Emily Alessio is Education and Visitor Experience Manager at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Westmont College in 2021. She is excited to work with a group of women who share her similar interests in storytelling and community building.
Juliet Velarde Betita believes in the power of sharing experiences as healing, her profession as a License Marriage Family Therapist has given her the opportunity to be an educator, workshop facilitator, community activist and psychotherapist promoting diversity dialogues on one’s personal and political cultural identity. She started the Asian Literary Book Club called “Asian Writings and the Asian Women Who Love Them”.
Terease Chin has spent the past 35+ years in financial & wealth management most recently as a Senior Trust Officer at Montecito Bank & Trust. Her passion is immigrant education for second language learners; is an adjunct instructor with SBCC Continuing Education ESL Program and promoting the cultural diversity of Santa Barbara community especially Asian American voices. She is one of the founding members of the well known Asian American Film Festival and Asian American Neighborhood Festival under the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) for the past 13 years where she also served as past Board president for three years. She continues to co-chair the Asian American Affinity Group under SBTHP.
Christina Davis is a Nonprofit Development Professional located in Santa Barbara. Christina is passionate about art accessibility, feminism, food security, and of course, literature. She was the former Development Director at Girls Rock SB (GRSB) and the Development Manager at Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB).
Christina is an Emerging Leader in the Arts Mentor and the Outreach and Implementation Coordinator for the Santa Barbara Food Action Network. She has over 9 years of arts nonprofit experience in California, Arizona, and New York. Christina received a BA in Anthropology and Classics from the University of Arizona and an MA in Design History and Curatorial Studies from Parsons: The New School.
Brenda Bernu Reheem is a UCSB retired graphic artist. She designs the promotional materials for Women’s Literary Voices. Her passion for reading many genres drew her into attending WLF festivals for many years, and joining the WLF board in 2016, and stayed active in the reorganization of WLV.
Madison Smoak is currently pursuing a Masters in Education and Single Subject Teaching Credential in English at University of California, Santa Barbara and will graduate in 2023. She completed her undergraduate coursework at Westmont College in English and Spanish, which led her to her current position at The Turner Foundation. Madison serves as the Grants Manager and has experience in freelance writing and editing with The Independent, Network’d Magazine, and “Eyes to See”. She is eager to begin connecting youth and the community with new voices and the connectedness that comes from storytelling and historical literature.
Lauren Trujillo is the Foundation Director of the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation. She received her Master of Library and Information Science from UCLA and has worked with several nonprofits. She sits on the board for the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara, United for Libraries, Association for Fundraising Professionals, EDC, and is a member of the Junior League of Santa Barbara.
Lea Williams has a BA in Art History, graduated summa, Univ of TX Arlington and also obtained a Certificate of Broadcasting, Columbia School of Broadcasting, San Francisco.
Although a radio announcer for four years Dallas and Des Moines, writing has always been at the core of her interests. She has written travel stories for New Mexico magazine, radio essays on the environment for the EcoEssays syndicated radio series, collaborated on development of two tv series proposals and written publicity copy for a record company.
After years as a travel writer, publicist, and editor; being on-air in radio and doing photo gallery shows, she now gets to create her true love, a subscription service of letters that take you on illuminating, comforting adventures. This has been her focus and joy for the past 3 years.
SB Women's Literary Voices 