Saying Bye to Barbara

Capping an impactful, three-decade career in the area’s nonprofit sector, Barbara Robertson is retiring as president and CEO of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, as of December 31.

“We owe Barbara a tremendous debt of gratitude for her calm, steady leadership during a period of unprecedented social turmoil and uncertainty these past two-plus years,” says Matt Rowe, foundation board chair. “Despite numerous daunting challenges stemming from the pandemic and its aftermath, she has positioned the organization for continued success as an invaluable educational resource for students and families in our community.”

Under her leadership, the foundation awarded almost $22 million in college scholarships, adopted a new application software platform, and met all programmatic and institutional deadlines and revenue goals.

A native of Vancouver, Canada, Robertson studied business economics at the University of British Columbia and accounting at the British Columbia Institute of Technology before working as a consultant, including Marwick and Partners in Vancouver and Information Systems Group in Ottawa.

She relocated to Santa Barbara in 1989, and in 1993 became director of finance for the Scholarship Foundation, a position she held for 11 years.