Commit2Respond's Steering Committee welcomes five new members this summer!

The Steering Committee is made up of representatives of the nine organizations leading Commit2Respond (find out more about the leadership of Commit2Respond, including returning Steering Committee members).

We are excited to welcome the following newest members:

Sushma Raman is Vice President and Chief Program Officer for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, leading the organization’s creative and effective approaches to advancing human rights.

Raman has previously served with Southern California Grantmakers, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Institute, launching and growing a number of foundations and civil society organizations and working on a range of social justice issues globally and in the United States. She lives in Cambridge, MA.

Constance Kane is Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, managing the organization and the implementation of its strategic plan for advancing human rights.

Kane has previously served with the Africa Division of World Education and Oxfam America, and has a background in sustainable development and global poverty projects in Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. She lives in Boston, MA.

Christopher D. Sims serves on Steering Committee for Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM). He also serves on the UUA Nominating Committee and the UUA Council on Cross-Cultural Engagement.

Sims is a poet and spoken word artist and leads workshops on using the arts as a tool for social change. He lives in East Hampton, NY.

 

Robin Pugh is the Vice-President of the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA), and also serves as full-time Director of Lifespan Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing in Titusville, NJ.

Pugh has been a religious educator for 15 years and has previously held leadership roles with many LREDA and district committees, chapters, and clusters. She lives outside of Philadelphia, PA.

Andrew Mertz is Program Assistant for the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA). He has a science and technology background and more than a decade of professional youth and young adult ministry experience.

Mertz previously served as Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs for the Joseph Priestley District of the UUA and is currently completing his work at Meadville Lombard Theological School. He loves the outdoors and serves as a Wilderness First Responder in his spare time. He lives in Oakland, CA.

These five new members have come forward as the leadership of their respective organizations has shifted. The new Steering Committee is looking forward to guiding Commit2Respond into its second year!