Creating loving community • Inspiring spiritual growth • Encouraging lives of integrity, joy, and service
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the activities and affairs of UUCB on behalf of the congregation, pursuant to UUCB bylaws. A total of nine trustees are elected for three-year terms, and may not serve more than two terms consecutively. The Board annually selects trustees to serve as Board President and Vice President, and appoints a Secretary and Treasurer from the congregation as ex-officio Board members. Board policies and protocols for its work are contained in a Board Governance Manual.
The Board meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. UUCB members are welcome to attend. Current and recent agendas and materials can be found in the Board of Trustees current year folder, by month. Prior and current agenda packets also can be downloaded from the Church Documents page.
I have been at UUCB since 2006, when I moved to the Bay Area. I wasn’t raised within organized religion, and I came here initially for community. I’m happy to say that I found that, but I also found a spiritual connection to the world that continues to develop and enrich me greatly. I made social and spiritual connections through Chalice Circles, and the young adult group. I was married here on the terrace by Barbara and Bill Hamilton-Holway, and subsequently brought my two babies to be blessed in the Sanctuary after they were each born. Unlike me, they will (perhaps and hopefully) be lifelong UUs. I’ve served in various roles such as the Bylaws Committee and the Nominating Committee, but my primary service to the church has been through Family Ministry. I’ve taught elementary RE for 10 years, at all the different grade levels, and I’ve served on the Family Ministry Committee in two separate terms.
My interest in Family Ministry, and how to grow our congregation to serve the needs of our community, is my primary reason for accepting this nomination. The past two years have been very challenging for everyone, but like so many other families, attending church over Zoom was not a priority, or even of any interest to my littles! I hope that I can bring a perspective to the Board that will both represent those families who have fallen away, and also ignite interest and involvement of the future families who will come seeking us, as I did.
Thank you for considering my candidacy for the Board of Trustees.
Helen Tinsley-Jones
(2nd term, 2023-26)
Helen Tinsley-Jones (Co-President)
I am very pleased to be part of UUCB’s Board of Trustees! In 2016, my husband, Sheldon, and I had the good fortune to find and join the church. Since then, I have appreciated the warm, compassionate camaraderie and the opportunities for spiritual reflection, including my participation in Chalice Circles. I have joined in partnership with others to take on social justice issues. As a member of the Social Justice Council, I take part in the Literature, Film and Drama Contingent and in the People of Color Caucus. Along with my SJC cohorts, I developed and co-facilitate the POCC. My social justice work also includes organization of the 2018 Multicultural Fair and of social justice film and discussion events in 2016 and 2017.
I am a mixed-race woman, who, along with my husband, have raised six children in a blended family, and we now have eleven grandchildren. Before retiring as a clinical psychologist, I worked for Kaiser and had a private practice. I’ve served as member and chair of the City of El Cerrito Human Relations Commission and have been part of the Read Aloud Program for a decade.
UUCB is my spiritual home, and I am invested in supporting its Mission and Covenant and in working hard to grapple with the challenges and decision-making necessary in promoting the health of the community. To this end, I think it’s important to work collaboratively, making space for a diversity of our voices.
Michael Armstrong (1st term, 2022-25)
Michael Armstrong (Vice President)
When I have conversations with members of our church, we frequently share the stories of our first time ‘on the hill’. As a Board Member, I hope to maintain the impact that experience has had for each individual. Those stories hold deep meaning for our members, as well as for me: In 1981, I was an undergraduate student of Dance at UC Berkeley. Every day for years I would take class, study, commune, and dream with other students in this beautiful studio where the smell of wood mingled with the light from the beautiful panes of glass. It was a place of safety and exploration. Many years later in 2005 I was told about this wonderful ‘church on the hill’ in Kensington. Lynne Cahoon greeted me – I felt immediately at home. Lynne continued to tell me how the church had moved from its previous location on the UCB campus. It hit me – “I’m back … this is the same spiritual home I danced in for years.” I hope to maintain, nurture and expand that connection in my work as a Board Member. As an RE teacher, I have worked with the youth to help them identify UUCB as their spiritual home and I have witnessed our members of all ages seek this same solace here . It would be an honor to support that effort as our church makes changes through new lead ministers, new experiences and emerging ever stronger from a global pandemic.
