2017-2018 Liberal Religious Educators Association Annual Meeting

June 20th 2018, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

The 2017-18 Annual Meeting of the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) will be held during LREDA Professional Day on June 20th 2018, 12:00-1:30 p.m. at the Kansas City Marriott in the Colonial Room.

LREDA Bylaws require a formal call to the annual meeting for LREDA members to be delivered not less than 60 days before the Annual Meeting. At the Annual Meeting, Active and Life Members may vote on the budget and the nominees. Online voting is available for those who cannot attend the meeting. The Active or Life Member category is required for voting privileges and does not include Student/New, Supportive or Institutional Members.

Your Professional Day registration includes lunch.

Minutes from the 2016-2017 Annual Meeting are here. 

ELECTIONS

The LREDA Nominating Committee consists of three members with staggered three-year terms, elected by the membership. They work independently of the Board to fill Board vacancies, assessing needs and various criteria in the nominating process, and to find members for the Nominating Committee. Current members are Michele Grove (Chair), Katy Carpman, and Jamaine Cripe. In June, Michele will rotate off the Committee and Katy will become Chair.

The Nominations Committee follows this process in selecting candidates for the single slate ballot:

1. We encourage LREDA members to apply directly, while also encouraging members to recommend colleagues who they believe would do well in elected positions. 
2. Nomination committee members contact LREDA members who have been nominated by colleagues to encourage them to apply.
3. We spend time in December and January talking to those interested and answering questions. 
4. Once applications come in, LREDA Nomination committee discusses the candidates and prioritized them based on the following:
1. Skills. Does the applicant's skill set meet the job description and the current LREDA priorities?
2. Experience as a religious educator
3. Leadership in regional and continental LREDA
4. Diversity. This one may be listed fourth, but it was a real priority this year with a more intentional effort to reach out to collegues of color. Recommendations from membership made this easier because members recommended 17 professionals of color for LREDA leadership. Nominations worked hard this year to reach out beyond those LREDA nomination members know and invite more of LREDA’s talented membership to consider running for an elected position. This is a practice we hope the committee will continue to improve. 
5. LREDA Nominations presents a rough draft ballot to the LREDA board who can comment on any questions or concerns.
6. LREDA Nominations then calls references.
7. Once all of this is complete, the candidate is informed of choice and the Secretary on the LREDA board is informed.

During this year of discernment, LREDA Nominations has talked about other methods for doing this work and has decided to continue with the single slate process, hoping that future LREDA Nomination Committee will continue to discern. A detailed report on the feedback from discernment groups and listening circles will be provided at the Annual Meeting in June. LREDA Nominations ended up with three applications with two applicants for each board position (one applicant left the choice in the hands of LREDA Nominations because this applicant believed both positions to be exciting). 

Therefor, the LREDA Nominating Committee, following careful consideration, nominates two candidates for positions on the Board of Trustees: Linnea Nelson, Vice-President; Lisa Maria A. Steinberg, Member-at-Large (Leadership Development).

They nominate Katie (Tie) Resendiz de Perez as a member of the Nominating Committee.

Introducing the Slate of Nominees

Linnea Nelson, Vice-President

Linnea Nelson is the Executive Director of UU Wellspring, a year-long spiritual deepening program for Unitarian Universalists. She is a Credentialed DRE and former Director of Religious Exploration at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax in Oakton, Virginia. She has also been a Head of School, a Learning Center Director, a teacher, an educational textbook editor and an international trainer for the Great Books Foundation.

Linnea believes that deepening our connections and being open to new learning is at the heart of our work. She also believes deeply in service. She co-led a NOVA Cluster Teacher Training offered to 11 congregations, served on a LREDA cluster executive team (GWAREC) from June 2015 to Dec. 2017,  taught the UU Identity online module and recently served on a team to update the resource list for the RE Credentialing program. She is a LREDA Good Officer.

She has co-taught “Building the World We Dream About” and was a founding member of the Racial Justice Steering Committee at UUCF. Linnea has also served on UUCF’s Board of Directors, nominating committee and RE Committee. She has served on two other boards for children with special needs.

Linnea has a master’s degree in school psychology and undergraduate degrees in education and business. She lives with her awesome husband, Ted, in Orlando, Florida where her two young adult sons promise to visit regularly!

