The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has selected a president and chief executive officer following a six-month nationwide search. The new president and CEO will join SFSB, the largest community-based scholarship provider in the country, at the beginning of July.

Candace Winkler is a seasoned nonprofit professional with more than 13 years of experience leading a state-wide community foundation and a regional nonprofit organization where she managed staff and directed development, programming, marketing and daily operations.

“The Scholarship Foundation’s board of directors and staff organized a Strategic Visioning Team and a Search Committee who have worked in thoughtful cooperation for the last nine months to identify and select Candace Winkler as our new President and CEO,” said Janet Garufis, chair of the board. “The Board of Directors is confident that Winkler will add exciting new layers of progress on top of the strong foundation built by our past leaders.”

Winkler will be stepping down from her role as president and CEO of the Anchorage-based Alaska Community Foundation to lead the county-wide Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. She will manage 17 employees located in two offices, oversee a $9.8 million budget and work with the nearly 40-member board of directors.

At the Alaska Community Foundation, Winkler was responsible for overseeing a statewide organization committed to encouraging and nurturing philanthropy through building and managing permanent endowments, convening stakeholders and working with partners to strengthen Alaska’s varied communities.

Recognized as one of Anchorage, Alaska’s “Top 40 Under 40” and armed with dual master’s degrees in public administration and social work from Columbia University, she is an experienced leader and skilled professional. Winkler previously served as Chief Executive.

Officer of thread, another Anchorage-based agency where she spearheaded the development of the Alaska Child Care Resource and Referral Network, annually supporting more than 7500 families, educating 2500 early childhood professionals, and delivering services in 58 communities statewide.

Accompanying Winkler to Santa Barbara are her husband and their two young children.