Nancy McDonald Ladd is Director of Communications and Public Ministry at the UUA. Rev. Ladd leads the development and implementation of the UUA’s communications strategy; ensure that strategy addresses the UUA’s intersectional justice priorities, development engagement and relationships with significant constituencies; set central messages for the Association; oversee a planning process for communications priorities across the UUA; and manage Communications staff.
Previously, she served as Senior Minister at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation from 2012 - 2024. At River Road UU, Rev. Ladd led a vibrant multicultural, multiracial staff team through challenges, changes, and rewards. Under her leadership, River Road became both a beacon and a beta-test for new forms of lay, staff and clergy collaboration within and across congregations.

Along with the Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, she co-edited a new volume (published by the UUA’s publishing imprint Skinner House Books), Seeds of a New Way: Nurturing Authentic and Diverse Religious Leadership, which explores the unique demands and possibilities such collaboration can bring to leadership in the progressive faith tradition of Unitarian Universalism.

She lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her spouse and two children, an elegant cat and an elderly dog.