BVUUF Board of Officers and Trustees
The BVUUF board of officers and trustees is comprised of four officers and three trustees. Each trustee position is elected by the Fellowship for a three-year term, staggered such that two positions expire each year. Terms begin and end in July, allowing for some overlap between departing and new trustees.
Officers
Kathy Partridge, President
Chris Itano, Vice President
Hans Jordan, Secretary
Larry Sherwood, Treasurer
Trustees
Sue Middleton
Baldwin ‘Baldy’ Ranson
Beth Robison
Officers
Kathy Partridge
President
Term expires 06.30.12
Kathy is honored to be nominated for a leadership role at BVUUF, especially because of our active community organizing work with Metro Organizations for People. She believes that our Boulder Valley Community Action Network is a really effective way to achieve social justice and foster interfaith and multi-ethnic connections, and MOP’s organizers help us build leadership and relationships in the congregation. She is proud of our May 2010 BVCAN event for children’s health coverage in the county and inspired as we begin to address the mental health care issues that affect members of our congregation. As Board President, she’ll bring an organizing approach to the issues and organizational needs of the congregation.
A native of the Great Plains, Kathy came to Boulder as a CU student. She sought out the Fellowship in 1993 for religious education for her two daughters (now 20 and 26). Kathy has served on the Board twice, as well as on the Nominating and CYRE Committees, the Welcoming Congregation team, and the Abbott-Nachman Forum. She’s been a stewardship canvasser, participated in small group ministries and MANY potlucks! She was Dean of the Russell Lockwood Leadership School in 2000, has attended a number of General Assemblies and is on the board of the UUSC Just Democracy organization. Her younger daughter was active in our YRUU group and is now involved in PRISM on the CU campus.
Kathy’s passion, outside of UUism, is hosting talk shows on KGNU (88.5 FM/1390 AM). Professionally, Kathy currently directs Interfaith Funders, a national association of secular and faith-based grantmakers who support community organizing. She has also worked with local non-profits including Eco-Cycle, Global Response, and Community Food Share. After 20 years on a beautiful country farm, Kathy moved with her new partner, Ira Chernus, to Longmont in 2004 where she continues her organic gardening.
Chris Itano
Vice President
Term expires 06.30.12
Hans Jordan
Secretary
Term expires 06.30.12
I moved to Lafayette in 2005 to join my partner, Joan, and ease into gradual retirement from a career in aerosol physics and nuclear safety at the Karlsruhe Research Center in Germany, Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, Rocky Flats, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I was raised a Lutheran through Sunday services in our home, but became an agnostic as a young teen and an atheist sometime thereafter.
Joan and I discussed our common sense that the pursuit of the good life, while fine, was perhaps not completely satisfying and decided to pay more attention to our spiritual sides. We also wished to join a community of like-minded folks. After some exploration, we decided that the BVUUF was it and joined the fellowship in June 2009. We haven’t looked back!
I have enjoyed our services and the talented members of our fellowship who contribute to them. We have also gradually become more involved in the workings of the fellowship. I have particularly enjoyed meeting folks through the auction offerings, and the musical events. Joan and I help serve coffee between services and participated as stewards in the pledge drive this year. Being stewards was rewarding in that it gave us the opportunity to meet with fellow members one-on-one and to gain an appreciation for what drives the fellowship. The experience also gave me an appreciation for the effort and commitment on the part of all members of our fellowship that it takes to make our community work.
Larry Sherwood
Treasurer
Term expires 06.30.12
I am a life-long Unitarian, having grown up attending RE at the Unitarian Fellowship in Berkeley, California. My wife, Janet Meyer, and I were previously members of the Boulder UU Church. When our daughter, Morgan, was ready for RE, we found a comfortable fit at BVUUF and became members in March of 2010. Shortly thereafter, I joined the Financial Task Force and facilitated the planning the Congregational Meeting in January of 2011.
I am a nationally-known expert in renewable energy, a field in which I’ve worked since graduating from Dartmouth College over 30 years ago. I moved to Boulder in 1988 to take a job as Executive Director for the American Solar Energy Society. Currently, I am a consultant and am Project Administrator for the Solar America Board for Codes and Standards, Executive Director of the Small Wind Certification Council and write an annual report on solar market trends.
I was active for many years in the Sierra Club, and serve on the national Grassroots Fundraising Committee from 1988-1998. I serve on the Boards of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society and the Colorado Society of Association Executives, among other boards, and still volunteer for other renewable energy organizations. I look forward to using my non-profit financial background to help the Fellowship.
Trustees
Sue Middleton
Term expires 06.30.12
Baldwin ‘Baldy’ Ranson
Term expires 06.30.13
My wife, Ellen, and I moved to Longmont in 1993 — I to retire from teaching economics for 25 years at Western State College of Colorado and 2 years at the American University in Bulgaria, and Ellen to continue Ellen’s B & B, begun in Gunnison, and to turn years of amateur acting into a professional career.
We made many acquaintances in Longmont but found no community with common interests or close personal friends. We were not actively involved in churches for many years and felt that Unitarian Universalism might be a good fit. After looking at several UU websites and liking the looks of the people (and the dog) on the Fellowship site, we made a visit. We instantly felt surrounded by kindred spirits, endorsed the vision of Bringing love and reason to life, and have become active in the community.
Beth Robison
Term expires 06.30.14