Santa Barbara Foundation Announces the Launch and Expansion of the Community-Led Santa Barbara County Community Wellbeing Dashboard
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Santa Barbara, CA — January 22, 2026 — Residents and organizations across Santa Barbara County now have a clearer view of community wellbeing with the launch of the Santa Barbara County Community Wellbeing Dashboard, beginning with its first two focus areas—Housing and Economic Security. This new community-led, online platform provides a comprehensive view of key indicators shaping wellbeing across the county. This tool is live and accessible at sbcommunitydashboard.com
The Dashboard tracks essential metrics across eight interconnected areas of wellbeing, equipping residents, policymakers, nonprofit organizations, and funders with accessible, timely data to understand community progress, identify challenges, and make informed decisions.
Community dashboards like this one use data visualizations, reports, and community stories to illustrate trends, highlight areas of need, and support collective action. With seed funding from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Dashboard represents a shared commitment to building a healthier, more resilient Santa Barbara County.
Guided by the principle of being “for the community, by the community,” the Dashboard brings together data, perspectives, and stories of lived experience from across Santa Barbara County to illuminate progress, surface gaps, and help align collective action.
“The Dashboard gives our community a clear picture of what’s working, where needs are greatest, and where we can have the most impact,” said Jackie Carrera, President & CEO of the Santa Barbara Foundation. “It will help guide smarter decisions, stronger partnerships, and strategic investments across the county.”
With new funding from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Dashboard will expand in 2026 to include Healthcare & Behavioral Health and Food Security, reflecting priorities identified directly by community partners.
A Growing Community-Led Initiative
Since early 2025, the Dashboard initiative has brought together more than 90 partners from 66 organizations across the nonprofit, government, funding, and business sectors. Over many months, these partners have shared data, expertise, and ideas through workshops and collaborative sessions, shaping the Dashboard through a participatory process. The first two focus areas—Housing and Economic Security—were co-designed by partners who collaboratively defined the shared outcomes they seek to achieve, how success will be measured, and which data can best inform progress.
The initiative is facilitated by LegacyWorks, which supports partners, convenes the process, and helps ensure community priorities are clearly reflected in the Dashboard. Content, direction, and decisions are guided by the partners themselves, ensuring the Dashboard reflects real community experience. LegacyWorks is a nonprofit consultancy based in Santa Barbara that helps communities and organizations work together to create lasting social and environmental impact.
“This dashboard is the result of a truly co-creative process—one that brings together people, perspectives, and data,” said Ellen Kwiatkowski, LegacyWorks Central Coast Regional Co-Director. “By working across sectors, we’re building shared understanding, strengthening trust, and creating a tool that reflects the lived realities of our community. Ultimately, it improves our ability to align, partner, and coordinate action.”
What Makes This Dashboard Different
Santa Barbara County is home to many organizations that steward important data, but until now, this information has been scattered across dashboards, reports, and internal systems—making it hard to see the full picture of community wellbeing.
The Community Wellbeing Dashboard brings these insights together in one place. It is designed to connect, not replace, existing tools—elevating shared priorities and helping partners and residents make sense of what the data reveals. The project website strives to feature a comprehensive catalogue of local data sources, honoring partner work while providing a clear entry point into the county’s wealth of information.
What truly sets the Dashboard apart is the collaboration, trust, and cross-sector relationships built throughout the process. Partners spend months aligning around shared goals, engaging in honest dialogue, and shaping a framework for collective impact. This trust-building is central to the Dashboard’s long-term vision: a community where data is understood, shared, and used collectively to improve wellbeing.
LegacyWorks Vice President of Consulting, Michelle Heaton, Ph.D., said “The real value of this work lies in the process that brings people together to decide, collectively, what wellbeing looks like for Santa Barbara County. Together, we’re building something much deeper than a data tool; we’re building the relationships and shared understanding that make community-led actions that improve community wellbeing possible.”
New Funding Supports Two Critical Areas
With support from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Dashboard will now expand to two additional focus areas:
Healthcare & Behavioral Health: Highlighting access, equity, and outcomes
Food Security: Emphasizing availability, affordability, and community resilience
These areas expand the Dashboard’s ability to tell a holistic story of community wellbeing and reflect priorities identified by partners through interviews and workshops.
A Tool and a Network
Beyond serving as a shared data resource, the Dashboard has established an ongoing network of partners committed to learning together and coordinating action. This network will continue working throughout 2025 as new focus areas are developed and early insights begin informing decisions and investments across Santa Barbara County.
Get Involved
Community members, agencies, and organizations are invited to participate in upcoming dashboard development phases. To learn more or inquire about engagement opportunities, please contact ellen@legacyworksgroup.com