Lisa Maria A. Steinberg, Member at Large (Leadership Development)

Lisa Maria Andreoli Steinberg has worked in churches for over 25 years, first as a musician and then as a religious educator. She brings a background in education, social work, music, and theology to her career in religious education and faith development. As a graduate student, Lisa Maria studied at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA and at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA where she graduated with a M.A. in Theology and the Arts with concentrations in education and music. She resides in Shirley, MA with her husband and their two young children.

Lisa Maria has served LREDA membership on the 21^st Century Fund Committee and the LREDA Endowment Committee. Regionally, Lisa Maria has served the New England Region LREDA on Nominating and on the Board with the Events Portfolio.

Katie (Tie) Resendiz de Perez, Nominating Committee

Katie (Tie) Resendiz de Perez serves the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix as the Director of Children's Ministries. She holds a Master's degree in Conflict Transformation with a focus on the role of education.  Tie has worked as a teacher, a curriculum developer, and a non-profit executive director. She is particularly passionate about community building and creating inclusive spaces. Tie and her wife Elena Perez live outside Phoenix with their three children. 

Budget

Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Draft Budget Notes

Context
After a successful, but unfruitful, search last year, we began the current fiscal year (2017-18, or F18) without a Treasurer. The Nominating Committee had found wonderful candidates who each had to withdraw, one after the other, due to changes in their employment.

Past Treasurer Karen LoBracco agreed to help until the fall, and we were lucky to find another candidate who was voted in by the membership and joined the Board on November 1, 2017. Unfortunately, Pete Fontneau resigned early in April 2018. Juliet Donaldson was appointed to complete the vacated term in June 2018. Since April, Board members have stretched and learned as we collaborated to perform the tasks of the Treasurer, including creating a budget we could propose to the membership for the 2018-19 year (F19).

Throughout the year the Board has looked at a number of internal systems, including how we track information (membership, income & expenses, donor information, grant recipients); our vision, mission, and priorities; staffing; and staff and volunteer capacity, all of which are interconnected. This budget reflects where we want to go, while being fiscally responsible.

Main points

Changes to Board positions:
Currently, both Chapters and Good Offices are held by one At-Large Board position.
In 2018-19, one At-Large member (Jules Jaramillo) will shift from “Professional Support” to “Good Offices”. Jules plans to work with our sibling organization, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA), to align our Good Offices trainings. She will deepen our training, expand the number of offerings, and provide monthly support to our current Good Officers. Aware that our members of colour are facing additional challenges, we are developing supports to meet their needs.

Another At-Large portfolio (incoming) will shift from “Professional Development” to “Leadership Development”.
Strong Chapters - meaning strong religious educators within a certain area - are the foundation of our profession. We want to support your work at the local and regional level, and support those of you who want to develop your leadership skills, whether you move into service to your Chapter, LREDA, and/or our national organizations.
Advocating: Strong relationships with groups and organizations that provide training and credentialing of religious educators. We want to support you in your professional growth and development

Changes to Staff positions:

Administrator
Providing Fair Compensation is a priority for the Board. Our Administrator hours will remain at 30/week for July and August, and then reduce to 25/week September through June. Tasks will be removed from the job description to accommodate the shift in hours. This move reflects changes in our tracking systems, and our Administrator welcomes the change.

Director of Development
Our Director of Development (contract) will shift focus from endowment to general fundraising for LREDA’s priorities and initiatives. With feedback from our new Treasurer, a Stewardship Advisory Committee will be created to advise and help provide oversight for the financial stewardship of LREDA

Board Expenses
It is a priority to make serving on the Board accessible to all members of LREDA, not only those with ample professional development budget and/or access to other funds. We have increased this budget line so that funds will be available to cover travel expenses, making Board members equally able to attend in-person meetings. (room sharing, meal per diems, and other policies still apply, to keep costs low)

Supporting Our Members
LREDA supports our members through grants for innovative ideas, scholarships to Fall Conference, and scholarships for those who are in the RE Credentialing Program. Your identified donations support your colleagues in these areas. In addition to your donations, interest from the Endowment fund will provide:

• 21st Century Grants: $10,000
• Fall Con Scholarships: $7,000 (depends in part on your donations)
• Credentialing Scholarships: $5,000 (depends in part on your donations)

Retained Earnings
The board is drawing on funds in reserve, after counsel from past Treasurers. The incoming Treasurer will work with the Board and the Director of Development to craft a vision for using these funds to best serve LREDA’s mission.

Link to budget here