The Rev. Lauren Smith was appointed Director of Stewardship and Development at the

Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in February 2019. She oversees the UUA’s fundraising efforts, including Annual Program Fund contributions from member congregations.

Rev. Smith’s ties to Unitarian Universalism stretch back five generations. Her great great grandfather William Hazel was born a free black person in North Carolina and became a member of the First Parish in Cambridge after his family fled north prior to the Civil War.

Rev. Smith served as co-minister of South Church Unitarian Universalist in Portsmouth, NH from 2011 through 2018, along with her husband, the Rev. Chris Holton Jablonksi. She also served as assistant minister at the UU congregation in San Mateo, CA, and as an Island Minister of the Star Island Retreat Center.

Before entering ministry, she worked as an Assistant Director at the Harvard Business School Fund.