OUR LEADERSHIP

Doug is a meteorologist and the former Director of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District. Doug and his wife, Margaret, have lived in Goleta for 32 years and are the parents of two grown children. 

Ryan has developmental disabilities and lives in his own 2-bedroom apartment in Santa Barbara with full-time support and attends Alpha. His older sister, Katie, lives in Goleta with her husband, Aaron and their two children, Harry and Billy. Margaret taught first grade at Catholic schools for over 30 years and still keeps her hand in teaching while volunteering in the community.

Craig retired in July 2010 as Business Manager of Marymount School, where he had been responsible for a ten-acre school facility, eight buildings, and $3.5 million annual budget.  

Prior to Marymount, Craig served as Division Manager of Santa Barbara Transportation for three years, overseeing the Clean Air CNG commuter busing project, and contracting with local agencies to provide busing for developmentally disabled clients. 

From 1973 to 1987, he was employed at Work Inc. where he worked with many Alpha clients, and became the Executive Director in 1982.  In addition, he taught Macintosh computer classes throughout the late 1980’s until 1996, evenings and weekends, at Santa Barbara City College, Adult Education.

In addition to his professional positions, Craig has been involved with several non-profit organizations.  He served many years on the board of the Hinchee Homes Foundation, a non-profit organization providing residential and custodial care services for twelve developmentally disabled residents. He was Board President for eight years, and retired recently.  He also is a longtime member and treasurer of the Santa Barbara Employers Advisory Council, a non-profit group attached to the local EDD office.  The EAC provides educational HR-related seminars for local businesses.  He is also the treasurer for the Central Coast Vintage Machinery Association, a non-profit group that restores and displays antique machinery, engines, and tractors, from the early 1900’s.

Craig resides in Goleta with his wife Jacqueline Langley Ph.D.  He moved to the area from Portland Oregon in 1972, after serving in the US Navy, Viet Nam era, and completing his BA from Portland State University.  He obtained his MBA in 1988. 

Lauren is currently the North America Ecommerce Director for the UGG and Koolaburra by UGG brands. In this role she is responsible for the P&L, strategy and operations of the U.S. and Canada UGG.com sites and the U.S. Koolaburra.com site. 

Lauren started her career in finance at Houlihan Lokey with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. She transitioned to the retail industry joining Coach in NYC in 2009, and then Deckers Brands in Santa Barbara in 2014. Lauren has had the opportunity to hold a variety of roles at Coach and Deckers Brands, gaining experience across all key channels and regions. She's well-versed in ecommerce, wholesale, retail, and distributor business models, and has led projects spanning 20+ countries across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. 

In her current role, Lauren is responsible for the strategy, P&L, and operations of the UGG.com and Koolaburra.com North America businesses. The role requires significant stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration. She manages relationships and coordination across a variety of teams, such as site operations, digital technology, merchandising, marketing, call center, distribution center, retail and wholesale partners, finance, and more. Lauren is invested in developing her team and empowering them to become the next wave of leaders.

She is also the executive sponsor and co-founder of the employee resource group ("ERG") Deckability, which focuses on increasing disability inclusion at Deckers Brands and has spearheaded corporate training, retail store manager training (with the help of Alpha!), safe spaces for both guided and open discussions, facility accessibility reviews, community service events and donations, and changes to recruiting and hiring policies. Before Lauren launched the ERG, she was also able to create an adaptive UGG product capsule in partnership with the Zappos Adaptive team.

Lauren has a BS Commerce from the University of Virginia. She is knowledgeable about autism and the related services available for elementary-aged children in Santa Barbara.

Nancy was born and raised in Oxnard, California. She enjoyed growing up close to the ocean with her family and friends. She graduated from Ventura Jr. College and began working immediately. She met her husband, Javier, and married in 1983. They began working together developing many family run businesses and now work in real estate development. They have five grown children, three daughters and two sons. After years of searching for the right place to raise their family, in 1998 they built their home in Santa Barbara. All but one still live in Santa Barbara.

They were introduced to Alpha many years ago as their daughter, Raquel, has special needs and they felt Alpha would be a tremendous blessing to their family for many years. That has definitely been the case. Through the years, she has worked with various philanthropies and organizations and is proud to be associated with Assistance League of SB; Young Life; Calvary Chapel SB and Alpha Resource Center for over 20 years. 

She enjoys long beach walks; hiking mountain trails; swimming; gardening and spending time with her family. She is honored to have the ability to serve for it is a huge responsibility and will do so as God allows.   

