Tavis attended Dos Pueblos Senior High where he was captain of the surf team. After graduating, he enrolled at Santa Barbara City College. After obtaining his Emergency Medical Technician License and A.A. in Economics, Tavis then transferred to San Francisco State University where he obtained his B.A. in Geography with an emphasis in Resource Management. Tavis is currently enrolled as an M.B.A. student at California State University Channel Islands where he studies problem-solving through a business lens.
Tavis has spent every summer since 2012 as a lifeguard for Santa Barbara County Parks. He has performed numerous ocean rescues and has encountered a wide variety of life threatening medical scenarios. Tavis has taken on a leadership role within the County Parks Department. He’s helped interview and hire lifeguards and has organized and taught lifeguard trainings. He’s also conceptualized and implemented structural changes to strengthen the Lifeguard program.
Tavis has also been at the heart of the successful Hendry’s Junior Lifeguard Program. When he became an instructor in 2013, the program had a total of 60 students. Thanks to the combined leadership and positive teaching styles of Tavis and the rest of the instructors, Hendry’s Junior Lifeguards grew in popularity and enrolls 240 students each summer. Tavis has guided the program to creatively educate Santa Barbara’s youth through emphases in ocean safety, medical training, personal empowerment, self actualization, and surfing!
Tavis’ mom, Ellen Mclaughlin, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 when Tavis was 7. She fought breast cancer with grit, a great sense of humor, and a playful joy for life. During this battle, she, Tavis, and their family were surrounded and supported by a wonderful community. In 2006, when Tavis was 12, local nonprofit The Friendship Paddle, which provides financial and emotional support to chronically ill members of the Santa Barbara community, selected Ellen as their annual honoree. That year, Tavis and his dad, Phil, as well as many family members and friends, paddled across the Santa Barbara Channel to raise money to pay for Ellen’s medical expenses. A few months after the paddle, Ellen passed away. Her family found sanctuary with nature and the ocean, and have become an integral part of The Friendship Paddle, where Tavis now serves as a member of the Board of Directors.
Tavis and his sister, Sabina, have participated in and helped organize The Keiki Paddle, an annual “kids version” of The Friendship Paddle. Since it’s creation in 2008 Tavis has helped organize the paddle as a member and advisor. Tavis now serves as Chairman of the Keiki Board.
From Hendry’s Junior Lifeguards and The Keiki Paddle, Tavis has found inspiration in the youth of Santa Barbara and has made it his mission to create a better world for them. With his natural curiosity and desire to understand the environment and humans’ impact on it, to his tested focus in dynamic scenarios as an EMT Lifeguard, to his proven leadership in organizations like The Keiki Paddle and Hendry’s Junior Lifeguards, Tavis will bring energetic leadership, a youthful vision and a well needed perspective to the City Council.
