Board of Trustees and Officers

Board of Trustees & Officers 2022-2023

The Board of Trustees is the primary governing body of the congregation.  The Board is made up of 9 voting members of the congregation who serve three-year terms.  Three members roll off and three members roll on every year.  Trustees are elected by the congregation from a slate presented by the Leadership Development Committee at the Annual Meeting held on the third Sunday in May.  The Board elects its own president.  The Clerk of the Society is elected by the congregation for a one-year renewable term.  The Clerk keeps Board minutes and has additional administrative responsibilities as needed throughout the year. The Moderator of the congregation presides at congregational meetings and insures that meetings are run according to the rules set forth.  The Moderator is elected by the congregation for a one-year renewable term. The Treasurer is appointed by the Board. The Treasurer works with the board and the finance committee to insure that fiscal policy is followed.

Interested in serving First Unitarian as a Trustee?  Trustee Job Description – Revised 3/2020.

Class of 20-23

Megan Munroe is from northern New York and has been a member of First U for five years. She has worked as a baker, a crime reporter, and an interpreter in a cemetery in the Czech Republic, but these days she is a regular businesswoman working in medical translation services and technology. At First U, she has served on the membership committee, lay worship team, participated in small-group ministry and helped to launch the Bible study covenant group. Baptized at age 30, Megan also dabbles in local Quaker prayer meetings, and typically spends her free time cooking/baking, weightlifting, and watching horror movies, often fighting for couch space among her three cats.

Jennie Goldin (picture and bio coming)

Winnie Zwick has been an active member of First Unitarian Brooklyn since 2018. At First U, she serves as a high school youth group advisor and often sings in the choir. She first began attending Unitarian Universalist services in her early 20s at hometown First Universalist Minneapolis. In 2022, Winnie joined the staff of Foundation for a Just Society, a grantmaking organization focused on advancing the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI people. Prior to FJS, she worked in fundraising, communications, and operations at Brandworkers, a NYC nonprofit supporting local food factory workers to organize unions. In her spare time, she loves to take dance classes, make music, and explore the city. Winnie lives in Bed-Stuy with her partner and their precious fiddle-leaf fig tree.

Class of 21-24

Mary Huhn (Co-President) was raised a Unitarian, having attended the Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon, Pa., with her mother. After a gap of several decades from being a member of a congregation, she discovered the joys of First Unitarian, where she has made many friends, worked at UniFairs and auctions, and participated in several discussion groups, such as “Walking and Talking with God,” a history of UU with Ethan Loewi and a discussion of “No Other Gods,” as well as one about Christian Unitarian Universalists with Rev. Dr. Kelly Murphy Mason. She is now facilitating her first small group on “Soul Matters.”.  Mary has worked to make the world better — engaging in turn out the vote, participating in climate-change marches, and joining groups such as Weaving Social Justice. She is a somewhat retired journalist who spent most of the last year in the Catskills with her husband and teenage son, but returned to Brooklyn in the early spring, full of hope. Mary is the president of the PTA at her son’s middle school as well as president of Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens. She has experience with being on an executive board, budgets, and working with community members. 

Judith Sedaitis joined the congregation in 2017 a few weeks after Trump’s election, looking for a place of solace and solidarity. She wrestled with the ways in which the UU tradition departs from the more orthodox Christian teachings so important to her and her ethnic enclave in Chicago. Her parents’ families fled the Soviet invasion of the Baltic during WWII and their Protestant church was a lynch pin for their life in the US.  Judith formally joined as a member two years later in the fall of 2019. She has since been an active in our Membership Committee and in Weaving Social Justice, recently helping to lead the effort getting First Unitarian’s support for Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP). She is currently a mentor to a COA youth and has also worked on UUA campaign efforts last fall and with our own congregation’s phonebank to Florida. An avid participant in our adult RE program, Judith led a book discussion in the Sacred Studies Program, and is a member of an ongoing support group meeting monthly.  She teaches sociology at City Tech and lives in Brooklyn with her spouse and two cats.

Jay Sheth began attending First Unitarian in November 2016, when he and his wife Andrea were searching for a new spiritual home. At First Unitarian, Jay has contributed to the efforts of the Green Team, Coming of Age, the Immigrant Solidarity Committee and Weaving Social Justice. He has spent his professional career as a software engineer and, more recently in leading the protection of healthcare data.  He has volunteered as a co-op board member and values the insights he gained from that experience. Jay is an avid gardener (in search of a garden!) and enjoys documenting the wonders of nature as part of the iNaturalist community. One of his majors in college was International Business, and he maintains an active interest in sustainable investing. One of Jay’s favorite things is cooking lentil soup for the congregation. Jay looks forward to the opportunity to serve as a Trustee at First Unitarian and is committed to investing his efforts and experiences in this service.

Class of 22-25

Robin Bossert (Co-President) has run his own video production company for over 34 years. As a writer/director/editor, he enjoys all aspects of production working with corporate, public relations, educational and nonprofit clients.

He founded Navigators USA, in 2003, a co-ed, secular inclusive scouting movement, starting over 330 Chapters across the country, the UK, France and other countries.  Past President of the Miramar Ski Club, past hike leader for the Appalachian Mountain Club, and present Deacon at All Souls NYC, he lives in the West Village and works at his loft/office in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Beth Evans has been a member of First Unitarian of Brooklyn for over thirty years. She raised her four children in the congregation and is proud to see them living and practicing the UU values they learned here. She has contributed to the congregation in many ways, including building the next generation with the religious education program, celebrating half of humankind in the Women’s Leadership Alliance, knitting with the Crafting Ministry, and exploring spirituality with fellow congregants in monthly meetings with Rev. Ana. She has also served on the Leadership Development Committee, spearheaded the reorganization of the Library, and most recently worked with the Technology Team. In this role Beth has been honored to serve as one of the Zoom services hosts and is preparing to learn the streaming production side of online services. She looks forward to retirement in a few years when she knows she will be happy to contribute more and have more time for her creative writing, but in the meantime, she continues working as an academic librarian, finding time for friends and family, and looking more deeply into what it means to live a life of value.

