The Santa Barbara Symphony has announced the election of Janet Garufis as president of the Board of Directors. Garufis will succeed outgoing president Don Gilman, stepping into the leadership role on July 1.
“The Symphony is part of the fabric that makes our community great,” Garufis said. “We all cherish and honor the traditional and inventive programming that only a live classical music performance can provide.
“Our job, moving forward is to continue to work to stay relevant, reach broader audiences and create a truly sustainable organization for generations to come. I am honored to be a part of this journey.”
Garufis is the current chairman/CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust. She began her banking career as a teller some 45 years ago with Security Pacific Bank, now Bank of America.
She rose through the ranks of retail banking and after completing the Security Pacific Management Training Program, successfully led retail banking, commercial banking, and private banking organizations.
Garufis joined Montecito Bank & Trust in 2004 and was promoted to president/CEO in 2006. In early 2014, she was invited to join the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank’s 12th District (CDIAC) and currently serves as the national CDIAC president.
She has been named American Banker’s 25 Most Powerful Women to Watch (2015), Pacific Coast Business Times’ Top 50 Women in Biz (2007-17), Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s Women of Inspiration (2012), and Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce’s Businesswoman of the Year (2010).
She has served as the chair of the Western Independent Bankers Association as well as director of the Pacific Business Management Institute of Pacific Coast Banking School.
Garufis’ community service highlights include serving as a trustee, board member, board president, and/or co-chair for an array of organizations such as Sansum Clinic; Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara; Music Academy of the West; Goleta Chamber of Commerce; Casa Pacifica; CASA; Children’s Library of Santa Barbara; United Way Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara American Heart Association; and Santa Barbara Habitat for Humanity.
“The Santa Barbara Symphony is very fortunate to have Janet as our next board president to help continue our journey to the next level of excellence,” said Don Gilman, outgoing board president.
“After having seen firsthand the leadership that Janet has provided to Montecito Bank & Trust, and to so many other local non-profit organizations in our local community, I am confident that the symphony as a whole will benefit immensely from her wisdom, her passion, and her experience,” he said.
“She is an excellent choice to lead the symphony board as we usher in a new era of artistic excellence, and drive our vision to provide the community with world-class performances and programs.”
The Santa Barbara Symphony Board works to support the organization’s mission to enrich the community by creating powerful musical experiences performed with passion and excellence, and by providing music education and community engagement.
To learn more about donating to the Santa Barbara Symphony, contact Amy Marshall, director of development, at amarshall@thesymphony.org or call 805-898-0107.
For more about the Santa Barbara Symphony, and its programming, visit www.thesymphony.org/.
— Jennifer Zacharias for The Santa Barbara Symphony.