About Barbara

With her background in the private sector creating jobs and experience in government as Chair of the San Diego City Council Budget Committee, Barbara Bry is uniquely qualified to be the San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk that manages a $76 million budget and a staff of 415 public servants. As the first elected official to call for an independent investigation of both the 101 Ash Street scandal and the Public Utilities Department’s water bill overcharging fiasco, she has a proven record of asking the tough questions to identify government waste and to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent.

Barbara’s diverse career includes serving on the San Diego City Council, leading companies, and founding three organizations that empower women– Athena San Diego to empower women in the innovation economy, Run Women Run to elect more San Diego women to office, and the Workplace Equity & Civility Initiative that addresses pay inequity and sexual harassment. Barbara earned an MBA at Harvard, and currently, she serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Blackbird Ventures, which invests in early-stage companies.

Barbara has spent more than 30 years helping to grow the San Diego innovation economy, starting with serving as the Associate Director of CONNECT, which has received international recognition for its efforts to help entrepreneurs start companies. Barbara was the vice president of marketing in the early days of Proflowers.com (Provide Commerce) and is a co-founder of Atcom/Info which pioneered high-speed Internet access in hotel rooms. She has written columns on entrepreneurship for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She is married to entrepreneur Neil Senturia, and their blended family includes four adult children, all married to people they adore, and seven grandchildren.

In the community, Barbara has served as President of The Children’s Museum of San Diego and Vice-Chair of the Board of the Jewish Community Foundation. During the Obama administration, she was appointed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2014-2015). Honors and awards include induction into the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame (2012), Recognition as “Woman of the Year” for the 78th Assembly District by then Speaker-elect Toni Atkins (2014), and the CONNECT Distinguished Contribution Award for Technology Innovation (2008).

Barbara is the only candidate endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party.