Ernesto Paredes has been elected president of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) Board of Directors. A member of the SBIFF Board since 2021, Paredes has served as an officer for Nominations and Governance, Audit.

SBIFF now has two Latino leaders, Paredes and festival director Roger Durling.

The current SBIFF Board president Lynda Weinman, will remain on the board after overseeing major organizational growth during her eight-year tenure at the helm.

Weinman was elected as co-chairman of the board alongside current chairman Jeffrey Barbakow.

“I am so very humbled and honored to be selected by this powerhouse of a board in support of Roger and an absolute ‘white glove’ of an executive staff,” Paredes said. “I know I have tremendous shoes to fill, so having Lynda’s support means the world to me.”

Raised in Santa Barbara, Paredes attended Santa Barbara City College before transferring to the University of Southern California, majoring in gerontology.

In 2001, he became executive director for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), then returned to Easy Lift Transportation in 2005 as executive director.

Paredes is devoted to the local nonprofit sector, having served in leadership posts on a number of local boards. Currently, he serves on the Cottage Health Board of Directors and is a trustee for the Santa Barbara Foundation.

Paredes has been recognized for his community efforts with the following awards: Court TV “Every Day Hero” national; Santa Barbara Independent “Local Hero;” Pacific Coast Times “40 under 40;” Leadership of Santa Barbara County Distinguished Leaders; San Marcos High School Foundation Community Leader.

He recently led Easy Lift Transportation to the prestigious Specialized Transit of the Year for California. In 2018, Paredes was named Man of the Year by the Santa Barbara Foundation for his volunteer service to the community.

Paredes is an avid triathlete, having completed eight Ironman distances, including The Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona Hawaii.

Weinman previously taught digital media and motion graphics at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Her passion for cinema and education helped launch the renovation of the historic Riviera Theatre and making it a new state-of-the-art, year-round home for SBIFF’s Cinema Society, showing new international and independent films daily.