Trustees

Listed alphabetically by last name. To reach a member of the Board, please email board_contact@uua.org.

Barbara de Leeuw

(Position #2; Term ends 6/26.)

This is Barbara’s second year on the UUA Board of Trustees with the UUA bylaws rewrite in her portfolio. She’s also a member of the Values and Alignment Team (known in other spaces as the Finance Committee).

In past lives, Barbara chaired or sat on all the same UU church committees as her Board colleagues and many of you. She is honored to have served as Moderator, President, Vice President, and board member for each sibling, First Universalist Church of Rochester, NY (last century) and First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY (this century). The mid-sized church “formed” her and the large church “forged” her.

Both congregations made Barbara a better human and are responsible for sparking joy in the collective work of building great communities.

Barbara is a clergy mom (Episcopal) and partner (Society of Humanistic Judaism), an idea generator, an anti-racist, anti-oppression accountable champion, and a happy, still learning, elder. She believes change is a fact and that UUs must be laser focused on the evolving Vision, Mission and Values of our Beloved Community. She believes resilient and accountable relationships — covenantal work — are hard and fundamental in a thriving community. She believes trust and adaptability are critical for a healthy, successful UUA future. And she absolutely believes Unitarian Universalists working in collaboration with like-minded others can change the world.

Gail Forsyth-Vail

(Position #1; Term ends 6/26)

Gail Forsyth-Vail (she/her) is a Credentialed Religious Educator, Leadership Level, and the 2007 Angus MacLean Award for Excellence in Religious Education. She had a long career as a congregational religious educator before being part the UUA Lifespan Faith Engagement Staff Team until her retirement in 2020. She was appointed to the UUA Board in September 2025 to fill an unexpired term.

Since retirement, Gail has been active at the North Parish of North Andover, MA. She has served as Board Chair, is a longtime member of the Racial Justice Team, and serves as Worship Committee Co-Chair. Gail was a researcher and writer for the North Parish “Unexamined History Project.” She looks forward to working with a team leading the new Mosaic curriculum with youth this coming year.

Gail has served the wider UU movement in different capacities. She is co-instructor for the Unitarian Universalist Faith Development class at Harvard Divinity School. She has served on the board of the UU History and Heritage Society (now UU Studies Network) and on the Nominating Committee of the Church of the Larger Fellowship. She is co-convener of the Life Member Chapter of the Liberal Religious Educators Association.

Gail’s community involvement includes membership in the North Andover, MA, African American History Committee, as well as an elected position on the Housing Authority in Georgetown, MA, where she lives. Together, she and her husband Stephen have three wonderful adult children and four lively and curious grandchildren who are part of the faith development program at their UU congregation.

Mary Heafy

(Position #7; Term ends 6/28.)

Mary Heafy (pronounced HAY-fee) uses she/her pronouns and is a person with a disability. She grew up in an Irish Catholic family and attended 12 years of Catholic school. In her senior year of high school, she studied religions of the world — in alphabetical order — so in the spring of 1972 she learned about Unitarian Universalism. The faith resonated deeply with her. Fast forward another 17 years, when her then 5-year-old child announced she was going to the UU church and, since she could not cross the street alone, her parents would have to come. We joined First Parish in Waltham, MA in 1988.

In 2004, Mary moved to Jaffrey, NH and joined the Keene (NH) UU congregation where she is currently a member. Mary served a religious exploration teacher, sang in the choir, and as congregational president at both First Parish in Waltham and at KUUC. Mary began serving the larger association as chair of the Northern New England District (NNED) leadership development team, and as a district board member and district board president. Mary has served as a member of the District Presidents Association and the National Advisory Council. Currently, she is a peer facilitation in the New England Region co-creating board retreats with New England congregations. She is co-chairing KUUC’s Welcoming Congregation Renewal Team, and leading lay-led services.

Professionally, Mary is the President and CEO of The Arc of Opportunity, a non-profit in Central Massachusetts supporting people with disabilities and their families. The organization is deeply committed to DEIB and shared leadership. Mary is a lifetime Girl Scout and goes to Star Island each summer. Mary’s family includes her husband, two amazing adult kids along with their delightful spouses, and the most wonderful 2 ½ year old granddaughter.

Emily Jaworski Koriath

(Position #6; Term ends 6/27.)

Emily Jaworski Koriath (DMA, PSEP, RYT-200) is the Music Director at the UU Church of Boulder, Colorado and the editor and primary author of Trauma and the Voice: A Guide for Singers, Teachers, and Other Practitioners. In addition to her congregational work, she teaches voice and works with singers on healing emotional trauma to facilitate more authentic artistry. Emily combines voice science, body awareness, Somatic Experiencing ®, and spiritual connection to help singers reclaim their joy and freedom in singing.

