Alumna Mari Baptista, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources at Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO), won the 2021 STAR award from the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA). Baptista received the award to recognize her work going above and beyond on the CCESA Personnel Administrative Services Steering Committee. Baptista earned her M.Ed. School Psychology from UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School in 2000.
“What an honor this week to be awarded the STAR award from the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association,” Baptista posted on her LinkedIn page. “It has been a pleasure working within this organization alongside our 58 county superintendents and so many exceptional human resources representatives. I am humbled by this wonderful recognition. And a special thank you to our Santa Barbara County Superintendent, Susan Salcido, Ed.D., who brings poise, passion, and commitment to the field of education and the youth in our community. It is a pleasure to work alongside such an admirable and genuine leader!” (Dr. Salcido earned a Master’s at the Gevirtz School, too.)
The California County Superintendents Educational Services Association provides the organizational mechanism for the 58 County Superintendents of Schools to design and implement statewide programs to identify and promote quality cost-effective educational practices and services, and provide support to school districts in the areas of student services, curriculum and instructional services, fiscal accountability and business services, personnel services, and technology and telecommunications.
As Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at SBCEO, Baptista’s role has been to engage in ongoing cultural analysis while developing new models of recruitment, retention, support systems, and team building on behalf of the education of over 65,000 students and their families in 20 school districts including 113 public schools and 9 charter schools.