Meet the Youth Office
The Youth Office (YO) is part of the Lifespan Faith Development staff group at the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston, MA. Aside from arguing who gets to ride shotgun in rental cars and having dance parties in the hall, we serve all of Young Religious Unitarian Universalist (YRUU) and Unitarian Universalist Youth Programming. We are:JooYoung Choi, the June YRUU Programs Specialist (YPS), focuses on supporting the YRUU Steering Committee, helps plan the YRUU Social Justice Training (YSJT) and Youth Council, and focuses on supporting Youth of Color! She loves listening to hip hop and noise-core, putting funny pictures in YRUU handbooks, enjoys painting, drawing people when they aren't looking, and screen printing. She is currently a student at a local college and takes Korean classes at a community learning center. She lives in fabulous Watertown, MA with many other official SCRAM members (Supa Cool Radical Asian Misfits)!
Hi! My name is Beth Dana, and I'm one of two Youth Ministry Associates in the Youth Office. My main responsibility is supporting the Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth, which is the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA's) two-year initiative to revision and strengthen youth ministry. In addition to that, I also do other interesting things like support and provide resources for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Intersex (GLBPTQQI) youth, write other resources, and help with the publication of Synapse! Before I started working in the Youth Office I was very active in Unitarian Universalist (UU) youth circles—on the local, districts, and continental levels, in the Chrysalis Training Program, and doing anti-racism/anti-oppression work. I am also taking time off from studying Religion and Metropolitan Studies at New York University (NYU). I enjoy movies, justice-oriented books, conflict resolution, letters and emails, tea, and cities!
Marissa Gutierrez was born and raised in Chino, CA (where nobody should ever visit). She moved to Los Angeles where she graduated in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) , and worked with such organizations as Human Rights Action, the USC Progressive Alliance, the USC Volunteer Center (among her favorites). In a past life, Marissa has been an intern with Global Exchange, STRACC (a Mexican service union), and a volunteer for FIDESMA (a Guatemala development organization). She's very passionate about human rights. While not working as a Youth Ministry Associate at the Youth Office on the Chrysalis Training Program and General Assembly (GA) Youth Caucus, she enjoys riding public transportation, making piñatas, art, and watching Tarantino films. Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Robert Rodriguez are some of her personal heroes. MTV and music videos in general, are her guilty pleasure.
Hi, I am Jesse Jaeger, the Youth Programs Director. I have now been working in the Youth Office for three years. I have an amazing wife, Natalie, and a son whose name is Lorn. I support the Youth Office staff on all the work that they do, plus I work on developing resources, supporting the UUA's Sexuality Education program (Our Whole Lives) and consult with congregations on their ministry with youth. I am also putting in a lot of time right now on the Consultation on Ministry to and with Youth. If you do not know what that is you should find out; it will be affecting how we do youth ministry for years to come. I was a YRUUer in the early 90's out in the Central Midwest District and every once in a while a really funny picture of me pops up from when I was eighteen years old. I hope to see you around.
Hi everyone! I'm Rek Kwawer, the new Youth Office Assistant (sometimes called "The New Ethan"). I'm coming to the UUA from working as an administrative assistant in the research branch an Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) health center, and before that, working for a woman-owned sex toy store. I've been in the Boston area for about three and a half years, but I was born and raised in New York City. When I'm not working, I like to make yummy vegan food, dancing contact improvisation, sexuality education and counseling, cooperative housing organizing, learning to speak Spanish and to juggle (not at the same time!), and street medic collectives. At the Youth Office, I'm the general office support person. I answer the phone and yruu @ uua.org email address, and I'm the person to call if you have questions about events, want to send in an application for a job, internship or to volunteer, or just need help finding resources. I also maintain the website, including putting up Synapse. I'm really excited to be working with YRUU, and look forward to meeting lots of you!
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Saturday, April 19, 2008.