Emily has been serving Unitarian Universalism for the past ten years, beginning with her appointment as the Director of Music Ministries at the UU Church of Concord, NH.

During her doctoral studies, she stepped away from program leadership and served in supporting capacities at Arlington Street Church in Boston, and the Starr King Fellowship in Plymouth, NH. In 2019 Emily served as the Music Coordinator for the UUA’s General Assembly in Spokane, and she has presented professional development workshops at the Association for UU Music Ministries’ national conference every year since 2016.

Emily’s musical philosophy was profoundly shaped by Sarah Dan Jones, composer of the beloved “Meditation on Breathing” and the first music leader to serve on the UUA’s Board of Trustees. From Sarah Dan, Emily witnessed singing that exists to build community, to connect us to our spirits, our values, and each other. Through her work in Unitarian Universalism, she has completed training in Systems Theory, Ethics, Multicultural Competency, and Examining White Supremacy Culture. She participated in “Undoing Racism for Community Organizers” presented by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond in New Orleans.

During her doctoral coursework at Boston University, she worked closely with choral conductor and human rights activist Andre de Quadros, studying his method of Empowering Song for choral organizations and disenfranchised populations, teaching music to incarcerated youth in Massachusetts, and touring with the social justice choir Voices 21C.

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern

(Position #9; Term ends 6/28.)

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern is the Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco and has served congregations in Boston, MA; Washington, D.C.; and Summit, NJ. She is the author of three books, Little Did I Know, This Piece of Eden, and Miles of Dream, all published by Skinner House books, and other writing has been published in the Dallas Morning News, Scroll India, and Woman’s Day Magazine. She is outgoing president of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, an organization with 800 houses of worship, and religiously affiliated universities, nonprofits, and organizations in San Francisco. She served on the 50th Anniversary Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Association, as Chair of the Continuing Education, Network, Training, Enrichment and Renewal (C.E.N.T.E.R.) committee for the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, and preached the Service of the Living Tradition in 2013. She is married to Rohit Menezes, who serves on the Board of the UUSC, and is mother to Leila Menezes who attends Reed College (founded with the help of Unitarian minister Thomas Lamb Eliot). She believes we live on by the lives we loved and shaped and the institutions who will speak for and serve our values long after we are gone.

John Newhall

Vice Moderator

(Position #5; Term ends 6/26.)

John B. Newhall is currently a Master of Divinity student at Boston University School of Theology. He entered this program after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies and film studies from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. He plans to pursue a life dedicated to the study of the function and practice of religion.

As a life-long Unitarian Universalist, he has participated in a great number of the Unitarian Universalist Association programs for youth and young adults. Some of these experiences include serving on Youth Caucus staff and participating in programs like Summer Seminary and Meaning Makers. John is a member of First Church in Salem, MA, and attended Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI throughout his time in college. He has served as a religious education teacher and on the worship planning committee.

John lives in Salem, MA.

Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair

(Position #4; Term ends 6/26)

Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair is the Senior Minister of Unity Church – Unitarian in Saint Paul, Minnesota. From 2017-2024 he served as senior minister of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln Nebraska. While in Lincoln he and the congregation helped to found Justice in Action, a grassroots coalition of faith communities working on housing and criminal justice reform. Oscar is a graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC (M.Div, 2016, D.Min, 2023) and Saint Mary’s College of Maryland (BA, 2008). His doctoral work focused on adaptive congregational leadership in times of stress, including the use of oral history as a tool to process and heal communal trauma in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a young adult Oscar served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Lesotho, living into Sargent Shriver’s charge for Peace Corps to create “practical idealists” who integrate hard skills with a desire to build and see the Beloved Community. Oscar is married to Stacie Sinclair, Associate Director for Policy and Care Transformation at the Center to Advance Palliative Care. Together they live with their daughter Ailish and Black Lab, Teddy (Theophilus) Magoo.

Rev. Dr. Adam Robersmith

(Position #10, Term ends 6/28.)

The Rev. Dr. Adam Robersmith is a Unitarian Universalist minister, spiritual director, artist, and scholar. He serves as the Senior Minister of the Universalist Church of West Hartford, CT, while also supporting the work of spiritual formation for laypeople and clergy within our movement. He has been a member of Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM), the Covenant of UU Pagans (CUUPS), the UU Spiritual Directors Network, the UUA Appointments Committee, and the UU Ministers Association (UUMA). He also served as one of the 2017 Berry Street Lecture panelists. Educated at Cornell University, Starr King School for the Ministry, Chicago Theological Seminary, and Fielding Graduate University, he has studied science, theology, history, human development, and the arts. The range of his interests and breadth of his education allow him to support the spiritual and religious lives of people with a wide variety of beliefs and spiritual practices. When he isn’t ministering, he is also a gardener, fiber artist, and cook who loves a good workout. He lives in the woods of Connecticut with his partner of 25+ years.

