Board of Trustees

Angelina Lane is an attorney and partner at Lynn & O’Brien, LLP, where her focus has been in civil litigation and plaintiff cases for injury, including civil rights actions, appellate work and criminal law in both the State and Federal Courts. Angelina has also worked extensively with the California Appellate Project, undertaking criminal appeals to rectify potential abuses within the court system. She previously worked with the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office as a deputy district attorney in Santa Maria.

Angelina holds a Juris Doctor degree from Chapman University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminal justice from Cal State Long Beach. A Southern California native who was born in Santa Barbara with longtime family roots in the community, she currently lives in Carpinteria with her husband, Michael, their two children and one furry, four-legged child. She credits her mother and grandmothers for being role models of independent, strong women in her life, showing her that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.

Peter Dugre is co-owner of Two Trumpets Communications and previously spent ten years as a journalist, editor and director of print publications in the local media market. He specializes in messaging through written materials, long term publicity strategies and media relations.

Peter graduated with honors from UCSB with a degree in English literature. He served on the board of Parents for Carpinteria Family School and helped organize Kinderkirk Preschool’s annual auction for five years. He resides in La Conchita with his partner Lea Boyd and three children.

Orlando has worked as a tax auditor for the Internal Revenue Service since 1984, and is a certified instructor for the IRS. He obtained a bachelor of science in political science and sociology at Westmont College. Orlando lives in Carpinteria with his wife, Nancy Tillie, and is an avid golfer.

Orlando joined the board of Girls Inc. of Carpinteria in January 2018 and serves on its finance committee. He has volunteered with Girls Inc.’s Mariachi Encuentro committee for six years. For the past 26 years, Orlando has volunteered with VITA in Santa Barbara and Ventura. He is a former board president of the Carpinteria Boys & Girls Club, and a former board member of the United Boys and Girls Clubs. He is also a Diamond Star recipient with California 4H.

“Our girls are going to be the leaders of households in the future – and my goal as a board member is to ensure girls understand the long-term economic and social benefits of making healthy diet choices.”

Caroline Alarcon is the owner of Reliant Notary Services in Carpinteria. As a small business owner, Alarcon understands and values the importance of community and believes in giving back. She also brings prior experience in the Public Health Department and nonprofit sector, and has worked in leadership roles for areas including public engagement, fiscal responsibility, strategic planning and has policy writing for other governmental agencies.

Caroline currently serves on the Board of the Carpinteria Chamber of Commerce and the Latina Professional Alliance. She believes greatly in the importance of investing in the community’s youth.

Terri Allison is an early childhood education consultant for Transition House, the Santa Barbara Unified School District, and the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara. Terri was a founder of Storyteller Children’s Center nearly 30 years ago and served as executive director from 2005 to 2015. She helped write the original grant asking for funds to provide care for homeless children while their parents looked for work — a grant that eventually led to the establishment of Storyteller Children’s Center.

Terri holds a multi-subject teaching credential, and received a post-graduate certificate in Infant-Parent Mental Health from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Terri is also the co-author of Moon Mother, Moon Daughter: Myths and Rituals that Celebrate a Girl’s Coming of Age.

“Girls Inc. provides quality programs the support the development of each girl’s unique sense of self — empowering them to discover their own voice and personal power.”

Hayley Fedders is the founder of Studio Seaside, a Carpinteria-based design agency specializing in branding and web design. Her trade skills are built around interactive digital media design and product design technology. Fedders holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts from San Francisco State University. Outside of her business, she spends most of her spare time outdoors and traveling with her husband and two young children.

Chris Jacobs is an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where his practice revolves around complex real estate transactions, real estate finance, title insurance, development/construction and land use matters. Jacobs’ work includes representing clients in the purchase or sale of residential, development, commercial and industrial properties; representing clients before governmental agencies in development, construction, land use and environmental matters on the Southern and Central Coast of California. He has particular experience advising clients on coastal development and land use permitting, including flood zone and beachfront development, seawalls and related coastal protection regulations. He has served as special assistant and deputy counsel to various public agencies on the Central Coast of California.

