Mary joined the Women's Fund in early 2019. She grew up in an Air Force family, moving frequently until settling in central Illinois. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Champagne Urbana, Mary has a BFA in Painting. During her 40-year career in communications, Mary worked in a variety of industries, including small ad agencies, not-for-profit homes for the aging, not-for-profit publishing, engineering services, as well as Southern California Edison and Beckman Coulter, a subsidiary of Danaher. She was also active in the International Association of Business Communicators, serving on local, regional and global boards. Mary and husband Curt moved to Santa Barbara in 2018 when they retired. Since then, she has also served as VP Communications for the local chapter of Newcomers.