John Simmonds

Secretary

(Position #3; Term Ends 6/27.)

John Simmonds has served in a variety of lay leadership positions at the UUA and congregations where he was a member. His service included positions on the Panel on Theological Education, church boards of trustees, task forces, and bylaws, capital campaign, ministerial search, personnel, stewardship, and worship committees. Professionally, Simmonds is a software engineer at heart. He currently works in the financial industry and recently transitioned from managing technology teams and projects to working in the areas of technology contracts and client communications. Simmonds also served on the Acushnet Cultural Council, which is part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and more recently on the board of the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. He lives in Rhode Island.

Rev. Justine Sullivan

(Position #11; Term Ends 6/28.)

The Rev. Justine Sullivan grew up in Scituate, MA, and got her start in church life playing and singing at the “Folk Mass” on Saturday afternoons at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Scituate Harbor. Justine found Unitarian Universalism as an adult after many years of being unchurched. She has worked as a manager in high technology and as a social worker and psychotherapist, and in 2013 she entered seminary and was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister in June of 2017. Before entering seminary, Justine joined the Clara Barton District Board, serving as District President and then as president of the District Presidents’ Association. Justine has also served as a congregational facilitator and consultant and currently serves as a Good Officer for the Northern New England chapter of the UUMA. Justine lives in Northborough, MA with her wife Dale and a wonderful dog named Callie, and is currently serving as interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, ME.

Rev. Sam Trumbore

Financial Secretary

(Position #8; Term Ends 6/27.)

The Rev. Sam Trumbore was elected to the Board in June of 2021. Previously, he served on the UUA Electronic Communications Committee (1994-1998) and the Open UUA Committee (2011-2015).

Rev. Trumbore retired in June 2023 from the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, NY after 24 years of ministry. He grew up UU in the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark, DE. He moved to California to work in Silicon Valley and finish his Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Degree at UC Berkeley. While there, he was a member of the Palo Alto and Oakland UU Churches. The call to ministry came and he left his computer engineering career to enter Starr King School for the Ministry. He served in ministerial capacities at Rochester Unitarian (NY) as an Intern (1988-1989), Niagara Falls doing pulpit supply(1990-1993), and was ordained there in 1992. His first settled ministry was in Port Charlotte, Florida (1993-99).

Rev. Trumbore also serves on the board of the UU Buddhist Fellowship and is a devoted practitioner of Insight Meditation (Theravadan 1984-present). He has been active in congregation-based community organizing (ARISE) and UU State Action Networks during his time in Albany. His most recent work was helping the NY UU Justice State Action Network get started in 2020.

Philomena Moriarty and Sam have been married since 1990, and together they have an adult son, Andrew.

Co-Moderators

Bill Young

(Term ends 6/31.)

Bill Young has been on the UUA Board of Trustees since 2020, while also serving as UUA Secretary until November 2024. Prior to that he was on the UUA Appointments Committee from 2017-2020, and President of the Clara Barton District from 2014-2017. He was on the board and treasurer of EqUUal Access from 2013-2024. Bill has been a member of three UU congregations since the 1980s, involved in almost every committee and leadership role, and serving as president of each congregation. He is currently chairperson of the governing board of the UU Meeting of South Berkshire in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Bill is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LPC, Connecticut) and a board-certified national clinical counselor (NCC). He primarily works with non-profit behavioral health organizations on their planning, financial management, change management, and governance. Originally from Chicago, Bill and his wife, Martha Page, live in South Lee, Massachusetts with two lively dogs and a tolerant cat. Their adult children and grandchildren are spread across the United States, Mexico, and China.

Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson

(Term ends 6/31.)

Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson serves as minister of the UU Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton, New York. She has served on the boards of the UU Service Committee, the UU Women’s Federation, and Black Lives of UU. She has also served on the boards of the St. Lawrence Foundation for Theological Education, New York UU Justice, the Long Island Area Council of UU Congregations, and UU Class Conversations. Before ministry, Kimberly worked as a union organizer for the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). She continues to teach Women’s and Gender Studies – with a focus on diversity and difference – as an adjunct professor at New Jersey City University. Kimberly has a dozen niblings who make her a very proud auntie.

Co-Financial Advisors

Chris Chepel

(Appointed by the Board of Trustees for a two-year term ending June 2026.)

Chris (she/her) has been a Unitarian Universalist for over 30 years, initially connecting as a teenager through her local congregation’s youth group. She has been actively involved with several congregations, most recently a Founding Member of WellSprings Congregation in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, where she has served as both President and Treasurer and has served in numerous other leadership roles including leading small groups and serving as a Worship Leader.

