Kristen Miller leads the Chamber as President & CEO with over 25 years of experience. Prior to the merger of the Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria Chambers of Commerce, Miller led the Goleta Chamber team since 2002, coming from the Corning, New York Chamber of Commerce. Under her leadership, the Chamber has been a catalyst for business, running robust public policy and economic development programs. She has continued her professional education with extensive training in visitor services, destination marketing, economic development, and community relations, since her degree from New York University. She has served on several local boards including Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board, Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County, Visit Santa Barbara, Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital Foundation, and UCSB Economic Forecast Project.

Cortney Hebert-Rintoul oversees the Chamber’s economic development initiatives, financials, membership team, events, and visitor services. Prior to the Chambers’ merger, she was with the Goleta Chamber of Commerce since 2010. In her role overseeing communications and events, she grew the beloved Lemon Festival to new heights in attendance and income. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Communication and Sports Management. Prior to coming to the Chamber, she worked for the City of Goleta under the Public Information Officer. She is a graduate of the Western Association of Chamber Executives Management Program. Rintoul lives in Goleta with her husband Joel and her son, Luca.

Mary Lynn joins the Chamber team with an extensive background in communications, marketing, and hospitality. Most recently Mary Lynn served as the General Manager at Paseo Nuevo shopping center in downtown Santa Barbara.

Prior to that role, she was the Senior Marketing Director. She has led the marketing department for over 10 years and oversaw the Guest Services program in addition to providing marketing and communications for over 50 tenants, visitors, and staff. Before a Marketing career, Mary Lynn spent her early career in Hospitality, Restaurant Management, and Events.

Michele Schneider is responsible for bringing in new members and sponsors to the Chamber. As Director of Business Development, Michele uses her 25 years of experience in sales and marketing to develop and implement strategies to market potential new members, to encourage member attendance at Chamber events, and promote local businesses. Her 25 years of professional development includes training in international markets, IT support, and sales and marketing.  Michele’s vast volunteer work led her to the Chamber Ambassador role in 2011 and winning Goleta’s Finest ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award in 2014. In 2016 she officially joined the Chamber staff.  Michele also assists in overseeing the Chamber Ambassador team and is an avid promoter of local businesses and events.  Michele was born and raised in Santa Barbara.  She is the mother of an energetic son, fondly known as the “Lemon Prince”, and recently reunited again with her High School sweetheart Keith Ahlstrom.

Laurie Barene welcomes new members and sponsors to the Chamber, and utilizes her background in business development, marketing, and non-profit experience to help members promote their businesses. Her experience includes the financial industry, advertising, and fundraising. Laurie served in volunteer roles for several local organizations including Make-A-Wish, American Heart Association, Police Activities League, Cox Cares Foundation, and Goleta Lemon Festival. Laurie is a Santa Barbara native, attended UC Santa Barbara, and is proud to support her community.

Cheyanne was born and raised in Santa Barbara and has worked in the local non-profit community for 9 years. While studying at UC Santa Barbara, Cheyanne interned for the Chamber of the Santa Barbara Region and accepted a position there after graduating in 2014. She worked in Events and Marketing for the Chamber for 3 years. In 2017 she accepted a role managing events for the Santa Barbara Zoo, where she worked for 4 years. In her role at the Chamber she works on different publications that highlight the unique businesses in our community on the South Coast. With strong ties to the community and her experience in events and marketing Cheyanne is excited to promote the business community.

Chelsea manages all the Chamber events, from the time-honored traditions of Goleta’s Finest and Carpinteria Community Awards Gala to State of the City, Business to Business Networking, TechTopia and everything in between. Chelsea is a Sacramento native and a graduate of UCLA with a degree in Sociology. She comes from the staffing industry where she worked in regional operations and recruiting management. With her background of business relations and a passion for event planning, she is excited to promote and celebrate the businesses of the Santa Barbara region, from Goleta to Carpinteria, at Chamber events.

Berlin Garcia, a proud Carpinteria native, brings a wealth of experience from the nonprofit sector on the South Coast. Over the last five years, Berlin has been dedicated to making a positive impact in the community. Previously, Berlin held a key role as the Carpinteria Chamber of Commerce Liaison, where their contributions were nothing short of exceptional. Their responsibilities included supporting various facets of the Chamber’s operations, such as membership management, effective communications, web maintenance, event coordination, fundraising initiatives, sales efforts, and delivering top-notch customer service.

Ruairi leads a team of enthusiastic staff and friendly volunteers at our two visitor centers, welcoming people from around the world to our beautiful Santa Barbara South Coast. Ruairi is a native Irishman, but for the last 14 years, he has been a local resident of Carpinteria. He has been managing retail stores in the non-profit and for-profit fields for over 20 years.

Dustin was born and raised in Santa Barbara County where his interest in energy and water policy drove him to begin studying at Santa Barbara City College. Soon after he transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara where he graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies. Dustin is excited to work with the Chamber in serving his local communities in his role as the Public Policy Manager by analyzing public policies impacting our region that our critical to our business community and prioritizing policy interests against our business objectives in conjunction with the support of our Public Policy Committee and the President/CEO.