Who's Who

Thank you!

The success of the CUC Conference is thanks to the work of many talented speakers, volunteers and staff. We are deeply grateful for the gifts of their time and talents. Learn more about some of these wonderful contributors.

Conference Convenor: Ahna DiFelice - conference@cuc.ca

Gatherings Coordinator: Amber Bellemare - amber@cuc.ca

Music Director: Susanne Maziarz - music@cuc.ca

Web Manager: Margo Ellis - margo@cuc.ca

Technical Lead: Kalvin Drake - conference@cuc.ca

Rev. Anne Barker is currently serving her 13th year with the Westwood Unitarian Congregation in Edmonton, is President of the UU Ministers of Canada, and is a partner in The Cracked Cup podcast with Liz James. In the 14th year of marriage to her beloved, Anne is endlessly grateful for Lori’s love, wisdom, and support – which she says, “makes me a better minister, a happier person, and hopefully the kind of partner she deserves”.

Anne is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School and the UU seminary in Chicago.

Within the national UU faith community, Anne is the minister advisor to the National Lay Chaplaincy Committee, and a ‘Basics’ Trainer for the Lay Chaplaincy Program. She is one of three ministers on the Pastoral Care Team for Young Adults – and attends “Gathered Here” zoom calls quarterly. She co-designed and co-led the “Serving with Spirit: Nurturing UU Leaders” program.

Email Reverend Anne at minister@westwoodunitarian.ca.

Meet Anne at the
Confluence Lecture, Friday, May 14 | 4:30 pm PT| 5:30 pm MT| 6:30 pm CT| 7:30 pm ET| 8:30 pm AT

Carol Burrows has been an active member of the Grand River Unitarian Congregation (GRU) in Kitchener ON for 18 years, serving as Chair of the Social Action Committee, member of the Refugee Task Force, and co-founder of the Climate Action Group. Currently, she is a member of the GRU board of trustees. She has practiced social activism for most of her life, serving on volunteer boards, organizing conferences, facilitating, planting trees and farming organically. She enjoys discussing the tough questions and greatly values the shared experience of questioning, listening and talking together.

Meet Carol at the workshop The Eyes of the Future Generations Are On Us, Saturday, May 15, 12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT

Carol Card,a long-time member of the First Unitarian Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, has enjoyed involvement with various congregational teams, including religious education, lay chaplaincy support, and welcome and membership. But the big annual bazaar has long been a highlight in her church calendar. Roles from sorting and selling books to preparing food to overseeing promotion eventually led her to take on overall coordination of the Fall Fair in 2019. She is still very much learning on the job!

Carol savours rambles in the woods and meeting new people and lands, and she just may one day finally sort all those family pictures into albums.

Meet Carol at the workshop Community Building Through FUNdraising, Saturday, May 15 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Joan Carolyn, M.Div., is the CUC's Congregational Life Lead for the- BC/Western regions. She has been an active participant with the First UU Church of Winnipeg since early 1999 and a member since mid-2000. She is married to life partner, Ken Nicholson and shares with him two sons (Max, Alex), two daughters-in-law (Sheila, Candace) and three grandchildren, Grace, Holly and Jacob.

Meet Joan at the workshop Lighting Up Our Communities (Parts 1 & 2), Saturday, May 15 , 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT and 12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT and also at the networking session Large Congregations over 100, Sunday, May 16, 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Jennifer Carpenter-Gleim is a Lay Chaplain with the Unitarian Fellowship of Fredericton. I have long felt it my calling to help people live their lives authentically. When she discovered Unitarian Universalism she was surprised that such a faith exists, "The Principles reached into my soul! “The inherent worth and dignity of every person;” I felt like I had come home!" Helping people mark the important milestones in their lives is truly an amazing honour for Jennifer.

In addition to being a Lay Chaplain and a self-employed Reiki Master/Teacher she feels blessed to be Mom to a beautiful soul, her 8 year-old daughter, Lilli, and a proud army wife to her loving, and supportive husband Tracy. Her passion that is so much more than a hobby is singing Barbershop Harmonies with the Elm City Echoes Women’s Barbershop Chorus and the quartet AtTUNEment.

