stay tuned for the highly anticipated announcement of JLSB’s Woman of the Year at the Seventh Annual Gala on April 11. Click here to purchase tickets to the gala.

The Seventh Annual Junior League of Santa Barbara Gala is brought to you in part by our generous sponsors: Tiffany & Co., Noozhawk, Joan and Jim Lindsey; Santa Barbara Auto Group; Porsche; UBS Wealth Management, Los Angeles; A Friend of the Junior League of Santa Barbara; Cox Communications; Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians; Heritage Oaks Bank; Open Air Photobooth; Sientra; Van Atta Associates/Blackbird Architects; Berkshire Hathaway (Mitch Stark, Kat Perello Hitchcock & Jake Ralston, Kyle Kemp, Dan Encell, Tim Dahl, Sherry Zolfaghari, Paul Hurts, Jason Streatfield, Mark Johnson); American Riviera Bank; acRhew; Cottage Children’s Hospital; OnQ Financial; Medtronic; Susan Burns Associates; Dana Zertuche; Bartlett Pringle & Wolf LLP; and Bella Vista Designs.

Click here for more information about the Junior League of Santa Barbara, call 805.963.2704 or email atoffice@jlsantabarbara.org.  Click here to make an online donation.

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