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Marsha Bailey, Founder & CEO |
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 Marsha Bailey is the Founder and CEO of Women’s Economic Ventures and the Small Business Loan Fund of Santa Barbara. WEV has provided entrepreneurial training to nearly 4,000 women and more than $2 million in loans to local small businesses. Marsha has been developing educational programs and services for women since 1983 and is the primary author of WEV’s self-employment training curriculum, From Vision to Venture. She has a Master’s Degree in Communication from UCSB and a B.A. from Michigan State University in Fine Art and Sociology. She is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional.
Under Marsha’s leadership, WEV has grown from a small organization with two employees and an annual budget of $75,000 to a nationally known women’s business center with 10 employees and an annual budget of over $1.2 million. She has served on the Board of Directors of many local organizations including the Fund for Santa Barbara, the Women’s Political Committee, the Santa Barbara City College Continuing Education Advisory Board, the South Coast Community Indicators Project, and the Santa Barbara County Economic Development Advisory Committee. She is the past president of the California Association for MicroEnterprise Opportunity and currently a member of the Board of Directors of the California Central Coast Girl Scouts.
Marsha has been honored as a woman of distinction by Soroptimists International, and the Tres Condados Girl Scouts and as Santa Barbara County’s second district woman of the year. In 2005 she was named Small Business Advocate of the year by the Pacific Coast Business Times and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
In conjunction with her work with WEV, Marsha has mentored and trained emerging women leaders from California, Nepal and Jordan, has provided entrepreneurial training for women in Hungary, spoken at the Sorbonne in Paris and been a consultant to a women’s business organization in Amman, Jordan. A prolific writer, Marsha frequently publishes essays in local and national media on the changing roles of women.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 104
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Angel Cottrell, Client Services Director |
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 Angel Cottrell, Client Services Director, joined WEV with over 10 years experience in the non-profit field. Angel successfully opened the first supported living program in the Santa Barbara area that allowed developmentally disabled adults previously institutionalized to live more independent and fulfilling lives.
Throughout the lifespan of this program, Angel filled the dual roles of operational and clinical director. Angel has consulted with local business owners to improve their operations, to develop goal-driven sales and marketing plans, and to execute their vision successfully. Angel’s passion lies in managing the daily operational needs of a business while planning innovatively for the long-term sustainability of the venture through the alignment of its economic, social and environmental aspects.
Angel holds a Masters degree in Organizational Management and a Bachelors degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She resides in Santa Barbara with her 16 year old daughter Alex.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 102
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Kathleen O'Donnell, Development Director |
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 Kathleen O’Donnell, Development Director, began her fundraising career in the arts in 1995. Kathleen has worked in both corporate giving and non-profit fundraising. As a successful entrepreneur and owner of PSquared Development, a fundraising consulting company, Kathleen successfully raised funds for the American Red Cross, Children’s Neurological Solutions and the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara - organizations with budgets ranging from $500,000 to over $25,000,000. Kathleen specializes in creating successful development departments where there were none and mentoring future development staff.
Kathleen came to WEV as a consultant in 2007 and joined the staff full-time in 2008. She is the only woman ever to be coaxed out of self employment by WEV’s CEO and Founder, Marsha Bailey!
Kathleen served as a board member for the Susan Love Breast Cancer Research Center and a committee member for both the Dream Foundation and the Visiting Nurses Association. Kathleen was a founding member of the Community Giving committee at Venoco Inc., which gives over $1 million annually to local non-profit organizations. Kathleen holds an AA degree in business administration from the University of Maryland. Having been a single mother and like many women, under employed, she is particularly interested in women’s economic issues.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 101
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Amy Fletcher, Grants Manager |
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 Amy joined WEV in March of 2007 as the Database Coordinator. She holds a Bachelors degree in Interpersonal/Organizational Communications, and spent the first five years of her professional career working in the field of human resources. She has extensive experience in data and project management. In January of 2009 she began writing grants for WEV and now manages all of WEV’s private, corporate and government grant activity, including research, proposal writing and reporting.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 111
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Julie Karpenko, Evaluation & Outcomes Data Coordinator |
 Julie joined WEV as a full time staff member in April 2010, to manage the annual Program Performance and Client Outcomes data collection projects, as well as to improve and expand WEV’s research and evaluation processes. She previously served as WEV’s 2008 Microtest survey intern.