Meet Jennifer at the morning reflection "Don't Leave Your Cares at the Door", Saturday, May 15, 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Brian Carwana Brian is the Executive Director of Encounter World Religions, a centre that promotes religious literacy through encounters with the people, places, practices & philosophies of religious traditions. He blogs at ReligionsGeek.com

Meet Brian at the workshop To See, To Be, To Do: The Landscape of World Religions, Saturday, May 15 ,12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT

Phyllis Danu, a member of Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation, is a Hendricks Big Leap Coach and Graduate from the Hendricks Leadership and Transformation Training Program; Yanumoja Yoga teacher; Reiki Master and Tara Mandala Dance Leader. She is also a lifelong student of Tarot/Oracle systems and Astrology. Phyllis has been exploring healthy life, love, and spiritual evolution for over thirty years. These days, she can be found on video calls, leading Conscious Movement Classes, a regular Tara Dance Meditation circle along with Insight Oracle and Astrology readings.

Meet Phyllis at the Wellness Lounge 1 - Conscious Movement Drop-In , Saturday, May 15, 11:30 am PT | 12:30 pm MT | 1:30 pm CT | 2:30 pm ET | 3:30 pm AT and Wellness Lounge 2 - Multifaith Singing Meditation Drop-In, Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT

Gordon Darrall has been a member of the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship (KUF) for 30 years. During that time he has filled many roles from President to dishwasher. Currently he is a Lay Chaplain, chair of the Committee on Shared Ministry, founding member of KUF Puppets, Grand Poobah and site coordinator of KUF’s Second Chance Sale. Working as a Lay Chaplain led him into prison work, and he is currently the facilitator of the book club for inmates at Millhaven Maximum Institution. When he is not busy, he likes to cut firewood, play pickle ball, tell stories or bake muffins.

Meet Gordon at the workshop Community Building Through FUNdraising, Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Jo-Anne Elder-Gomes is a long-time lover of CUC Conferences, an enthusiastic volunteer, and the outgoing chair of the Canadian UU Women's Association.

Meet Jo-Anne at the Wellness Lounge 1 - Coffee/Tea Chat Drop-In, Saturday May 15, 11:30am PT | 12:30 pm MT | 1:30 pm CT | 2:30 pm ET | 3:30 pm AT

Nicholas Fairbank was born and raised on Canada's west coast, and now lives and works in Victoria, BC. He divides his time between his various musical activities as composer, collaborative pianist, harpsichordist and an organist, adjudicator, clinician and teacher. Nick is in his eighth year as Music Director at First Unitarian Church of Victoria.

Meet Nicholas at the networking session Musicians' Collective. Saturday, May 15 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Milda Graham is back at McGill to study South Asian religious traditions and language after a career in healthcare. Introduced to yoga at age twelve, Milda is happy to be diving deeper into her practices and studies. She has been guiding hatha yoga and meditation since 2010. "I love that yoga is for Every Body!"

Meet Milda at the Wellness Lounge 1 - Seated Yoga and Gentle Movement Drop-In, Saturday, May 15, 11:30 am PT | 12:30 pm MT | 1:30 pm CT | 2:30 pm ET | 3:30 pm AT

Margaret Hazelwood has been an active member of Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation (NUUC), in Toronto’s east end, for the last 10 years. Margaret, a current board member, is passionate about the seven UU principles and feels “we need to keep finding ways to let more Canadians know about this too well-kept secret.”


As a career, Margaret’s background is in marketing and she is currently Marketing Lead at My Oral Village, a non-profit founded by Brett Matthew, her husband. It is focused on developing financial tools to support financial inclusion for the billion+ people who cannot read and write.

With a great love for experiencing different cultures, you can catch Margaret on weekends in the kitchen cooking up a spicy storm.

