Program Of The Day
Past President Nat Trives was our “Celebrate Black History Month” Program. He shared his life
story.
Nathaniel Trives is an American politician who served as the first African American mayor of
Santa Monica, California, a town then 95 percent white. Trives is a former Santa Monica police
officer who served on the Santa Monica City Council from 1971 to 1979.
Nat Trives is a family man, married to his childhood sweetheart Ida and father of the talented
linguist, Dr. Toni Trives, professor of Spanish at Santa Monica College. Nat has dedicated his life
to helping others and he has come to be known as Mr. Santa Monica, a man of many hats;
because of the high number of roles, he fills or has filled in our community. These roles have
included, in his chosen profession, in the field of Criminal Justice, as a practitioner in Law
Enforcement with the City of Santa Monica, and as an emeritus professor in of Criminal Justice
at California State University, Los Angeles. While at Cal State LA, Nat also served as a Special
Master for the Northern District Federal Court overseeing the Consent Decree governing the
resolution of race and gender bias issues in the San Francisco Police Department. He also
served as a member of the senior staff at the Santa Monica Community College District, as
Deputy Superintendent and Chief Government Relations Officer with responsibilities for the
College Foundation and all external relations. Nat was promoted to the rank of sergeant in the
Santa Monica Police Department in1965. Nat’s six decades of professional work were also
paralleled with an impressive string of volunteer commitments with scores of national, state,
and local organizations.
Nat is Past President of The Rotary Club of Santa Monica and has been an active member since
1976. Nat is currently serving as a member of the Board and Past President of the Santa Monica Family YMCA. He has served on the Board of the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum. He is Past Chair of the Board for Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau and Past Chair of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce for 2004-05. Nat also enjoyed his role as Chair of the Board of the Center for Healthy Aging which has merged to become WISE & Healthy Aging. His dedication to education also includes having served as President & Board Chair of Crossroads School. He is the founding Board President & Chair of the Board of New Visions Foundation, as well as being the founding President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of New Roads School. He is a founding Board member and past Chair of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition.
He was a member and past President of the Santa Monica Gems, a local philanthropic
scholarship organization which provided thousands of dollars to black students attending Santa
Monica area schools and Santa Monica College prior to its dissolution.
He served on the national boards of both the National Urban League and the National
Conference on Community and Justice (NCCI): and on national committees of the National
Association of Independent Schools, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the
National League of Cities. He was a member and Chair of the California Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training; he was a member and Chair of the Los Angeles Regional
Criminal Justice Planning Board. Nat was a member of the Southern California Association of
Governments (SCAG) and chaired its Public Safety committee. He was elected to two terms on
the Santa Monica City Council, where he served as Mayor Pro-Tem and then Mayor. He has
served as a member and Chair of the Personnel Commission for both the Santa Monica Malibu
Unified School District and the Santa Monica Community College District. He also served on the
California Commission on Judicial Performance. Nat is a living legend!
ROTARY PROGRAM @ HILTON March 10th
