The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Aisha Ansano and Rev. JeKaren Bell as Co-Directors of the New Communities Fund (NCF). Revs. Ansano and Bell, who started their roles this month, succeed founding NCF Director Rev. Alicia Forde, who retired from the UUA in December.

Created by the UUA’s Board of Trustees in 2023, the UUA’s New Communities Fund supports innovative new ministries with historically marginalized and underserved communities in Unitarian Universalism. The NCF supports the UU Religious Innovators Network, the Cultivators’ Collaborative cohort trainings, and the New Communities Partnership stage 2 grant program.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Rev. Aisha and Rev. JeKaren to the UUA’s team supporting spiritual innovation,” said Executive Vice President Carey McDonald. “They each bring incredible gifts to these roles, and direct experience with creative ministries. Their leadership will help us write the next chapter of expanding the circle of our faith ever wider.”

Rev. Aisha Ansano (she/her) believes that gathering at the table is one of the best ways to strengthen community and work for justice. She serves as a co-minister of Nourish UU, which feeds Unitarian Universalists in body and spirit through embodied worship experiences. Rev. Ansano has been a program consultant to the New Communities Fund since 2024. She is also blessed to journey alongside the UU students at Harvard Divinity School as a Denominational Counselor. She lives in Malden, MA with her partner, their puppy, and an ever-in-progress garden.

Rev. JeKaren Bell (she/her) is shaped by love, ancestry, and relationship, rooted in African earth-based and womanist traditions and the red clay of Macon, Georgia. She lives in conversation with community, story, grief, and creativity, believing love is a practice returned to through presence, truth-telling, and care. She is the founder of The After Practice, offering steady guidance for leaders and communities moving through loss, conflict, and transformation. Rev. Bell has previously served as Interim Executive Director of the Dona Aña Arts Council, on staff of the UU College of Social Justice, and as a member of the UUA Board of Trustees. She is married and the proud bonus parent of two adult children and two dogs, relationships that continue to teach her about commitment, becoming, and joy. From this grounding, she serves as a Unitarian Universalist minister, artist, poet, and certified Death & Grief Doula. She lives in Las Cruces, NM.