Meet Margaret at the Wellness Lounge 2 - Coffee/Tea Chat Drop-In, Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT

Allison Hess serves as International Engagement Associate at the Unitarian Universalist Association. In this position she connects UU congregations across the US. and Canada with resources and opportunities to engage with our global faith, with the work of the United Nations, and with worldwide justice programs. She also leads the planning for the annual Intergenerational Spring Seminar hosted by the UUA Office at the UN (UU@UN). Allison grew up in Thousand Oaks, CA a third-generation Unitarian Universalist. She graduated from Colby College in Waterville, ME with a B.A. in French Studies and double minored in Mathematics and Anthropology. After interning at the UU@UN, Allison worked at Indego Africa, assisting with finances and operations in the organization's offices in New York City and Kigali, Rwanda. She joined the UUA's International Office staff in 2015.

Meet Allison at the workshop Sustaining Our UU Light at the United Nations, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Beverly Horton has been a member of the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton for 20 years. She has been active in leadership at her congregation most squarely focused on music ministry and has extended that leadership to the broader denominational context, serving as the co-chair of the Nominating Committee for AUUMM (the Association of UU Music Ministries). Delivering sermons and crafting services at her home congregation, speaking at the Hamilton branch of the UU United Nations Organization, facilitating workshops at CUC conferences and gatherings, and serving as co-chair of the “Dismantling Racism Study Group,” Beverly actively advocates for our individual and collective commitment to dismantling racism and achieving racial justice made manifest in the Beloved Community.

Meet Beverly at the workshop Dismantling Racism: Can we Talk?, Saturday, May 15, May 15, 12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT

Erin Horvath is the CUC's Social Justice lead. Erin has over 20 years of experience addressing injustices through community building, social entrepreneurship, environmental, arts-based and collaborative initiatives within the not-for-profit, private, educational, health, and community sectors, in particular with rural and First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario. She served as a member of the Boreal Ontario working group for the Forest Stewardship Council and spent several years working as a Land Use Planner with two First Nations in Northwestern Ontario giving her unique experience with how the perspectives of colonial governments, settler environmentalists, and First Nations interact. Within her local climate justice movement and her work with the CUC she is eager to help people weave together their approaches to climate justice and right relations with Indigenous peoples in a way that is decolonizing and healing for people and the planet.

Meet Erin at the networking session Climate Justice Through a Decolonizing Lens, Saturday, May 15 , 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Mel Horvath-Lucid serves as the Director of Lifelong Learning with the Unitarian Congregation of Guelph and is excited to bring her passion for Children and Youth ministry to the CUC conference. As a yoga teacher, youth facilitator, musician and creative, Mel aims to meet children and youth were they are and to co-create programming together. Building on the conference theme of Sustaining Our Light, we will seek - through activities, crafts, story, song, and imagination to explore our own connection to light and to cultivate deeper awareness of our unique gifts and power to let our own light shine on a more inclusive, loving and kind world!

Meet Mel at the children and junior youth session Let Your Light Shine, Saturday, May 15 , 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Rev. Victoria Ingram has been with the Hamilton congregation since 2010 after serving congregations in California. After 25 years of corporate work in human resources, consulting, and executive coaching, she returned to school to earn her M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry. She will retire from Hamilton in July, 2021.


Rev. Victoria's particular interests include pastoral care and support, preaching, and teaching. She is known for being practical, approachable, and nonjudgmental. Her congregants appreciate her candor, warmth, and off-beat sense of humour. She and her husband, Carl, also retired, will be staying in the Hamilton area, traveling, and volunteering in the community after she leaves her ministry.

Rev. Victoria joins us as a Minister on Call and is available for pastoral support throughout the conference weekend.

Sharon Jinkerson-Brass, a member of Key First Nation in Saskatchewan, was part of the “sixties scoop” but she reunited with her family in the 1980’s. Sharon received her cultural teachings from her beloved Anishinaabe grandmother Rebecca, who was a midwife and traditional healer. Sharon’s cultural heritage has inspired all of her art and way of living.

Sharon is an award-winning artist who was the artistic director of “Big Sky” a successful multi-media company that performed in the US and Canada. For 30 years Sharon has also been a community leader working for social change for the Aboriginal Community in the areas of arts, culture, health and community development. Recently, Sharon was among 30 Matriarchs who were honoured for their community work.

