Meet THE SANDBOX Team

Meet our amazing team here at THE SANDBOX! We have an fantastic group of folks who really are the glue that holds the place together. Besides our Goleta location, we have two other spaces, one in Santa Barbara on Olive Street and one in Paso Robles on Park Street. Check out all of our great founders, managers and hosts below.

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Kyle Ashby

Founder, Community Builder

Kyle grew up in Goleta and after some time in Hawaii, San Diego and Los Angeles he started working in tech in the Santa Barbara area. After a number of dot com roles as a designer and project manager he realized that building new business ideas and bringing people together was his passion.

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Ryan Cey

Community Manager - Goleta

Originally hailing from the land of living skies – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (say that five times fast!) – Ryan has been living in Goleta since 2015. In his past life, Ryan was the General Manager for the local Ultimate Frisbee league in Saskatoon.

Ryan enjoys disc golfing, hiking, ultimate frisbee, reading, writing, the philosophy of things, and basically anything else that keeps him active, physically or mentally.

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Anna Clarke

Community Manager - Santa Barbara

Anna is a passionate part-time community manager at SANDBOX Santa Barbara, balancing this role with her true calling in photography, where she has over six years of diverse industry experience. Originally from Ukraine, she spent the last five years in Hawaii and recently moved to Santa Barbara to expand her business. Her love for photography has taken her to 39 countries, working with prestigious commercial brands, non-profits, and local businesses. In her free time, she enjoys surfing, volunteering for causes close to her heart, and competing in Hawaiian outrigger canoeing, a sport she’s been passionate about for the last three years. Anna’s global experiences and personalized approach bring authenticity and a meaningful connection to every project she undertakes, always aiming to inspire and engage with her community.

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Matt Donner

Community Manager - Santa Barbara

Matt is a Santa Barbara native, professional composer, photographer, and filmmaker. He collaborates with people, brands, and other creatives to capture moments and tell stories. He works closely with At Ease International and Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, two local nonprofits with great causes—providing film, music, and photography with the intent of spreading awareness of their missions. 

If he isn’t at THE SANDBOX or working on a project, there is a good chance he’s hunting for old books at a used bookstore. 

He has a degree in philosophy from Cal Poly and Masters in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music.

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Issac Ramos

Community Manager - Paso Robles

Issac draws on his personal experiences and professional expertise to offer his clients not just service, but a genuine commitment to their success. Raised in this area, he understands its unique charm. In such a close-knit place, service goes beyond the transaction—it’s about understanding, reliability, and being a cornerstone people can count on. Outside of work, Issac enjoys exploring the area, drinking coffee, trying new restaurants and connecting with people. He loves spending time with his wife, going on long walks, and raising their son as a family. His focus is to do the best, build relationships and give back to the community.

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Iris Chen

Community Host - Goleta

Iris works as a product marketing manager, which she describes as a double agent between product and customers. At least twice a week, you’ll find Iris volunteering at ASAP Cats in Goleta. Iris is fluent in English and Mandarin, and can read cats’ body language with confidence. Her decade-long volunteering experience span trapping, caring, fostering, and assisting the adoption of hundreds of cats and kittens. If you are interested in getting involved in the community or adopting cats, she is always ready to help.

Iris is a proud mom of two cats, Clementine and Sesame, who are happy, healthy, and have expensive taste.

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Jared McKiernan

Community Host - Paso Robles

Jared is an award-winning writer, content strategist, and digital marketing professional with over a decade of diverse industry experience spanning the tech, travel, nonprofit, and finance sectors – that includes B2B, B2C, and B2B2C.

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