At the UUCF Annual Meeting on Jun. 2, 2024, the congregation will vote on the following candidates to open positions on the Board of Directors and the Leadership and Nominating Committee (LNC). All terms of office will begin on Jul. 1, 2024. Term lengths are included below.
Board of Directors Candidates – to serve 3-year terms
Suzanne Leonard
My family joined UUCF back in 2012, when my husband, John, and I were seeking a place where we could grow and learn together with our children, meet peers who shared our core values, and where we could generally refresh and reset ourselves – mentally, physically, and spiritually – each week. I quickly fell in love with this congregation, which teaches its children to have minds that think, hearts that love, and hands that are ready to serve, and I am so honored to be considered for the UUCF board. I work as a technical editor for a government contractor and am kept pretty busy being mom to Judy (14), Eleanor (12), Sean (11), and Owen (10). I am an avid volunteer within and outside of UUCF – a Girl Scout troop leader, PTA president, election poll worker, choir mom, RE teacher, among other roles – and I find great joy and purpose in serving my community. I have learned about our amazing RE program by serving on and chairing the RE Committee. I have enjoyed fostering connection and fun while co-chairing the Auction and Chili Cookoff events. And I have gathered insights on the congregation’s financial responsibilities through service on Annual Giving Campaign committees and the Reach Committee [former capital campaign]. I look forward to this new opportunity to serve UUCF.
Marcia Tugendhat
I joined UUCF in 2017 where I have happily taught RE for 7 years and served on the RE Committee for 6 years. Additionally, I have been active with the Racial Justice Steering Committee, UU the Vote, the 8th Principle Team, the Afghan Refugee Resettlement Team, the Food Justice Team and our English as a Second or Other language program.
The mission of UUCF is why I am a member and the work of transforming ourselves, the community, and the world through acts of love and justice is what gets me out of bed each day. I was raised in a secular family in Venezuela, the daughter of a Jewish holocaust refugee and an educator who had progressive values in her DNA. It led me to a life of being a bilingual pre-school and elementary teacher, a counselor of Hispanic youth and families, a therapist in an Hispanic mental health center, an adult ESOL teacher, the director of an Hispanic drop-out prevention school, foster and adoptive parent to a special needs child, and then later mother to a special needs grandchild among other things very close to my heart.
The living tradition of Unitarian Universalism keeps me hopeful that we can truly serve in the work of collective liberation. I am grateful to be considered for a position on the Board of Directors.
Gina Wells
I am honored to be considered to serve the UUCF congregation as a member of the board. My husband, Linton, and I first learned about Unitarian Universalism at UUCF when we were looking for a faith home early in our marriage. We attended the Arlington congregation when we started our family and were thrilled to return to UUCF when we moved back to Fairfax with our two boys in 2015. Through weekly worship services and RE classes, annual camping trips, and many hours of conversation, collaboration, and laughter at UUCF events, we have become deeply attached to this beautiful intergenerational community.
After 12 years in Federal service at the U.S. Department of Labor, I now work part-time for a large non-profit using my facilitation and strategic planning skills to help states and regions build equitable career pathways for youth and adults.
Through UUCF, I have found many opportunities to grow as a human and a leader. I served on the Coordinating Committee from 2019 to 2023 and was an active part of an early planning group for the UU Potomac Partnership. I am currently the director of UUCF’s Revolution Ringers handbell choir, a member of the Music and Arts Committee, and an honorary member of the 2nd grade RE class.
LNC Candidates – to serve 2-year terms
Rama K. Kotra
I have been a member of UUCF formally for 21 years and informally for over 30 years. Our family has been involved in many aspects of our community, including Religious Exploration (RE), adult education, the Auction, and committees. We led a covenant group many moons ago. Our children were regular participants in the RE program. I taught RE for many years, was co-chair of the RE Committee, and was Lay Minister for Education. I was a member of the Steering Committee of the Science, Reason, and Religion Forum [which ended several years ago] and gave a number of talks under the series. I established the Ideas Forum in 2020, a monthly discussion group that continues to thrive. We have been regular participants in small group activities like support groups, book clubs, and a men’s group. Currently I am a member of the Pastoral Care Team and the Safety Team.
I retired from the Federal government after serving 35 years with the U.S. Geological Survey. I served as a research scientist as well as a science manager and senior advisor. Throughout my career I refined my skills in taking on complex technical and management-executive matters. I worked to establish prestigious and successful programs that continue to serve my former agency well.
As one committed to lifelong learning, I continue to seek opportunities to learn and grow at UUCF and expend a considerable amount of effort toward sharing what I know and have learned with others. A number of my recent UUCF activities can be seen as focused on strengthening community. This includes participation in activities with members of partner congregations like Cedar Lane UU to build bridges for mutual benefit.
Hanh Michael
I became a member of UUCF in 2012 after several years as a “friend.” Since then, I have served in a variety of roles: RE teacher, RE Committee member, Board of Directors member, chair of an RE Director search committee, covenant group leader, co-chair of the Auction food team, and most enjoyably, an Auction donor. I have been on the Leadership & Nominations Committee (LNC) for 2 years: last year as an at-large member, and this year as a co-chair.
When I first arrived at UUCF, I was profoundly touched by two seemingly opposite natures of the faith: the openness to various sources of wisdom, and the focused attention to being a principled human being. Over time, I understood that these two elements fill each other in an endless ebb and flow. This realization, and its simplicity, helped me become a more well-rounded human being (as my husband David and two daughters, Andrea and Olivia, will concur!). It also became clearer to me that, to transform the world, we need to start with ourselves. As a result, my work on the LNC has focused on how to translate the UU 7 Principles into practicable behaviors and processes for our leaders.
I am honored to be nominated to serve on the LNC again. I love working with people who find fun in serious work. I appreciate the opportunity to make a visible difference. I am driven by my own principle of leaving a place better than when I found it. And if you share this vision, come and join me on the LNC!
Kathy Smerke
Kathy Smerke has been a member of UUCF since 2006, when she and her husband Ian Hochberg were looking for a spiritual home where they could raise a family. Since then, Kathy has served at least half those years as either an RE teacher, a Coming of Age Mentor, an RE Committee member or some combination of the three. Teaching is her passion, whether it’s teaching Latin in the classroom, tutoring math or homeschooling her kids. Kathy also served for 4 years as a lay member on the Coordinating Team (CT) and has been a member on three ministerial search teams. Most of all, she is grateful for all the friendships made at UUCF and for the supportive community in which she and Ian have been able to raise their kids Nathan (11), Hailey (13), and Whitney (15). She looks forward to the opportunity to serve the congregation in this new role.