Sharon has had a diverse career working in a variety of settings in the private and public sectors as well as on and off reserves across Canada. Sharon is currently working on multiple projects in the Aboriginal community on topics related to health, green energy and cultural healing. Sharon believes that a relevant, sustainable cultural foundation is the key for wellness for her people and all people.

Meet Sharon at the workshop Reconciliation is a Spiritual Journey, Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Ian Kent has been a member of the Grand River Unitarian Congregation since 1998. He has served on a variety of committees, taught Children’s Religious Exploration classes, and has been on the Board of Directors for three different terms of office. He first began his active meditation practice in 2010 when minister, the Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela, invited a group of interested members to sit with her. From that group, the “Seventh Principle Sangha” was born and heI became a charter member. For the next few years, Ian has had the opportunity and privilege to lead sessions whenever Rev. Jess was unable to attend. The Sangha, dormant a few years ago, has met with renewed interest and was relaunched in February 2021.

Meet Ian at the Silent Meditation Drop-In at Wellness Lounge 1, Saturday, May 15, 11:30 am PT | 12:30 pm MT | 1:30 pm CT | 2:30 pm ET | 3:30 pm AT and

Wellness Lounge 2, Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT

Leslie Kemp has had extensive experience as a facilitator, instructor and workshop leader. She worked in the area of community education for over 30 years, as a founder and organizer of the Community Development Institute in British Columbia, which provided training for community activists; she coordinated programs for and taught at Langara College, including non-violent communication, appreciative inquiry and social change processes and coordinated (and taught) in the 3-year Nunavut-based School Community Counsellor Training program for Inuit working as school community counsellors across the territory. She co-facilitated, with Meg Roberts, a pilot of CUC’s Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Reflection Guide for adults and has served as a mentor to congregational facilitators. She has recently written on and presented to Vancouver City Council on this issue.

Meet Leslie at the workshop What Would it Mean to Defund the Police?, Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Bruce Knotts is the Director of the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations. He was born and raised in Southern California. He got his Bachelor’s Degree in History from Pepperdine University and his Master’s Degree in International Education from the Monterey Institute of International Studies; both in California. Bruce was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia. He worked for Raytheon in Saudi Arabia and on a World Bank contract in Somalia, before he joined the Department of State as a U.S. diplomat in 1984. In 2004, Bruce was elected to the Board of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA). Bruce retired from the Foreign Service in 2007 and joined the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations as its Executive Director at the beginning of 2008.

Meet Bruce at the workshop Sustaining Our UU Light at the United Nations, Saturday, May 15 , Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Arran Liddel is the Director of Spiritual Exploration and Learning for Children and Youth at First Unitarian Church of Victoria and is a Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Candidate. His work has focused on building community as well as training and facilitation on issues relating to healthy relationships, sexuality, conflict-resolution, and restorative justice/practices. He has experience working with LGBTQ communities, racialized and immigrant communities, people living with HIV, seniors and people with disabilities in a variety of capacities.

Arran is also a licensed officiant and has lead over 250 ceremonies in Toronto and Victoria and is studying towards a Masters of Divinty, focusing on earth-based spiritualities, at Cherry Hill Seminary.

Arran joins us as a Minister on Call and is available for pastoral support throughout the conference weekend.

Susanne Maziarz has been the Music Director at Neighbourhood UU Congregation in Toronto since 2007. She conducts, arranges and composes music, and accompanies the Spirit Choir, directs and plays bass in the Spirit Band, co-leads the monthly Singing Meditation, and hosts the monthly Talent Night.

Susanne is originally from Hamilton, ON and has an Applied Music Diploma at Mohawk College and her B.Mus from McGill University and an MA in composition from York University. Since then, she has been active as a dance accompanist and is the assistant conductor of Common Thread Community Chorus, an 80-voice social justice choir aiming to change the world one song at a time. She started the ‘Comfort Choir,’ in 2012 that sings weekly at the bedsides of patients in the Palliative Care ward at Michael Garron Hospital in east Toronto. Her rock band, Houndbelly, perform their original songs in local clubs.