Chris recently served on the UUA’s Audit Committee for eight years, including three years as Chair. During her tenure, the Audit Committee incorporated oversight of the adequacy and effectiveness of the Association’s risk management practices into its charter. She also previously served as a member of the finance committee at the District level.

Professionally, Chris spent over 24 years with KPMG LLP, the last 12 as partner, where she specialized in audits of not-for-profit organizations, governments, and employee benefit plans. She currently leads the Business Advisory practice of MFR Consultants, a full-service consulting firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a Certified Public Account, Certified Government Financial Manager, Project Management Professional, and a Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting credential holder.

Chris serves on the Board and is past Board Chair of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, which addresses critical issues facing the region by providing impactful research, connecting diverse leaders, and advancing shared solutions. She is also a partner with Social Venture Partners Philadelphia, which mobilizes people and leverages resources to reduce intergenerational poverty in the region.

Chris graduated from Franklin and Marshall College with a bachelors in accounting and a sociology minor, and she and her family reside in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

David Stewart

(Elected by the General Assembly for a five-year term ending June 2028.)

David (he/his) found his spiritual home in Unitarian Universalism in 1999. He has been an active member of several congregations, including All Souls Unitarian Tulsa, Jefferson Unitarian in Golden, Colorado and Northwest Unitarian Universalist (NWUUC) of Sandy Springs, Georgia.

David served on the UUA’s Socially Responsible Investment Committee and Investment Committee for eight years from 2010 to 2018, with a few of those years as SRIC co-chair.

Recently, David has been focused on starting a preschool at NWUUC. He served as President of the congregation from 2019-2020 and concurrently served on the Board of Trustees for four years. He has served NWUUC on several other committees, including the Endowment.

David has an academic background in portfolio construction and management, having earned an MBA from the University of Tulsa in 1998. He earned a Ph.D. in organizational psychology in 2010. He has run a real estate investment business since 2012. He resides with his family in Smyrna, Georgia.

President

Rev. Sofía Betancourt, Ph.D

(Term ends 6/2029.)

The Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt is the tenth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She was elected in June 2023. As president of the Association, she is responsible for administering staff and programs that serve its more than 1,000 member congregations. She also acts as principal spokesperson and minister-at-large for the UUA.

Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt’s twenty-year ministry has included serving as a parish minister, seminary professor, scholar and environmental ethicist, and public theologian. Rooted in her lived identities as a queer, multiracial, AfroLatine first-generation daughter of immigrants from Chile and Panamá, Rev. Dr. Betancourt has already helped Unitarian Universalism live further into its commitments to be a radically welcoming, counter-oppressive, pluralistic faith movement. In addition to her many years of service as Director of the UUA’s Office of Racial and Ethnic Concerns and on many denominational leadership bodies, she also has previous experience with the role of president—in early 2017 she was appointed interim co-president to finish a vacated term, making her the first woman to lead the Unitarian Universalist Association. She most recently served as Resident Scholar and Special Advisor on Justice and Equity at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

Rev. Dr. Betancourt has contributed to the education of future faith leaders at Yale Divinity School, Starr King School for the Ministry, and Drew University Theological School, teaching courses on topics such as ministerial leadership, theologies, womanism and Earth justice, and combatting oppression. Her own scholarship focuses on environmental ethics of liberation in a womanist and Latina feminist frame. She holds Ph.D., M.A., and M.Phil. degrees in Religious Ethics and African American Studies from Yale University, an M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry, and a B.S. from Cornell University with a concentration in ethnobotany. Rev. Dr. Betancourt is the author of Ecowomanism at the Panamá Canal: Black Women, Labor, and Environmental Ethics (2022). She lives in the Washington, DC, area.

Liaisons to the Board

Carey McDonald

Executive Vice President

Carey McDonald is the UUA’s Executive Vice President, helping to lead the organization in fulfilling its mission and overseeing staff operations.

He previously served as the UUA’s Outreach Director and as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, and is a former lay member of the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee and served on the Skinner House Board. Prior to joining the UUA, Carey worked in educational policy with the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Department of Education.

Carey is a seventh-generation Unitarian Universalist and a member of First Parish in Malden, MA, and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH. He was active in Columbus as a youth leader in the Ohio Meadville District Youth Adult Committee and with Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM).

Carey holds a bachelors in Economics from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, and a masters in Organizational Leadership from Wheelock College in Boston, MA (now a part of Boston University). He lives in Malden, MA with his family.

Stephanie Carey Maron

Governance Manager

Stephanie Carey Maron (she/her) joined the staff of the UUA in April 2012. She first served in the Ministries and Fatih Development staff group, but quickly found her way to the Office of the President. She enjoys working with both the Administration and the Board of Trustees, and loves supporting the incredible work of this faith tradition. She lives outside of Boston with her husband/partner and two kiddos.