Category Trustee

Elizabeth is a graduate of Boston University, where she earned her BA in art history, and later earned her MBA from Pepperdine University, and a master of arts from Pacific Graduate Institute. Professionally, she has worked in nonprofit management ,…

Susie, who lives in Santa Barbara, is an artist, author and poet with a studio in Summerland. Educated at the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia, she earned a BA in English from Williams College in Massachusetts, where she developed her…

Ashley Adelson, a California native, completed her bachelor’s degree at Chapman University and earned her MBA while living in Europe. She continued to live abroad while she worked in the active travel industry. During this time, Ashley’s passion for gardening…

Jeanne Anderson and her husband Robbie live in Montecito and Beverly Hills and have been Lotusland members since 1994. In addition to being a longtime member of the Beverly Hills Garden Club, Jeanne has been a volunteer and supporter of…

Mark Schmidt recently retired as the Director of Finance and Operations at Crane Country Day School. Prior to his experience working as an independent school administrator, Mark was the CEO and a founder of Ledge Energy Group, a physical energy…

Wendy Schmidt is a philanthropist and investor who has spent nearly two decades creating innovative non-profit organizations to work with communities around the world for clean, renewable energy, resilient food systems, healthy oceans, and the protection of human rights. The…

Lisa Bjornson Wolf is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley in New York. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Lisa spent 13 years at JP Morgan in their Investment Bank and Asset Management divisions, most recently at the Private Bank’s Financial…

Laura was appointed Planning Commissioner, 2nd District, Santa Barbara County, in April 2019, and in early 2020 was elected Chair of the Santa Barbara Planning Commission. She is an experienced consultant working in land use and transportation planning as well…

Mari is a native Californian, born in Pasadena and raised in San Marino.  Immediately following graduation from Pitzer College, she lived and worked in Kenya, first as a volunteer then employed in non-profit relief and development work.  Upon returning to…

Merryl is the President and Creative Director of Merryl Brown Events, an event-planning firm based in Santa Barbara with a presence in Los Angeles and New York. She is a former international banker with American Express Bank and Bankers Trust…