Member Spotlight: Lauren Bray
Written by AWC-SB Board Member Jennifer LeMay
AWC-SB member Lauren Bray is the owner and publisher of edhat.com, Santa Barbara’s news and discussion platform. She moved to Santa Barbara from Monterey County to attend UCSB, fell in love with the area, and decided to stay. Even after living here for nearly 20 years, she continues to learn new things about the community.
“I love how engaged and passionate our community members are. They’re not shy about voicing their opinions, especially on the edhat comment boards, but that level of passion and investment in the community is infectious,” Lauren says.
She is looking forward to attending AWC-SB events in the year ahead and says that having a camaraderie of educated and ambitious women is invaluable—not only for professional growth but personally as well. Working in news and media over the past few years has been more than challenging and Lauren finds it comforting to talk to others who share similar experiences.
A few years ago, she participated in a chapter event as a panelist, discussing the pros and cons of commenting on local news websites. Since then, she’s learned more about AWC-SB and loves its mission of inspiring, supporting, and connecting communicators.
A few other tidbits about Lauren: she has young twin boys who keep her very active and slightly sleepless; she’s working on a few creative writing projects that she hopes to spend more time on this year; she serves on the board of the local nonprofit CalCoast MS which supports Central Coast residents with Multiple Sclerosis; and she once took a falconry class in Ireland!
Thank you to Lauren for sharing her story and being featured in this month’s AWC-SB Spotlight!
Jennifer LeMay serves as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Santa Barbara City College Foundation, developing strategies to increase support for the Foundation and its mission of fueling excellence at SBCC by enriching college programs, removing barriers, and empowering students to succeed. Jennifer has worked in the communications field for over two decades. She also served as a faculty member at SBCC in the Graphic Design and Multimedia Arts departments and is a contributing writer for Edible Santa Barbara magazine. In her free time, she loves watching and photographing birds, painting, and enjoying life in Santa Barbara. Connect with Jennifer on Instagram at @jlemayart.