Christy Stillwell ‘98, ’99

Christy Stillwell HeadshotChristy Stillwell ‘98, ’99 (Santa Barbara, BA, MA in Psychology) has been selected as the 2022 Brill Family Foundation Future Bender Fellow. Stillwell is the Founder & Executive Director of What is LOVE, a program of the Santa Barbara Education Foundation that works directly with young people, parents, school staff, and mental health providers to educate, empower and activate students in a campus-based movement to change the harmful impacts of relationship abuse and violence. Stillwell was presented with the honor at an Award Reception on Monday, August 22.

“A future bender is someone who can bring about system change,” said Peter Brill. “They have to have great leadership skills, motivation, commitment, ability to network, and a vision that is clear on how they will grow.”

The Brill Family Foundation’s goal is to identify exceptional individuals developing Central Coast-based programs that need financial support to reach the next level of their proven impact in their field.

With the support of the Future Bender Fellow Award, Stillwell plans to bring What is LOVE’s curriculum to the next level by creating an online educator portal for teachers, mental health professionals, and community-based organizations. The researched curriculum is designed to fit seamlessly into a classroom or workshop and contains everything needed to improve critical relationship skills, responsible decision making, and positive character development.