Speakers

Len Jarrott, moved to San Luis Obispo County after living in Santa Barbara for almost 50 years.  Len started Jarrott and Co. Real Estate Investments in Santa Barbara in 1976.  Len graduated from Loyola University in Los Angeles with a B.S. Degree in Biology.  He then attended Cal State San Diego University where he obtained the MA Degree in Philosophy and later he graduated from the George L. Graziado School of Business and Management where he earned the prestigious Presidential , Key Executive MBA degree from Pepperdine University. Len served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Santa Barbara City College and he served on SBCC’s Foundation Board of Directors for 38 years. He is a former member of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara and a five time recipient of the Paul Harris Award. Currently Len is a member of the Board of Directors of Festival Moziac, the Summer Music Festival of San Luis Obisbo County and a member of the Board of Directos of Hospice of San Luis Obispo County.

Shannon McOuat joined Hospice SLO County in January of 2018 as its Director of Volunteer Services and was recently named Executive Director. She has both keen leadership skills and firsthand knowledge of this organization accompanied by a broad understanding of the community and its resources. Previously she worked for Transitions-Mental Health Association, Cal Poly, Wallace Group and the Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce. She is an alumnus of Leadership SLO, Class 16 and recipient of the Tribune’s 14th annual Top 20 Under 40 award honoring young professionals who do exemplary work in their communities and professions.

 

Patty Carpenter has been the Development Director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County for 9 years. A native Californian, Patty and her family moved to San Luis Obispo in 2002 from Newport Beach and haven’t looked back since. She spent lockdown at home with her husband, 19 year old daughter and 91 year old mother.

 

 

Sarah has been a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer in for almost 14 years.  She has supported three foster youth in Contra Costa County, and currently is supporting her second teen in San Luis Obispo county.  

 

Following an almost 40-year career in telecommunications, Sarah joined the staff at CASA of San Luis Obispo in February 2019.  Sarah provides support to approximately 30 CASA volunteers and manages the program database.  

 

Sarah grew up in Southern California, attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and graduated with a BA in English Literature and Journalism from the University of Michigan.  She later received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University. She has pursued additional studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and Oxford. 

 

In 2014, Sarah and her husband Rich moved from their home in the San Francisco Bay Area to a new home at the Monarch Dunes Trilogy development in Nipomo.  She is President of the Trilogy Dinner and a Movie Charter Club and a member of the Trilogy Service Club and Sit and Stitch. They have two sons.  Paul, 43, is married to Emily, and works as a consultant to the federal government in Washington D.C. Peter, 31, graduated from law school at Duke University, and is a Deputy District Attorney working on domestic violence and elder abuse cases in Tulare county.

Gordon Lu ( Lu Chi Fa ) was born in 1942 in Jiangsu Province of China.  He grew up there and in Shanghai HongKong and Taiwan.  As an orphan, he was shuffled from one house to another; he often was hungry, beaten and forced to beg to survive.  In 1969, he immigrated to the United States, and through hard work and perseverance realized the American dream of success.

 

Double Luck - Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan, the account of Lu Chi Fa's early years in China, was written with the hope of inspiring others to seek opportunity in times of crisis,  to believe in the rewards of hard work, and to succeed in their personal and professional lives. Double Luck has been a successful book : some 70,000 copies have been printed, and the book received a gold award for non-fiction from the Parent's Choice Foundation.  Three education classes at California Polytechnic University include Double Luck on their required reading lists.  Lu Chi Fa has been invited to speak to numerous school classes and community groups. 

With a Masters in Public Administration, Jamie has over 30 years of experience in local government program management.  From 1989 until she retired, Jamie was well known in Orange County for the development and management of Waste Reduction programs.  As a consultant, she initiated and managed curbside recycling programs for 5 cities, including educational programs and presentations.  Though finishing her career as the Deputy Director of Public Works for the City of Orange, her heart remained loyal to the importance of waste reduction.  Her presentation to us will involve San Luis Obispo County information.   

Roger H. Ridley has a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Arts degrees in history and has enjoyed the study of history all of his life!  The best job of his life was teaching history at Riverside Community College, though he has taught history on both the high school level and college level.  He happens to also be a lawyer specializing in estate planning in Nipomo.  

 

    He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Magnolia Center in Riverside. He has taught law classes at Michigan State University, Lansing Community College (in Michigan) and at the UCR Extension to paralegals, estate planning to insurance professionals, and has given numerous seminars on this subject.      

 

    He has been married to Christine J. Ridley for over 40 years, and together they have five children and seven grandchildren.