| Sylvia Marie Panetta is the chair of the Board of Trustees and director of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. She and her husband, Leon, began the Institute on December 17, 1997, with a mission to encourage young people to pursue public service and to bring discussion of important issues to the community. As director of the Panetta Institute, Sylvia oversees the day-to-day operations of all its programs and projects. She has also served as an advisor to the Chancellor of California State University since March 1997.
In 1995, Sylvia was appointed Deputy Director for Staff and Finance at the President’s Crime Prevention Council in Washington, DC. This agency was responsible for coordinating federal programs related to youth development and prevention programs. In late 1996 and early 1997, she co-directed the “VIP” section for the 1996 Presidential Inauguration. From 1977 to 1993, she administered five Congressional district offices in the 16th (now 17th) Congressional District as a volunteer for Leon, who represented the area for sixteen years. She directed each of his re-election campaigns from 1980 to 1992.
Sylvia actively supports the Sylvia Panetta Scholarship Fund, a grant program established in her name in 1990 at Monterey Peninsula College that helps financially challenged second-year students to continue their education at a four-year educational institution. She is a past board member of the National Steinbeck Center, where she served as the Vice President for Education and Chair of the Education Committee. She is also a past board member of the Community Foundation for Monterey County and served on the board of directors for the University of California, Santa Cruz Foundation.
Sylvia’s community involvement has extended to many non-profit organizations with an interest in public education. Her interest in public education goes back to the mid 1960s when her children attended public schools in Washington, DC, New York City, and later the Monterey Peninsula. She served on parent advisory committees including ESEA Title I and early childhood education programs. Sylvia also was the founding executive director of the Foundation to Support the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, a non-profit organization designed to promote and provide grants to programs serving children within that district.
In addition to public education, Sylvia has a particular interest in health care and youth development issues. In past years, she has served as honorary chair for numerous fundraising campaigns for the Hospice of the Central Coast, the Visiting Nurses Associations of Santa Cruz County and the Central Coast, the March of Dimes of the Monterey Peninsula, and the Boy Scouts of America, Monterey Peninsula. Sylvia also has taught courses in childbirth and home health care for the American Red Cross.
In recognition of her local community efforts, she received the Community Service of the Year award from the Central Coast Counties Democratic Club in 1990 and the Woman of the Year award from the Monterey/Pacific Grove Quota Club in 1994. In 1999, Soroptomists International of the Americas honored Sylvia for her work in the field of human rights status for women. She was also honored that year by Community Partnership for Youth with the award, Those Who Honor Youth. The Monterey County Reading Association presented the Distinguished Service award to Sylvia in 2000 for her leadership in literacy in Central California. In January 2001, she received the Public Official of the Year award from the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. She was honored as an Outstanding Woman for 2001 by the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women. In April 2001, she was given a Resolution of Commendation from the Monterey County Office of Education for her work in public education. That same year, she also received a Doctor of Laws honorary degree from Dominican University, San Rafael. In May 2002, the local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma presented the Theta Omicrom Service award to her. In December of 2002, The National Steinbeck Center honored Sylvia with the Trustee of the Year award. In April of 2003 she received the CSUMB Fellows award for community and public service. The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution presented her with a Community Service Award in April of 2004. In May of 2004, she received the Distinguished Public Service Award from the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, Chi State Chapter. In June 2005, Sylvia was honored as the recipient of the inaugural National Steinbeck Center Valley of the World Education Award. In March of 2007, she was recognized as Woman of the Year for the California Fifteenth Senate District by Senator Abel Maldonado.
Her education in pre-nursing and humanities began at Dominican College in 1958-59, and she graduated from St. Joseph’s College in San Francisco with a degree in nursing in 1962. She later studied humanities at Monterey Peninsula College in 1973-74 and went on to study as a humanities major at Sonoma State University in 1974-75.
Sylvia was born in San Francisco and resides in Carmel Valley. She has three grown sons and five grandchildren.
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