WOMEN UNITED

Women United 

Mission

As an integral part of United Way, the mission of Women United is to mobilize a powerful leadership network of women to strengthen the Santa Barbara community through a focused investment of talent, compassion, and philanthropy. Led by United Way and Women United supporters, members advocate, support, and expand the ongoing educational and early childhood initiatives of United Way of Santa Barbara County.

Members of United Way’s Women United are connected to women in philanthropy around the globe. With the power of an international network, Santa Barbara County’s Women United members will have the opportunity to make an impact in their own community.

Eligibility

  • Member of the Santa Barbara County Community
  • Annual giving level of $1,500+ to United Way of Santa Barbara County
  • Passion for supporting local children in building a brighter future.

Become a Member

After completing your gift, complete your membership by filling out the online membership form. Upon enrollment, a member of the Women United team will reach out to you directly to share additional information!

 

Questions? Please contact Marina Hudgens at 805-882-0505 or mhudgens@unitedwaysb.org for any questions about Women United, your annual gift, or upcoming activities. 

Focus

Women United membership supports United Way's entire suite of early childhood and academic success programs. Through volunteer activities, fundraising, and networking events, this group supports thousands of local children and families each year through programs like: 

  1. Fun in the Sun: Fun in the Sun is a national award-winning summer learning and enrichment program that now provides an expanded spectrum of services to local students, from TK – 12th Grade, and their families. These services include individualized academic instruction and literacy remediation, field trips and enrichment activities, community engagement and volunteering opportunities, and a robust social-emotional learning curriculum. Fun in the Sun operates each summer at six campuses across Santa Barbara County.

  2. Bridge the Break: Built on United Way's data-driven and award-winning academic model established for out-of-school time programs like Fun in the Sun, the Bridge the Break program was created in 2023 at the request of participating school districts to offer daily literacy and math practice, STEAM and enrichment activities, social-emotional learning, outdoor recreation, and community exploration and engagement for students in TK–5th grade during the one-week winter and spring breaks.

  3. United Learning Center: The United Learning Center is a free literacy tutoring program for local kindergarten through sixth-grade students. Each child receives individualized, tailored instruction with certified tutors trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach, which incorporates multisensory teaching methods and systematic, explicit lessons to build reading mastery. In recent cohorts, participants demonstrated an average increase of two reading grade levels.