Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation

Founded in 1999, the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, non-profit charitable foundation established to help secure justice and protection of legal rights. With the donations the Foundation receives, scholarships and grants are able to be awarded to programs and organizations that align with the Foundation’s mission.

The Mission of the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation is:

To advance the knowledge of and appreciation of the law among the general public.
To support the efforts of the courts and public entities of Santa Barbara County, California, to improve the system of justice.
To support the legal education efforts of the Bar Associations of Santa Barbara County.
To support the Santa Barbara County Law Library.
To help secure, for benevolent and charitable purposes, justice and protection of the legal rights of all, including the poor and other persons who are in need of effective representation and advice.

Officers and Directors 2022

President: Barbara Carroll
Vice President: Guneet Kaur
Treasurer/CFO: Marisol Alarcon
Secretary: Jill Monthei

Past Recipients SB County Bar Foundation Grants

Santa Barbary County Legal Aid Foundation – Legal Resource Center Project
Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA)
Local high school mock trial programs
Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law
Santa Barbara Law Library
Santa Barbara Superior Court
Santa Barbara Teen Court
Sexual Assault Response Team (SART)
Immigrant Hope
California Rural Legal Assistance in support of their NoMas program

Scholarships

The Finishing Line scholarship was created in 2017 and is offered to third and fourth year Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law students to help support their final year with much needed resources to complete their education.
Diversity and Inclusion scholarship was created in 2022, a jointly administered scholarship by the Santa Barbara County Bar Association and the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation to award annual scholarships to (i) diverse undergraduate students with access to commercial LSAT preparation programs and funds to cover their LSAT registration fees; and (ii) diverse law school graduates with access to commercial bar exam preparation courses and funds to cover their bar registration fees and living expenses while they study for the California bar exam.

Legal Community Appreciation Award

The Legal Community Appreciation Award is an annual award that was established in 2016 to honor a legal professional in our community who has provided outstanding contributions to the local legal system either through achievements of professional excellence or volunteer service.

Past recipients of this Award are:

2016 – Marilyn Metzner
2017 – Betty L. Jeppesen
2018 – Tara Haaland-Ford
2019 – Ron K. Perry
2020 – Vance Saukko (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JXE9ZDcnSg)
2021 – Bobby Baksh

Annual Fundraiser

Race for Justice, a 5K race and 5K fun run hosted by the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation. Proceeds from the event will support the charitable activities of the foundation.

Foundation Address

Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation
Post Office Box 21523
Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1523
Email: sbbarfoundation@gmail.com

Donations

Donations are tax deductible. Please mail donations to address above or e-mail us for more information on how to make a donation.