Welcome
Ellen Chase
2024-25 President
Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise
Ellen Chase CPA works as a senior accountant at Nasif, Hicks, Harris & Co., LLP. She focuses on serving individual clients with their estate and trust tax planning and administration, trust accountings and fiduciary income tax preparation needs. She also serves high net worth clients in tax planning and preparation as well as fulfilling family office type needs.
Ms. Chase has Bachelor of Science degree in Administrative Science from the Ohio State University, a Masters degree in Engineering Administration from Virginia Tech, and a Professional Accounting Certificate from University of California, Santa Barbara. She has been a licensed CPA since 2009 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.
She began her career at Goodyear Aerospace in Akron, Ohio as a production planner for the aircraft wheel and brake division, where she was responsible for planning production for component parts to meet internal and customer delivery schedules. In 1982 she moved to Alexandria, Virginia and joined the Atlantic Research Corporation in the solid rocket propellant division, to become the master scheduler for hardware manufacturing, then a quality engineer and ultimately the supervisor for supplier quality engineering. Ms. Chase joined General Research Corporation (GRC) in Washington DC in 1986 where she worked in program management supporting the Strategic Defense Initiative, Kinetic Energy Weapons Office. She relocated to Santa Barbara in 1990 and continued her career at GRC supporting programs to enhance manufacturing technology for military and commercial applications. In 1999 she returned to manufacturing, working as a liaison between engineering and marketing at Hendry Telephone Products. She transferred into the accounting department in 2001 where she discovered the joy of accounting. In 2006 she joined the public accounting firm Dawson and Dobbs, LLP and in 2015, Ms. Chase joined Nasif, Hicks, Harris & Co., LLP.
In the community she has served on the board for Congregation B’nai B’rith in various positions including Religious School Trustee, Financial Trustee and Vice President of Finance. In addition, she served on the board of the Dos Pueblos High School Parent Teacher Association for three years and was the treasurer for the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Society of Women Accountants.
Ms. Chase joined the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise in 2017. She has served on the Club’s board of directors as Community Service Committee Chair, Secretary/President Elect and the Membership committee chair, in addition to participating in and supporting numerous community service and fundraising activities with the club.
She is married to Ralph “Robin” Chase and together and between them they have four daughters and five grandchildren.
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Rotary is an international leadership organization. It’s made up of local business, professional, and civic leaders. We meet regularly, get to know each other, form friendships and through that, we’re able to get things done in our local and worldwide communities. Rotary is a leader in the effort to eradicate polio worldwide, brings clean water and education to people in need, and promotes peace. The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise was founded in 1985 and is a diverse group of 50 members. The club meets on the first and third Wednesdays at 7:00 am at the Santa Barbara Club located at 1105 Chapala Street in Santa Barbara. Our meetings are also held virtually via Zoom. For more information, call (805) 884-6428.