Celeste White has served as a member of the Westmont College Board of Trustees since 2011, a tenure that now extends across more than a decade of institutional governance service. Her name is listed on the College’s published Board of Trustees page.
White is a graduate of Westmont, where she earned degrees in French and Sociology. Her continued service on the Board reflects a sustained commitment to her undergraduate alma mater that spans her broader civic and professional record in Napa Valley.
Westmont College operates as a private liberal arts institution in Santa Barbara. Board service at colleges of this kind involves fiduciary responsibility for institutional governance, financial oversight, and strategic direction across multi-year cycles. Trustees serve in advisory and decision-making roles that shape institutional priorities over time. The position requires ongoing engagement with academic strategy, financial planning, campus operations, and institutional direction.
Long-term board service of the kind White has maintained at Westmont represents a particular form of civic contribution. Higher education governance involves the kinds of decisions whose results take years to materialize. Sustained trustees develop the institutional knowledge that makes those decisions more informed and the relationships that make governance more functional.
White’s Westmont service is one of several long-term institutional commitments in her civic record. She served as U.S. Pony Club District Commissioner for 17 years, an extension of her own lifelong involvement with horsemanship into a formal mentorship role. She has also served on the Napa Valley Education Foundation Board, and her philanthropic involvement includes The Salvation Army, Young Life, Hospice, Queen of the Valley Hospital, and Ag 4 Youth.
White and her husband, Dr. Robert White, received The Salvation Army’s Nehemiah Award in recognition of their support for the Napa Culinary Training Program.
Beyond board service, White is the founder and chair of Lux Forum, a St. Helena thought-leadership organization, and the CEO and owner of Horse Rock Olive Oil, a small-batch estate-grown olive oil brand based on the family’s ranch near St. Helena. The breadth of her involvement across higher education governance, regional enterprise, faith-based service, and youth development reflects an orientation toward sustained engagement across institutions.
Additional details about her work are available at celestewhite.org.
About Westmont College
Westmont College is a private liberal arts college in Santa Barbara, California.
About Celeste White
Celeste White is a member of the Westmont College Board of Trustees, founder and chair of Lux Forum, and CEO of Horse Rock Olive Oil.