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The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is currently searching for its next moderator, who will succeed co-moderators Elandria Williams and Mr. Barb Greve in 2020. The moderator, who serves as the Chief Governance Officer of the Association and works closely with the UUA Board of Trustees, executive staff, and committees, will be elected in June 2020 at General Assembly in Providence, Rhode Island.
The 2020 election will be a special election to fill the remaining five years of a six-year term, as no nomination was made for the previously scheduled election in 2019.
The deadline to apply for moderator is October 1, 2019. Applicants may complete the online application form or download a PDF version of the application. The moderator is a volunteer position that requires substantial travel. (There is reimbursement for all expenses and modest reimbursement for lost work time.)
The UUA Board of Trustees nominates candidates for moderator and has appointed a Moderator Search Committee to recruit well-qualified individuals or a team of individuals for review and possible nomination. The Moderator Search Committee will receive and evaluate applications, conduct references and background checks, and present their recommendations to the board.
The board will announce the candidate(s) for this election by December 10, 2019. Candidates may also run via petition, with a deadline of February 1, 2020.
The members of the Moderator Search Committee are the Rev. Kimberley Debus, Kimberly Hampton, the Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson, Chloe Ockey, Denise Rimes, and Lauren Way.
At a meeting on August 27, 2019, the board appointed Williams and Greve to jointly hold the office of moderator, renewing their shared leadership as co-moderators which began in 2017. Their appointment will continue until the moderator election in June 2020. According to the board’s announcement, “The Board took the past two months, working with the Co-Moderators, to develop effective support systems for the Co-Moderators, and to establish clear roles and responsibilities for them, the vice moderators, the trustees, and the Board as a whole.” In thanking Williams and Greve for their ongoing service, the board added that it remains “committed to investing in co-leadership, which goes beyond structures to require real shared responsibility and accountability.”