Julie has 10 years of experience working in non profit management and evaluation of domestic and international organizations. Prior to joining WEV, Julie implemented research and evaluation projects for Habitat for Humanity Philippines, City of Berkeley Mental Health Department, and disability rights advocacy organizations in the Republic of Macedonia as a US Peace Corps Volunteer. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Welfare and a B.A. in Political Economy from UC Berkeley.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 107
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Devon Johnson, Business Development Specialist - Small Business Loan Fund |
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 Devon Johnson joined WEV in September 2009 and has over fourteen years of experience in the financial industry, specializing in small business lending, marketing, and operations management. She holds a bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from University of California, Santa Barbara and is a recent graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School, University of Washington, Seattle. As WEV’s Business Development Specialist, she is responsible for growing the Small Business Loan Fund and developing community partnerships.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 108
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Tea Silvestre, Business Development Specialist - Education & Training |
 Tea Silvestre began her marketing career as an entrepreneur in 1991 and then gained additional expertise in both the private and public sectors over the next 15 years. As a successful entrepreneur and owner of Social Good Consulting, she has assisted for profit and not-for-profit clients like the Ventura County AIDS Partnership, Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, and Working Law Group - organizations working to create positive change in our communities. Tea is passionate about training and with nearly 20 years of experience, specializes in strategic marketing, social media and triple bottom line business planning.
Tea came to WEV as a SET client in 2007, volunteered as a guest expert/speaker and then began teaching as one of our valued SET instructors in 2008. She joined the staff full-time in October 2009 as our Business Development Specialist in charge of Education and Training. She holds a bachelor's degree from University of Colorado, Boulder and earned a Certificate in Marketing from the University of California at Davis.
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, (805) 667-8004
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Shana Pearson, Development Associate |
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 Shana joined WEV as Program Assistant in March 2007. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from UCSB completing her double major in Global Studies and Spanish. In 2006 Shana resided in Madrid, Spain for a one year immersion program at the Universidad Complutense. Shana served as an intern for the United States Embassy, Commercial Service Department, assisting Trade Specialists in researching and developing Press Releases for U.S.-based international businesses.
In January 2009, Shana was promoted to Development Associate where her primary role is to facilitate donor relations, events, online giving and using social media to creatively help showcase WEV client success stories. Shana is enthusiastic and dedicated to helping WEV succeed in its mission: to promote the economic empowerment of women. Shana is also fluent in conversational and written Spanish.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 105
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Leah Gonzales, Program Manager |
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 Leah joined WEV as Program Assistant in June 2006. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a major in Global Studies and a minor in Spanish. During college, she studied abroad at Pontificia Universidad Católica
de Chile in Santiago, Chile and completed an internship at Un Techo
Para Chile, a non-governmental organization providing education and
construction of housing in low-income sectors of the city. Leah's studies and travels fostered her passion for creating an equitable society in alignment with WEV's mission. As WEV's Program Manager, Leah is responsible for ensuring the delivery of quality programs and services to WEV's clients, and managing the outreach and administration of these programs.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 106
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Finley Balma, Program Assistant |
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 Finley graduated from Westmont College in May 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Spanish. Her interest in the non-profit sector grew after an internship with the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse’s Save a Valuable Employee Program (S.A.V.E.). During a semester in Sevilla, Spain she developed her language skills through a home stay and attending classes at a local university. Her studies became more applicable while working at Cesar Chavez Bilingual Elementary School here in Santa Barbara. Finley looks forward to supporting the staff in presenting the valuable programs that WEV offers the community.
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, (805) 965-6073 ext 100
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Llewellyn T. Somers, Program Assistant |
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 Llewellyn first discovered WEV through the Self-Employment Training (SET) course. She graduated from SET in 2009 and is now the Program Assistant in WEV's Ventura office. Llewellyn holds a degree in English and minor in Spanish from UCLA. Before coming to WEV, she worked in publishing, acquired a Masters in Education from Fordham University and taught middle school in New York City. She brings to WEV a life-long commitment to equality and a new-found enthusiasm for entrepreneurship.
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, (805) 667-8004
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