A Santa Barbara native and lifelong resident, Kathy Ireland is the founder and CEO of Kathy Ireland® Brands, the design and licensing company she started in 1993 that has grown into one of the world's most valuable global brands and landed her on the cover of Forbes three times as one of America's most successful self-made women. Her faith began at eighteen, alone in a Paris apartment on a modeling trip, when she opened a Bible her mother had quietly packed in her suitcase and read the Gospel of Matthew. That night reshaped how she understood success, and it has guided her work ever since. Alongside her husband, Dr. Greg Olsen and Randy Clark, she co-founded Providence Hall High School, a Christian College Preparatory School that has now become Providence School and serves children from pre-K to grade 12 with an exemplary Christ centered education. The school is the result of God’s providence and decades of prayer and hard work by the Santa Barbara community and beyond. 

 

She was the first woman invited to serve on the Board of Directors of NFL Players Inc., where she completed two terms, and she currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the National Football Foundation and the Board of Directors of AnGeL Ministries. As International Youth Chair for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, she brings the same conviction to her philanthropy that she brings to her business. Her work centers on sharing the Gospel, children's health, education, empowerment, veteran support, and the mentoring of leaders — and on championing integrity and service in every sector.

 

Her local commitments include supporting the Barbara Ireland Walk for the Cure, Network Medical, American European Bethel Mission, the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission and Cottage Hospital.