Loren Shepard

My relationship with my father molded who I am. He was constantly curious; deeply in tune with nature and animals; ardently liberal and always eager to master many things. Exploring the world alongside him, I learned the same passions and discovered my tendency toward multipotentiality. I became determined to make my father proud even after he passed away early in my life. I did my undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley and later in my journey, landed in Santa Barbara, California. I was instantly drawn into its spectacular natural beauty, welcoming weather and people, and decided this was the place where I would plant roots.

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It was fortuitously through one of my many interests: dog sports, that I met Jim Andelman – as coach and teammate to his mother-in-law, Roberta, and her spunky little dog, Kashi. That was almost two decades ago! Jim was starting Bonfire’s predecessor firm: Rincon Venture Partners and I found myself eager to jump on board for another opportunity to learn new things. After a lifetime of inevitable curious exploration, adaptation and innovation were my superpowers and this path looked vibrant with new experiences. Today, I find myself thriving in a multi-faceted role at Bonfire Ventures whereI get to build, support, and maintain structure for our growing team of inspired and ambitious people.

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Prior to Bonfire, my career took many paths. Notably, I headed up technical illustration for an environmental consulting firm, then worked under multiple grants from NASA: Helping create software to teach children about global climate change and spearheading graduate education programs at UC Santa Barbara.

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I continue to live in Santa Barbara with my husband, four dogs & two cats, where we thoroughly enjoy the outdoors and spending time with our blended family and friends.