Hear Susanne throughout the Conference and meet her at the Wellness Lounge 2 -Multifaith Singing Meditation Drop-In, Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT

Fred Maycock has been a member of Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation for almost twenty years, and a member of a Sufi order since the mid seventies. He leads chanting and Dances of Universal Peace. He has found that chanting calms the mind and prepares you for a deeper meditation practice.

Wellness Lounge 2 -Multifaith Singing Meditation Drop-In Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT

Kathy Mostardi has been an active member of Grand River Unitarian Congregation for ten years. She has a lifelong interest and involvement in environmental issues. She helped to initiate and currently co-chairs the congregation’s Climate Action Team which has been active in the past year in local community actions, hosting educational events within the congregation including ‘climate parties’, and political action at the federal and provincial level.

Meet Kathy at the workshop The Eyes of the Future Generations Are On Us, Saturday, May 15, May 15,12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT

Rev. Wendy Luella Perkins founded the community meditation practice, Soulful Singing in 2002. She is a singer-songwriter, Unitarian Universalist affiliated community minister with the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship and Associate Chaplain with the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life at Queen's University. She is committed to supporting folks to heal, grow and step more fully into their own authentic power through the power of song.

Her song "We Give Thanks", #1010 in Singing the Journey and her seasonal song "Every Night a Holy Night" are sung and shared in UU congregations around the continent. She has written hundreds of songs.

As a response to the loneliness, isolation and fear many experienced at the beginning of the pandemic, the Rev. Wendy Luella has been offering Soulful Singing since March 2020 as a daily online practice. Hundreds of people from all around the world have joined in these gatherings since then.

Meet Rev. Wendy Luella at the workshop Soulful Singing - Singing with Freedom and Joy, Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT and the networking session Soulful Singing - Singing Meditation for All, Sunday, May 16, 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Allie Pev, a skilled Indigenous facilitator in her mid-20s, delivered a presentation to an international body on "Indigenous Rights Around the World" last year. She also chaired a public meeting "Reshaping Public Safety: The People's 2021 Police Budget Proposal.

Meet Allie at the workshop What Would it Mean to Defund the Police?, Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT. This workshop is sponsored by the Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice.

Noella Prescod is a member of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver and a high school student. She is looking forward to being a Youth Dean for the UU@UN’s 2021 and 2022 Spring Seminars. She is passionate about intersectional social justice and loves dance and theatre!

Meet Noella at the workshop Sustaining Our UU Light at the United Nations, Saturday, May 15 , Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Colin Read has been a member of Grand River Unitarian for about 20 years. While one foot is planted in his UU congregation, the other has been slowly sinking deeper into a Buddhist practice. This has included a lot of time sitting, a bunch of reading, and a handful of retreats. While he does not call himself a Buddhist teacher, he has run a few sessions that serve as either an introduction to meditation, or support for those who have an established practice. This session will be a little of both, and will include some introduction, some information, and a time to sit together.

Meet Colin at the Silent Meditation Drop-In at Wellness Lounge 1, Saturday, May 15, 11:30 am PT | 12:30 pm MT | 1:30 pm CT | 2:30 pm ET | 3:30 pm AT and

Wellness Lounge 2, Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT

Kathleen Sorensen, holds an M.Div. from the University of Toronto, is a member of the Canadian Association of Spiritual Care, and uses Mindfulness and Auricular Acupuncture in her work. She is passionate about walking with people at all stages of their lives to help them discover meaningful answers to important questions of purpose, hope, peace and how they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar. She currently serves as the Director of Lifespan Learning for the Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga.

She has written and presented widely on issues of what constitutes a good death, and how we can look to spirituality for those answers. Kathleen has unique insight about Medical Assistance in Dying both from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective having completed a Spiritual Health Residency focusing on Mental Health and Palliative care, including providing support and care for both patients and staff while they negotiate the issues raised by M.A.i.D.