Beth Pollard
(2nd term, 2022-25)
Beth Pollard
Being part of the team entrusted with leading this thoughtful, dynamic and caring community is a privilege. I am continually awed by the energy, love, and spirit that both underly and pop up in continual and unexpected ways on the Board and UUCB at large.
Service as a church trustee has also been a growth experience in discovering its differences from local government management that has been my career. There are some similarities – fiscal responsibility, policy development, and goal setting – to name a few. But at UUCB we have the added dimension of living in our covenant, guided by principles, that means an additional lens in the work of our Board.
This lens of UU faith, and the variety of angles through which we each view it, is also a source of strength to fulfill our mission this coming year and beyond. It will help UUCB to sharpen our focus on Widening our Circle to end racism and oppression. It will support our search for a settled minister to inspire and guide us. And will encourage us to continue to examine, explore, and experiment to continually evolve through changing times to be relevant, meaningful and impactful in our community and beyond. I would be honored to be re-elected to engage with the Board and the UUCB community on these and other opportunities and challenges.
Bill Brown
(1st term, 2021-24)
Bill Brown
Bill’s Vision for UUCB: Honestly, I am not sure. We are in a transitional period and I am willing to explore all possibilities.
What strengths does Bill bring to the Board? I am loud! (In the military, they call this a “Command Presence”) I have a low tolerance for B.S. and will do my absolute best to ensure everyone remains in Covenant. Ooh, and Sarcasm. Lots and lots of Sarcasm. 😊 What valuable experiences does Bill have at UUCB? The most impactful experience I’ve had at UUCB was Kristin’s 2019 sermon on why it’s OK to be wrong. Such a simple concept, but one that has evaded me and many others for so long. That sermon allowed me to realize that it is OK to make mistakes and allowed me to give myself permission to change. I think I’ve listened to it at least a dozen times since that day.
Participating in the Social Justice Chalice Circle for 2.5 years really gave me perspective on a lot of issues that I had not considered or even been exposed to before. I grew up in the Salinas Valley, in a community of conservative produce growers who talked about the United Farm Works Union the same way they did Al Qaeda… Talking about the role of unions with a former lawyer for the UFW was an awesome experience for me. So many different perspectives, many of which I have never experienced before.
What would Bill like to bring to the Board? Smoked Tri-Tip? Tiramisu?
Randall Hudson (1st term, 2021-24)
Randall Hudson
From that very first Sunday service in 2014, Sylvia and I knew we had found a ‘home’ — a place where we could congregate together. Since we come from distinctly different religious and non-religious traditions, the shared values at UUCB provide solid ground to explore our spiritual growth and be part of a loving community. The eclectic nature of UUCB programming is a smorgasbord of light, love, and wisdom that deserves to be supported and nurtured. As a candidate for the UUCB Board of Trustees, my deep personal desire to keep UUCB strong, supported by my professional background in social work, social service policy, finance, systems integration, and data analytics, brings a considerable breadth and depth to an already talented Board. As we move beyond these challenging times and look towards the future, UUCB is poised for a great renaissance of growth and prosperity. I firmly believe that “staying on the hill” provides for a necessary stability and the best strategic opportunity from which to reach out and serve the many diverse peoples of the East Bay. My goals for UUCB are for us to fortify our financial outlook, explore creative ways to encourage spiritual growth and community engagement, and grow into the powerful force of peace, love, justice, and joy. Our church at One Lawson is the aggregate from which we launch our future and I want to be a part of this exciting opportunity.
Cordell Sloan (2nd term, 2021-24)
Cordell Sloan
My interest in serving on the Board of Trustees of UUCB comes from my commitment to help enable UUCB to powerfully affirm and promote the principles of Unitarian Universalism. This involves a lot more than agreeing with them and merely speaking them. We together must increasingly involve ourselves and our resources in activities that teach, activate, develop, and protect those principles. We together must share responsibility for making them real in our society and world. This will require us to imagine strategize organize and implement programs to this end.
The movement that will be needed to see these principles steering our society forward through history will involve curating and creating programs that prepare our community and its members to be effective actors and agents in influencing the way “we the people” live in this world together. I hope to be engaged in architecting technology systems to support the planning and operationalization of our mission. I believe my IT skills complement the rich value systems we hold in our community and would empower our work and service.
