The College of the Canyons Foundation honored Valencia resident Marlee Lauffer as the recipient of the 2025 Silver Spur Community Service Award during the 33rd annual Silver Spur Celebration on May 17 at The Langham Huntington in Pasadena.
According to COC spokesman Eric Harnish, Lauffer received the recognition for her longtime support of the college and community service in the Santa Clarita Valley. In a telephone interview after the awards ceremony, Lauffer said she was honored to be recognized for her commitment to the community.
“What I was very pleased about was the support for the hospital and the college and all the work I’ve done over the years for other nonprofits or local community entities,” she said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “It all accumulated in a really fabulous partnership.”
According to a news release from COC, Lauffer has served as president of the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation and vice president of the hospital’s marketing and communications since 2015. As HMNH Foundation president, she oversaw an ambitious capital campaign that helped finance the hospital’s new patient tower. The capital campaign included an employee-giving campaign that has raised over $1.5 million and served as a model for other employee-giving campaigns.
As vice president of marketing and communication for Henry Mayo, the release read, Lauffer oversaw all hospital internal and external communications during the COVID-19 pandemic, including communication about the hospital’s community vaccination clinic.
Harnish wrote in a message that Silver Spur Celebration guests donated more than $100,000 to the Marlee Lauffer Nursing Scholarship Endowment. The fund, he said, will provide scholarships for the college’s nursing students, and was still accepting contributions online at bit.ly/4jjWPyZ.
Gary Horton, chair of the COC Foundation, was proud to honor Lauffer as the 2025 Silver Spur recipient.
“Marlee’s contributions to our community — and especially to the health and well-being of our region — are truly extraordinary,” he wrote in an email. “She has been a steadfast champion of collaboration between College of the Canyons and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, offering vital support for our nursing program and helping to raise critical funds for student success.”
He added that Lauffer is a rare and inspiring leader whose work continues to uplift countless lives.
Dawn Abasta, member of the COC Foundation board of directors and Silver Spur committee chair, said the Silver Spur event was elegant and even done up in royal purple décor, which is Lauffer’s favorite color. Lauffer is, Abasta said, most deserving of the honor.
“I truly believe it was her energy and her relationships that made Silver Spur such a success,” Abasta said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “Her far-reaching influence and community relationships just really helped to make the Silver Spur one of the best.”
According to the COC release, Lauffer was a founding director of the Bank of Santa Clarita and served on its board of directors until its merger. She currently serves on the supervisory committee for Logix Federal Credit Union.
Lauffer also chaired the SCV Chamber of Commerce, and remains involved with numerous nonprofit, business and advisory committees, including the SCV Economic Development Corp.
Lauffer was named a Woman of the Year by the California State Senate in 2008 and 2018, the Visionary Business Leader of the Year by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal in 2006, Betty Ferguson Foundation Woman of the Year in 2003, and Zonta Woman of Honor in 2014. She’s also been listed among “The Signal’s Top 51 Most Influential” since its inception.
Prior to joining Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, Lauffer served as senior vice president of marketing and communications for The Newhall Land and Farming Co., the developer of Valencia, for 26 years.
Lauffer holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA, where she was active in student government and president of Gamma Pi Beta.
The Silver Spur Award is the COC Foundation’s highest honor, according to the COC release, and it’s given annually in recognition of the honoree’s commitment and service to the college and the wider community.
Lauffer hopes to continue her commitment and service to the college and the community. That is, after all, what makes her so proud to live in the SCV.
“I moved here to work for Newhall Land,” she said. “In developing the Valencia master plan, Newhall Land helped to bring key institutions here, like College of the Canyons, CalArts and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Later, when I left Newhall and joined the hospital, it was just a continuation of being part of the key elements that make this a great place to live and work.”
