Meet the Development Team
Willard Wyman, III
Director of Development
Will is a graduate of Pomona College and brings to Laguna Blanca School over twenty years of professional experience in educational fundraising, planned giving, endowment management, and organizational development. He has served as Director of Development and Annual Giving Director for a variety of schools and non-profit organizations. Seven of which have been at independent schools, including The Thacher School in Ojai, CA, and St. Mary’s School in Medford, OR. He also has management experience with three successful major capital campaigns, raising a combined total of over $25 million for new facilities and endowments. He has served as a volunteer for many educational organizations, most recently on the Board of the St. Helena Boys & Girls Club, who just completed a $5 million capital campaign, and also as the Board Chair of New Technology Foundation, whose mission is to develop a network of schools, in partnership with the Gates Foundation, that provide high school students 21st century learning skills through an innovative project-based curriculum facilitated by new technology systems. Will and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of three children, one of whom is a junior at Occidental College.
Delene Bliss
Associate Director of Development
Laguna Blanca welcomed Delene Goodell-Bliss in the fall of 2004 as the Associate Director of Development. Delene was raised in Santa Barbara and is a graduate of the University of the Pacific. She has worked in the non-profit profession for over 15 years. After moving back to Santa Barbara from the Bay Area, she worked as the Director of Development for Family Service Agency. Delene has three beautiful children, who are all “thrilled” to be back in Santa Barbara.
Martha Donelan
Associate Director of Development
Martha joined the Development Office in the fall of 2005 with an extensive background in communications and community relations, having worked most recently as marketing and communications manager for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. A native New Englander, she is a graduate of Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, CT; and has a B.A. cum laude from Bates College. She and her husband Jim, who teaches English at UCSB, live in Goleta with their son Jed, a third grader at Laguna Blanca; Emily, a kindergartner at Laguna, and their golden retriever, Pete. She enjoys swimming, hiking, and going to the beach with her family. Her greatest aspiration is see the Red Sox win another World Series in her lifetime.
Marcy Jacobs
Major Gifts Officer
Familiar LBS devotee and Lower School parent Marcy Jacobs joined the School’s advancement staff in the summer of 2009 and will focus primarily on constituent stewardship and gift cultivation. Marcy has a background in the development field, most recently working as a major gifts officer for Direct Relief International, and before that serving for five years as the Annual Giving Director and Associate Director at The Anderson School at UCLA. Other past professional posts have included serving as the Director of Communications for the Scleroderma Research Foundation, as well as working as the Communications and Public Relations Coordinator for Direct Relief. Marcy earned her B.A. in Sociology from UC, Santa Barbara and is proud Mom of Laguna Blanca first grader Charlie and three-year-old Ally.
Steve Romanowsky
Development Database Manager
Steve joined Laguna Blanca in the summer of 2005 to manage the development office database and assist with other advancement efforts. Steve graduated magna cum laude in English Literature from Westmont College and went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Cinema/Television Production from the University of Southern California. Steve brings to Laguna’s development operations significant experience, most recently at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, not only with Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge software, but also with special events planning, website maintenance, volunteer coordination, and writing and editing letters and publications.
TEL: 805.687.2461
FAX: 805.898.9981