I have a profound appreciation for the “will to be woke” character of our congregation which operates on every occasion and event. My confidence in our congregation’s ability to have meaningful impact has grown steadily.
I want to bring a “necessity is the mother of invention “ orientation to our board and community and thus am focused on the generation of new ideas and strategies, believing that a different future for our congregation and world will not emerge by doing the same things we did yesterday. We must seek in new ways and imagine with audacity to dream up our better brighter future.
Kay Fairwell
(1st term, 2023-26)
Kay Fairwell
Many years ago I realized that my workplace was my community. And I knew that someday I would retire and not have that community. So I went in search. I visited a number of churches of the religion I grew up in. I discovered that I would have to ignore too much to find a home there. When I found UUCB I heard the minister say “We don’t tell you what to think, we just ask that you do.” I knew that I had found my home and my community. So in 1994 I joined UUCB. Almost 30 years ago. Since that time I have been involved in many church activities. I have served other times on this Board and on the last Ministerial Search Committee. I have participated in Chalice Circles, Family Ministry, Pastoral Associates, the Committee on Ministry, and other activities. As you can see, I have been here during a number of transitions. We are now in another one of those times. We are transitioning from the wonderful interim ministry of Reverend Michelle to a new period of ministry. I hope to be part of the process in which UUCB continues to widen our circle and be both a sanctuary and a stimulus for changing these divisive times we live in to a time of more inclusiveness, acceptance, and progress.
Dave Rosales
(1st term, 2023-26)
Dave Rosales
I’m from Texas and grew up around the NASA community, which sparked my fascination with the beauty of our planet and universe at all scales, from the quantum to the cosmological. I love exploring the latest research as well as science-fiction.
My personal interests include art and music as well as science and engineering. Professionally, I was the founder of a startup and am currently an executive in a large corporation. I believe my experiences in collaborative decision processes, listening to stakeholders, and managing change are helpful in the Trustee role at UUCB.
I am a member of the People of Color Caucus (PoCC), and a new member of the Lawrence Lecture Committee. I was a founding member of the “broadcaster” team which prepared a worship video every Sunday from March 2020 until livestream worship was established in 2022. I’m very proud of the work our worship and broadcast volunteers accomplished for our community.
I believe that people are inherently capable of being thoughtful, kind, and generous. I believe that the hard work of embracing and cultivating diversity (of thought, belief, culture, history, experience, etc) ultimately brings with it broader understanding, resilience, and adaptability as well as capacity for patience, tolerance, understanding, and change.
I believe in investing in family and youth programs, inclusivity and accessibility, and I fully support efforts to study and affect changes to fight systemic racism and white supremacy culture such as Widening the Circle of Concern and Working to Overcome White Supremacy.
Ex-Officio (Appointed, Non-Voting) Members
Carolyn James, Treasurer
Appointed 2023
Selene Fabiano, Secretary
Appointed 2022
Many thanks to outgoing members for your service on the Board: Elaine Miller, David Roberts, and Lenore Ralston.
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Rev. Dr. Michelle CollinsIntirim Minister, UUCB
Caitlyn VincentOffice Administrator
Tess Snook O'RivaExecutive Director
RentalsCoordinator
Heaven WalkerDirector of Family Ministry and Lifelong Learning
Antonio ToroFacilities Manager
Rev. Cathleen CoxCommunity Minister
Rev. Theresa HardyCommunity Minister
Rev. Sue MagidsonCommunity Minister
Rev. Jane RamsayCommunity Minister
Dr. Bryan BakerUUCB Director of Music
Daniel SchmidtUUCB Gamelan Ensemble Director
Jim GasperiniUUCB Webmaster
Katya KolesnikovaPrincipal Organist
Charis DomadorConnections Coordinator
Program Council ConvenerJean Gleason
Ray WestergardCoordinator of UUCB Volunteers for GRIP
Charis Domador, Connections CoordinatorUUCB The Week Ahead
Charis Domador, Connections CoordinatorUUCB Beacon on the Hill
Lonnie Moseley, ChairUUCB Pathways to Adventure and Spiritual Growth
UUCB Stewardship Committee
Sheldon JonesUUCB Social Justice Council
UUCBPastoral CareReaching out to those who need caring attention.