Meet Kathleen at the workshop Conversations on Death, Saturday, May 15, May 15 , 12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT

Rev. Julie Stoneberg is the minister of the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough and along with Beverly Horton proposed the resolution that has resulted in the CUC’s ‘Dismantling Racism’ study group. Julie hails from Minnesota, is a dual-citizen, and plays the accordion, badly.

Meet Rev. Julie at the workshop Dismantling Racism: Can we Talk?, Saturday, May 15, 12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT

Amanda Tarling is the Director or Congregational Life at Capital Unitarian Universalist

Congregation in Victoria and the Lay Minister for the Unitarian Fellowship of Salt Spring Island. Amanda has been a Lay Chaplain for two, seven-year terms and has married hundreds of couples. She is a Wiccan Unitarian who loves to hike solo way out in the backcountry, take macro photographs of nature in all her splendor, and adores hot flow yoga. Amanda strives to find the sacred in everything.

Meet Amanda at the Lay Chaplains' morning reflection "Don't Leave Your Cares at the Door", Saturday, May 15 , 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Samia Tecle is the CUC's Refugee Support Worker. Though born and raised in Toronto, Samia is very much a global citizen. Whether through travelling abroad or engaging newcomers here in Toronto, Samia loves meeting new people. She holds an undergraduate degree in International Development Studies, a graduate degree in Migration and Transnationalism studies and is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in the Sociology department at the University of Toronto with a focus on immigration and refugee studies. Through her studies and professional experience, Samia has been fortunate enough to engage daily with migrants, refugees and newcomers.

Meet Samia at the workshop Refugee Sponsorship During the Pandemic, Saturday, May 15, 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Rev. Debra Thorne discovered Unitarians on a spiritual quest when she was 20. She found the living breadth and depth of its encouragement to spiritual exploration in the container of community, everything she needed. It has been her spiritual home for over forty-five years. Rev Thorne is completing a three-year term as the Minister Observer to the CUC Board representing the UU Ministers of Canada. She serves the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

Meet Debra at the networking session Classical Lectio Divina, Saturday, May 15 , 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Rev. Linda Thomson is the CUC's Congregational Life Lead for the- Central/Eastern Regions. She has been a Unitarian Universalist since 1983,and has a profound love and appreciation for our faith and its potential. Even though knowing, firsthand, that congregational life has challenges, she believes that it can support and affirm people so that they are better able to live lives of meaning. We have much to offer our larger communities. Supporting ministers and lay leaders in their work fostering health and vitality in congregations is work that she believes in.

Meet Linda at the workshop Lighting Up Our Communities (Parts 1 & 2), Saturday, May 15 , 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT and 12:30 pm PT | 1:30 pm MT | 2:30 pm CT | 3:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm AT and also at the networking session Small Congregations under 100, Sunday, May 16, 8:30 am PT | 9:30 am MT | 10:30 am CT | 11:30 am ET | 12:30 pm AT

Taz Trefzger is a member of Kingston Unitarian Fellowship but currently lives in Montreal. They were a youth dean for UU@UN's annual Spring Seminar from 2019-2020 and were one of the co-deans for Canuudle/Cazuum in 2020. As a newly bridged young adult, they're super excited to explore the adult UU world and are looking forward to connecting with UUs from all across Canada.

Meet Taz at the workshop Sustaining Our UU Light at the United Nations, Saturday, May 15, 10 am PT | 11 am MT | 12 pm CT | 1 pm ET | 2 pm AT

Lesley White is a certified, Let Your Yoga Dance, Chair Yoga, Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation) and Active Aging instructor. She currently leads group Zoom and private classes. Her clients have included Bridgepoint Active Health Care, Wellspring, University of Toronto, Parkinson Canada and The Wagman Centre to name a few. Lesley brings her love of this work, people and music to all her classes. Her joyful program combines the benefits of yoga and dancing into a complete body, mind and spirit workout and it receives rave reviews. Ensure you have a sturdy chair with back (folding chair).

Meet Lesley at Wellness Lounge 2 - Yoga Dance in Chairs, Saturday, May 15, 2 pm PT | 3 pm MT | 4 pm CT | 5 pm ET | 6 pm AT