From left, Graciela Montgomery, Robert K. Miller, Joyce Coleman
Three members recently joined the Santa Barbara City College Foundation: Graciela Montgomery, director-at-large; Joyce Coleman, vice president of the college’s School of Extended Learning; and trustee Robert K. Miller.
Ms. Montgomery is a human resources consultant with a wide range of clients. She has led initiatives focusing on diversity and inclusion, workplace transparency, gender balance and pay equity.
She previously worked for Deckers Brands and NPR as chief HR officer and led human resources teams at AECOM, Nortel Networks and ABC/Disney.
In these roles, she has seen how access to education has transformed careers. She takes her expertise to numerous Santa Barbara nonprofits.
Ms. Coleman has enjoyed being a community college educator and administrator for more than 28 years, with a majority of her career in California. She keeps a focus on equity in her leadership and management positions.
She has served as dean of students at Bakersfield College, dean of Community Learning Programs at Mt. Hood Community College in Greshman, Ore.; vice president of Student Services at Umpqua Community College, and vice president of student affairs and enrollment management at Century College.
Ms. Coleman seeks to lead by example and “provide others with an awareness and knowledge of cultural humility with a major aspect being self-exploration.”
She is a first-generation college graduate and studied at Sam Houston State University before earning a master’s degree from the University of Houston.
Mr. Miller was elected to the City College Board of Trustees March 2018 to fill a vacancy and was re-elected for a full term in November 2020. He was appointed to the SBCC Foundation Board of Directors December 2020.
He worked at a national litigation law firm until his retirement in 2015. He volunteers for the Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
Mr. Miller received a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Before law school, he did a stint in the Peace Corps in Morocco, worked as a congressional assistant, managed a U.S. Senate campaign, was the chief political aide for a senator and served as deputy assistant secretary of refugee affairs at the State Department.
Visit sbccfoundation.org to learn more about the board and the foundation.
— Annelise Hanshaw