Lisa Pacenza has been a member of the First Unitarian congregation for almost 18 years, and currently serves as Treasurer of the Women’s Leadership Alliance.  She represented First U as a delegate to the virtual UUA General Assembly in 2021, and recently became a Head Usher. She’s been active on her coop board for nearly a decade, including roles as President, Treasurer, and Secretary.  Lisa works in strategic marketing and communications in the professional services industry.

Clerk of the Society

Elees Woods – was raised a Congregationalist but became a Unitarian 40 years ago.  I have been attending First U for 6 years; becoming a member 2 1/2 years ago.  She has volunteered at Uni-Fair and the spring auction and dinner  and participated in the Beloved Conversations, enjoyed the congregational Thanksgiving dinners, and loved being an usher.  Elees served as a cottage meeting host during this year’s Stewardship Campaign and is working as a canvasser for the Capital Fund Campaign. 

Moderator

Patrick Gunn (he/him) has been attending First U with his wife Laura and their three children since 2006.  During his membership he has been an RE/OWL teacher, has participated in several special project teams, has served terms on the Committee on Ministry and the Leadership Development Committee, and is a former co-president of the Board of Trustees.  Professionally, Patrick has spent over twenty-five years in various roles throughout the film and television business, as a producer, studio executive, and manager of content libraries. 

Treasurer

Lee Pardee has been attending First U for over 30 years and has served the congregation in many ways. She is a past chair of the Social Action, Membership, and Finance committees. She has served on the Worship and Music and Nominating Committees and on Search Committees for our current Music Director, Facilities Director, and a previous Senior Minister. She has served on the Board of Trustees three times and been President twice. She has sung in the choir almost as long as she has attended First U. Lee is retired from a 30-plus year career in foster care. She lives in Sunset Park.

Deacons

Marty Bernstein
Robert Bero
Thomas Check
Liz Davis
Laurel Lesio
Edwin Lord
Constance Newsom
Lee Pardee
Bruce Wilde
Nancy Wolf

Board of Trustees 2021-2022

Carolyn Ellis
Jennie Goldin
Mary Huhn (Co-President)
Amit Mehta
Megan Munroe
Colleen Olson
Matt Robinson (Co-President)
Judith Sedaitis
Jay Sheth

Officers
Elees Woods, Clerk of the Society
Mike Alcoff, Moderator
Pat Steele, Treasurer

Board of Trustees 2020-2021

Vonda Brunsting
Andrew Bongiorno (resigned mid-year)
John Carroll
Sam McKelvie
Amit Lucia Mehta (Co-President)
Megan Monroe
Colleen Olson (Co-President)
Andrea Parkinson
Matt Robinson

Board of Trustees 2019-2020

Vonda Brunsting
Andrew Bongiorno
John Carroll
Dale Ho
Laurel Lesio-Eisenstadt
Amit Lucia Mehta
Sam McKelvie – Co-President
Colleen Olson
Dawn Elane Reed – Co-President

Officers
Bruce Wilde, Clerk of the Society
Mike Alcoff, Moderator
Lake Wise, Treasurer

Board of Trustees 2018-2019

Vonda Brunsting
John Carroll
Patrick Gunn – Co-President
Cara Haft – Co-President
Dale Ho
Laurel Lesio-Eisenstadt
Sam McKelvie
Dawn Elane Reed
Waciuma Wanjohi

Officers
Bruce Wilde, Clerk of the Society
Mike Alcoff, Moderator
Lake Wise, Treasurer
Alfred Blanco, Warden
Olive Hoogenboom, Historian

Board of Trustees 2017-2018

Roger Cooper, President
Sean Fischer
Patrick Gunn
Cara Haft
Dale Ho
Laurel Lesio
Lee Pardee
Dawn Elane Reed
Waciuma Wanjohi

Officers
Bruce Wilde, Clerk of the Society
Mike Alcoff, Moderator
Lake Wise, Treasurer
Alfred Blanco, Warden
Olive Hoogenboom, Historian

Officers
Bruce Wilde, Clerk of the Society
Lake Wise, Treasurer
Alfred Blanco, Warden
Olive Hoogenboom, Historian

Board of Trustees 2016-2017

Roger Cooper
Liz Davis
Sean Fischer
Patrick Gunn
Cara Haft
James Goward
Mary Most 
Kurt Steele
Lee Pardee, President

Officers
Sarah Morgan, Clerk of the Society
Lake Wise, Treasurer
Alfred Blanco, Warden
Olive Hoogenboom, Historian

Board of Trustees 2015-2016

Roger Cooper
Liz Davis
Sean Fischer
James Goward (appointed to fill the position of Jeff Muller)
Elaine Macken
Mary Most
Rachel Michael
Jeff Muller (though Dec, 2015)
Kurt Steele
Lee Pardee, President

Board of Trustees 2014-2015

Michael Alcoff, President
Thomas Check
Devin Judge-Lord
Liz Davis
Elaine Macken
Mary Most
Jeff Muller
Rachel Michael
Kurt Steele

Officers
Christine Lloyd, Clerk of the Society
Mitch Major, Treasurer
Alfred Blanco, Warden
Olive Hoogenboom, Historian

Deacons
Alfred Blanco, Senior Deacon
Robert Bero
Thomas Check
Liz Davis
Edwin Lord
Olive Hoogenboom
Constance Newsom
Lee Pardee
Bruce Wilde
Nancy Wolf