Jacobs holds a J.D. from Loyola Marymount University and a B.A. from the University of California, Davis. He currently serves on the board of the James S. Bower Foundation, the Surf Happens Foundation and the Roosevelt School Site Council and has previously served on the boards of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara, La Casa de Maria, the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, and the Vestry of All Saints by the Sea Episcopal Church.

Lori Pearce is director of information technology and business operations at NuSil Technology, a global specialty silicone manufacturer. Since joining NuSil, Pearce has cultivated a small information technology and support department and successfully developed it into a multi-national, mature operation.

Lori holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Indiana University East and an associate degree in computer science from Santa Barbara City College. She is an active volunteer in the community with local schools and organizations including Carpinteria Valley Girls Softball and the Girl Scouts, and served on the Carpinteria Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.

Lori joined the Girls Inc. of Carpinteria board in January 2018 after serving on its finance committee for several years. Lori also sits on Girls Inc.’s IT committee.

Diana Rigby is the current Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD) Superintendent and a former Carpinteria resident with an extensive career in education administration in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Concord, Massachusetts. She began her career as a speech/language specialist and special education teacher in Hueneme School District and an administrator in Ventura County Schools.  She worked as the director of student services and assistant superintendent in Santa Barbara School Districts and has also taught special education courses at Westmont College. In 2003, Diana relocated to the East Coast where she led the Concord Public Schools and Concord-Carlisle Regional School District before returning to Carpinteria this past year.

Diana attended Northwestern University and the University of Massachusetts where she received a bachelor’s degree in communication studies. She completed graduate work for a master’s degree in speech and hearing sciences at UC Santa Barbara, and additional coursework in special education and school administration at California Lutheran University.

Anu Sharma is a pediatrician at Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics. With more than 25 years of experience, she focuses on under-resourced and marginalized communities, at-promise youth, and civic engagement in innovative spaces. She encourages her young patients to volunteer in their communities and helps older teens to register to vote in her office as part of their annual physicals through an initiative she is involved with called Vot-ER.

With a passion for child advocacy, and advancing social justice and health equity, Dr. Sharma’s volunteer experiences range from Covid-19 vaccine clinics in Santa Barbara, mass free clinics in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina, and disaster relief to fishing villages in South India destroyed by the 2004 tsunami. Having grown up in Louisiana, she received her medical training in New Orleans and New York before ultimately moving to Carpinteria. Dr. Sharma credits Girls Inc. of Carpinteria for providing a safe and nurturing space for own daughter after school for the past seven years, and being a “vital part of her personal growth and education.”

April Simpson is an executive producer and distributor of mainstream content in the digital realm of several high-profile talent podcasts and social media channels, regularly consulting with individuals, corporations and nonprofits and show producers. For more than a decade, she produced nationally syndicated shows airing across the US for broadcast and online. As a veteran storyteller, content producer, editor and feature reporter, Simpson has had the opportunity to interview top A-list athletes, dine with Michelin star chefs and conduct one-on-one interviews with names such as Harrison Ford, Robin Williams, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Susan Sarandon and many more. She has also shot, edited and hosted food and travel features from Beijing, China to Amalfi Coast, Italy.

A Ventura resident, Simpson previously served as a volunteer communications director for Uncaged.com, a young anti-human trafficking nonprofit, where she helped guide, build and manage the organization’s brand message on all mediums.

Bianca Vega is the assistant head of school at Santa Barbara Middle School. A Santa Barbara native, she joined Teach for America in Los Angeles after college and later was awarded the Fund for Teachers fellowship and received a grant to study the habitats of manatees and dolphins in Belize. She has taught in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Thailand, Mexico and Colombia prior to moving back to California.

Vega holds a master’s degree in education from Loyola Marymount University and a bachelor’s degree in human biology with a specialty in gender issues from Standford University. In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing, spinning and traveling.