Jennifer is the mother of Theo, a 20-year-old young man with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), a rare, catastrophic form of epilepsy that has left him intellectually and developmentally disabled.

As Director of Family Support, Jennifer is responsible for engaging with families that are new to the organization and offering support, resources, and connections with others in their area. They are the only organization in the world dedicated to LGS and the private online support group has close to 7,000 members. She also runs a monthly support group through Zoom for the LGS caregiver community.

In addition to supporting families, Jennifer is responsible for building relationships with industry partners, writing grants, and requesting sponsorship for programs and events that have brought in over $500,000 in 2023 thus far.

She also oversees the LGS Foundation’s Advocacy Program and has attended Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill to advocate on policy issues relevant to the rare disease community. Jennifer is preparing to launch an educational series on the fundamentals of advocacy on a newly acquired learning management system.

In 2008, she was accepted into the Partners in Policymaking program through the Arc of CA which ignited a passion in her for people with disabilities and sent her on a new career path. This led to Jennifer's employment with Alpha Resource Center in the Children and Family Services (currently Lifespan Support Services) department. Her role at Alpha varied from IEP advocacy to running a support group, educating families, and advocating at all levels of government.

After 9 years working with local Santa Barbara families, Jennifer moved on to her current role with the LGS Foundation (LGSF) where she's been since 2018. Prior to her employment with the LGS Foundation, she served on the LGSF Board of Directors for 3 years.

Jennifer has a BFA from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. She's originally from Toronto and lived there until 1999 when she and her family moved to Santa Monica, CA. In Toronto, she had a career as an actress, singer, and voice-over artist. Jennifer appeared in television, commercials, and onstage, most notably in the 1989 Broadway production of Shenandoah. She has performed with Alpha participants at past Circle of Life Luncheons because, as she says, "Who wouldn’t want to sing with Dennis & Lavena?"

Evelynn had the opportunity to observe the staff at Alpha Resource Center and how they related to the participants when she led a support group for participants at Alpha who had unresolved grief issues due to the death or abandonment of loved ones. She was so impressed that she enrolled Michelle at Alpha. Evelynn says, “It is hard to imagine the Michelle who started at Alpha is the same Michelle of the present. She was shy and it was difficult to carry on a conversation with her. Today, Michelle is very outgoing and friendly (perhaps too much!) SlingShot, Alpha’s art studio, has become a very important part of her life where she has been recognized for her artistic ability, and she is impressed that she can make money from her art sales. Her confidence, through SlingShot and Alpha, has enabled Michelle to mature in ways that I never thought possible.”

Evelynn has served on the Women’s Advisory Board of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Lobero Theater Associates, Assistance League Santa Barbara, the board of CALM, and the Advisory Board of Devereux, California. Evelynn has served as a board member on the Wyoming Governor’s Council of the Developmentally Disabled.

She received her BA in Education from the University of Denver, and a master’s degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Counseling Therapy. Over 20 years ago, Evelynn started Angels Bearing Gifts, a non-profit now numbering 200 beneficiaries, which remembers those individuals with IDD who have no one to remember them on their important days. She is an ongoing advocate for individuals with special needs.

Marc is a highly motivated artist who has lived in Santa Barbara for over 20 years. Marc is an inspiring advocate for SlingShot Art Studio and Gallery. He has served on the Board of ARC Santa Barbara for four years. 

Marc’s work is frequently featured in the SlingShot Gallery. He has completed a number of commissions, including a recent series of historical figures for a local publishing house. He works predominantly in a graphic, illustrative style with bold line and color. His favorite subjects are bugs and mechanical devices; but he also enjoys creating fantasy and real-life landscapes. Marc is influenced by scenes and characters from sci-fi films, video games and Japanese anime. 

Marc’s participation at Slingshot enables his dream of a career as a professional artist, providing him with a sense of community and a valued vocation. He is a shining example of Alpha’s mission statement in action.

Bob has been an active volunteer and supporter of Alpha since 2014 and previously volunteered two years with Special Olympics in Santa Maria.  He is a Realtor® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, here in Santa Barbara. He is a member of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors Board of Directors and served as their Board President in 2022. 

Bob played a significant role in the success of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors’ Golf Tournament fundraiser for Katie’s FUNd. As well, he invited Alpha participants to Keller Williams “Red” (Renew, Energize, Donate) day.