About Miguel Avila
After visiting Kenya in 2013, and seeing the projects that Friends of Woni supports in the remote villages, I was carried away by the Tangu Preschool which I accidentally came across while strolling around the Salama Village while doing a field water project citation. I was cheerfully received by the young children, and teachers and I was taken by the conditions of the Preschool which didn’t have enough facilities to aid the children’s learning. I decided to support the school and through monthly donations to furnish facilities needed for teaching, learning and playing. The teachers and parents have been very appreciative of his support and mentioned of the improvement the children are now having with their interest for attending school.
2016 was a huge year. You gave your time, resources and heart to our communities and created more impact than ever before. As a team we believe every child should get quality education. We empower educations through mentorship programs and supporting schools and fostering global communities around the common goal of education for all. I am a firm believer where you start in life shouldn’t determine where you end. Through a global community it is possible that shed light and bring us one step close to a bright future. We love our community. From our board members to coordinators, advisors, corporate and foundation partners, we have been able to change lives of children around the world because of your continued support.
While serving as president of this organization, he was instrumental in founding the annual Santa Barbara Mariachi Festival. Miguel was also a founding member of the Board for Leadership of Santa Barbara County and was later named as Santa Barbara County Distinguished Leader of the County of Santa Barbara. He has served as director of Old Spanish Days for fifteen years, the board of the Westside Boys and Girls Club, over 35 years member of Santa Barbara Puerto Vallarta Sisters past Board Member and Executive committee and currently he serves as a Board Member of Friends of Woni Kenya International, Inc and the Santa Barbara Mariachi Festival Board. He has supported at least ten additional non-profit organizations in the Central Coast region, and was named a 1996 "Local Hero" by the Santa Barbara Independent.
Miguel Avila is a real estate agent with Pacific Crest Realty in Santa Barbara, and he has basically lived and breathed real estate because he loves it, he has a passion for it. In more than forty years while living in Santa Barbara, he has known the whole central coast like the palm of his hands, buyers when they contact a Real Estate agent they expect a quick response, he always responds immediately.
Since he began selling real estate in 2005 when he joined RE/MAX, Miguel has helped hundreds of people and families realize their dreams of home ownership in Santa Barbara and the neighboring cities of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Lompoc, Ventura, the Santa Ynez Valley, and Santa Maria as well as internationally in varied regions of Mexico and in Ecuador, South America. He receives many referrals and letters of gratitude from his clients and has successfully closed over 345 sales in over 12 years--including over 100 short sales and REOs.
"Last Summer, I visited the Tangu Preschool this time with a group of board members and friends. The preschool is about two hours from Nairobi, the capital and as we drove closer to the school, the landscape outside was of windy, terrain roads with small plantation farms spreading across the lands. From the outside, the school appeared a lot better than when I first saw it. This time some of the mothers of the young one and community advisors received us warmly with joy."