Welcome
Liz Alves
2025-26 President
Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise
Impress yourself. That’s my call to action for each of you this year. I invite you to reflect on your current Rotary participation: Is it small, medium, or large? (Or in Starbucks terms, is it tall, grande, or venti?) What would it look like if you went up a size this year?
We know that we get back more than we put in, so how great will it feel when you put in a little bit more this year?
This individualistic rallying cry may seem counter to the international theme of “Unite for good,” but they’re complementary! When you have committed, passionate people working together, their impact multiplies.
The Care Bears aren’t powerful because they’re a few fuzzy friends who meet for ice cream on Saturdays. They’re powerful because they each bring their unique abilities to the common work of caring, sharing, and healing. If you ever watched them on Saturday morning cartoons, you saw that when they all joined together, they could do something magical.
Side note: I grew up with the Care Bears, and I resonated with their message that with enough love, you can help people who are hurting. With enough love and magic rainbows shooting out of your belly, you can even transform people who are evil, but that’s a whole other thing. So I will be sprinkling a little Care Bear imagery and playfulness into our year.
I’m not proposing radical changes to our club because it does not need them. My goal is only to amplify the good things we already have going on, and we’ll do that through your participation. Is this the year you join a committee? Volunteer more? Donate more? Bring in a new member or two? You’re invited. You’re invited to be a part of all the great work and fellowship our club offers. Opportunities await! ← That’s the theme for District Governor Mike Dutra this year.
That’s why you’ll see more reminders about upcoming opportunities in emails from Karen and in printouts at our meetings. We want you to join. We want to see you in our community for service and friendship. We want your presence and your ideas. I’ll see you soon! I’ll see you often!
About Liz
If you want to start a conversation with Liz, you can talk about Rotary, but you can also talk about hiking, wildfire resilience, tacos, goats, the Channel Islands, or what you’re currently reading. She lives with her husband and new Rotary member, Boris Alves, and their chocolate Labrador, Aspen.
As director of global internal communications at Cloud Software Group, Liz develops communications strategies, channels, and campaigns that ensure employees are informed and equipped to support the business.
She began her career in journalism, serving as managing editor of The Pacific Coast Business Times. Liz was also a columnist for other local publications on topics including wine and hiking.
She also serves on the board of directors for the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council. With this organization, she works to motivate residents to come together to build a more fire resilient community while also preparing their individual families to respond to wildfire.
Rotary has long been a part of Liz’s life. She was the founding president of the Rotaract Club of Santa Barbara in 2006.
Liz has experienced Rotary’s power to build peace through understanding with multiple international experiences. She was a member of the District 5240 Group Study Exchange team to Thailand in 2009. She also represented the U.S. as part of exchange programs in Italy and Sri Lanka.
She first joined the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise in 2010, stepping away when her family moved to Portland, Oregon in late 2015. She returned to the club in May of 2022. She is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. And she attended RYLA in Southern California in the prior century.
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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. For more information, call (805) 884-6428.