Our Mission
The Santa Barbara Young Professionals Club is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation founded for charitable and public purposes.
Its primary purpose is to sponsor, promote and support social activities involving members of the Santa Barbara business community. Club activities include quarterly speaker engagements, monthly business casual mixers, semi-annual fundraisers and other special events.
Its secondary purposes are to foster civic pride in the community, to contribute to public awareness of and foster interaction within the business sector of our community. In addition, the SBYPC provides financial support and assistance to civic groups and programs serving the underprivileged in our community.
We welcome both our current members and prospective members to browse our website. We hope that you find the information contained herein informative and useful. As always, we welcome your feedback and continue to strive to identify new and better ways of serving our members.
History of SBYPC
In March of 1996, a group of young professionals residing and working in Santa Barbara formed a club that would cater to individuals interested in enhancing social and professional contacts. The organization came to be known as The Santa Barbara Young Professionals Club. The SBYPC was an outgrowth of an informal gathering of young professionals that socialized on a regular basis at what was referred to as Big Wednesdays.
The original members of the SBYPC included J. Paul Gignac, Amanda Thomas, Shana Bright, Michael Magne, Laird Cagan, Jim Hazard, Laura Carlos and their illustrious ring-leader Dan Encell.
Throughout the history of the club, its members have been dedicated to assisting various organizations throughout Santa Barbara. Organizations that have received financial contributions from various SBYPC fundraising activities include Shelter Services for Women, The Special Olympics, Transition House, Direct Relief International and Klein Bottle Youth Programs to name a few.
In addition to assisting these various service organizations, the SBYPC also awards an annual $1000 academic scholarship to a deserving college bound high school senior. The winner is selected among several candidates by the Board of Directors.
The SBYPC has always attracted a professionally diverse, fun and dynamic group of men and women. The club strives to provide an environment that is conducive to enhancing social and professional contacts. We accomplish this through various regularly scheduled events. We enjoy quarterly luncheons where we have guest speakers from all professional backgrounds. Monthly cocktail parties are held at numerous restaurants and hidden secret spots throughout Santa Barbara, numerous festive holiday bashes, and to tie off each year, our annual black tie event.
As the SBYPC matures, we continue to add new members to our organization. In so doing, we infuse greater diversity, vitality and new ideas that are of benefit to all our members.
Membership Demographics
The Santa Barbara Young Professionals Club membership represents a wide range of professions. These range from engineers to attorneys. The following information illustrates the demographics of our organization in terms of gender, profession and age distribution.