CALM (Child Abuse Listening Mediation) is proud to announce the selection of Alana Walczak as their new chief executive officer. She will succeed Cecilia Rodriguez, who will retire at the end of this year after 31 years of service to CALM.
Walczak is a seasoned nonprofit professional with more than 20 years of experience serving at-risk women, children and families. For the past nine years, she has served as vice president at PathPoint, the Santa Barbara nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities or disadvantages to reach their fullest potential.
Walczak was selected through an extensive national search, from among an impressive pool of potential candidates.
“Alana has deep knowledge and empathy for underserved communities and profound expertise in bringing resources and people together to create opportunity,” said Ed McKinley, CALM board of trustees member and chair of the search committee. “She provides proven leadership that will help us ensure that CALM’s mission to prevent and treat child abuse in Santa Barbara County.”
“We are so pleased to welcome Alana Walczak as CALM’s new CEO,” said Nancy Bollay, president of the CALM board of trustees. “We look forward to having her experience and expertise propel us further toward our vision to end child abuse in Santa Barbara County.”
Before her tenure at PathPoint, Walczak worked as program director of the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center, and before that she was the associate executive director of Domestic Violence Solutions of Santa Barbar County.
An inductee to Phi Beta Kappa honor society, she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in biology and psychology from Washington University in Saint Louis and completed graduate work in philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
“I am so honored to serve as CALM’s next CEO and continue the important work this organization does,” Walczak said. “Having spent nearly two decades working with Santa Barbara County nonprofit agencies, I am deeply committed to addressing the vital needs of our communities, including the children and families CALM serves.
“I hope to build upon the great legacy Cecilia has helped to create for CALM, and continue to be the leading force behind child abuse prevention throughout the county,” she said.
In addition to her professional work in the nonprofit world, Walczak is also personally involved in several community organizations.
She has served on the board of directors of the Environmental Defense Center, the Fund for Santa Barbara and the Women’s Political Committee, and she is a graduate of the Katerine Harvey Fellowship Program, a program of Leading from Within.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisc., Walczak moved to Santa Barbara in 2001. She lives in Santa Barbara with her partner Jarrod Schwartz, who is the executive director of Just Communities, and their twin 5-year-old daughters Sydney and Alix.
For more information about all of CALM’s services, please call 805.965.2376 or visit www.calm4kids.org.
— Jennifer Zacharias is a publicist representing CALM.