The Governing Board’s Governance Advisory Committee is pleased to present the 2020-21 Slate of Candidates for open seats on the Governing Board. The names of our nominees and their candidate statements appear below. Elections will take place at the Virtual Annual Meeting to be held via Zoom on Sunday, June 28, 2020. Please attend this important meeting!

The Governance Advisory Committee called for nominations and self-nominations in February and has sought to develop a slate that would foster diversity and broad representation from our membership. As part of the nominations process, we met with interested candidates to be sure they were fully informed of the duties of the position and able to commit to service. Candidates for these positions have learned about the responsibilities by conferring with members of the board. The Governing Board was notified of these nominees and has approved the proposed slate to present to the congregation.

The following slate of candidates along with candidate statements provide background information about their commitment to First Parish. We believe that these candidates share a passion for the mission of First Parish and creatively meeting the challenges of these unprecedented times. 

Nominees for the Governing Board

• Chair: Gloria Korsman – 1 yr. term; followed by 1 yr. term as Past Chair (non-voting, ex-officio)
• Vice Chair: Jan Puibello – 1 yr. term; eligible for 1 yr. term as Chair
• Treasurer: Cade Murray – 2 yr. term; completing 2 yr. term
• Member at Large: Tod Hibbard – 2 yr. term; eligible for second 2 yr. term.

Continuing Governing Board Members

• Past Chair: Gordie Calkins – non-voting, ex-officio 1 yr. term
• Clerk: Grace Hall – Year 1 of second 2 yr. term
• Member at Large: Don Tucker – Year 2 of second 2 yr. term
• Member at Large: Julia Gallogly – Year 1 of 2 yr. term; eligible for second 2 yr term.

Candidate Statements 2020-21

Gloria Korsman she/her/hers (1-year term as Chair followed by 1-year term as Past Chair, non-voting, ex officio)

A member since 1995, I am passionate about our covenant and mission, and love working, worshiping, and fun times with our beautiful community.  I love our congregation’s commitment to multiculturalism and anti-racism, and value our many ministries within the congregation and in the community. 

It is an honor to be nominated to serve as Board Chair.  I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the Board, staff, and congregation on mission-centered policies and procedures. If you elect me, I will work hard to fulfill my responsibilities.

During the week, I work (remotely since March 2020) as a librarian at Harvard Divinity School. My wife Kerrie and I live in North Cambridge with our sweet kitty Bernard, and near several First Parish members. In my free time, I enjoy my garden, cooking vegetarian food, early morning walks, and making things. 

Jan Puibello she/her/hers (1-year term as Vice Chair; eligible for 1-year term as Chair)

I have been a member of First Parish for the past 5 years, and had been attending services for several years before that. It has been my privilege and honor to serve on the First Parish Governing Board for the past 2 years. We have many accomplishments to be proud of, but the work before us stands tall and challenges continue to grow as our church and our world change in unprecedented ways.

I am grateful to have previously served on the board of a community mental health center, as well as a national women’s sports organization. I have been involved in local progressive political efforts. I have enjoyed being able to work on shaping the future of these groups by my participation. 

I work at the MIT Medical Department in as a nurse practitioner and work in Nursing Administration and Quality. I live in Central Square Cambridge, with my spouse Peggy Lynch and our ever-entertaining dog, Emma. I also spend time in central Vermont where we have a small cabin, and enjoy outdoor activities and being in life surrounded by healing beauty.

If I were to be re-elected to be a member of the board it would offer me the opportunity to participate in what I see is an exciting next few years at First Parish. We are the stewards of this beautiful building and I want to help work with others to care for it. I want to give back to First Parish and our congregation as we work to carry out our mission. 

There are many challenges ahead of us, now complicated by keeping our congregation engaged and safe during this time of Covid 19 and virtual worship. Our responsibility to address systemic racism and white supremacy continues as part of our ongoing work as well as numerous other issues.  I am committed to working with other board members, our minister and staff, and our members to continue to meet these challenges and those which we don’t yet know of. I will work hard and also ask that our members continue to work together to build our First Parish family.

Cade Murray  he/him/his (Second and final 2-year term as Treasurer)

I began attending First Parish in 2010, shortly after moving to Cambridge from the San Francisco Bay area.  I joined the Finance Committee in 2012, served as Chair for 5 years, and then was elected to the Governing Board as Treasurer in 2018.  During this time, I have also been active in other areas of the congregation, including religious education, the recent governance transition, the Youth Homeless Shelter, personnel, and the building. In all of this work, my primary motivation has been to help First Parish better serve all members of our congregation, as well as to reach out and become more involved in the larger community. I particularly like working on structural and organizational issues that allow us to be more effective advocates for our vision and values, and I look forward to continuing this work during a second term as Treasurer.

Tod Hibbard he/him/his (2-year term as Member at Large; eligible for second 2-year term)

I was raised Catholic, and that early experience put me off organized religion altogether.  It wasn’t until my wife Cynthia and I had children of our own approaching school age that we decided they needed a religious education –  ideally one that was liberal, open and inclusive.  Though neither of us had been raised Unitarian Universalist, we thought that might provide the right spiritual home, so we visited our local UU church, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills.  The UUSWH proved to be a wonderful, sustaining community for our children and for us.  Cynthia and I both taught in the religious education program which our kids attended before going on to flourish in the active youth group there.  I also organized the annual church auction and the annual oriental rug sale, I served as chair of the finance committee, chair of the annual all member canvass, chair of the standing committee, as a member of the bequest society, and as auditor.  Cynthia chaired the welcoming committee and was a member of the ministerial intern committee.   We were members of UUSWH for twenty years until, as empty-nest-ers, we moved back to Cambridge (where we had met in college 40 years ago). 

Since joining First Parish in 2018, I have served as one of First Parish’s liaisons to the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (“GBIO”) and as a member of the Development Ministry Team, and Cynthia has been co-chair of the Environmental Justice Task Force – and I go to all of her demonstrations and she comes to all of mine.  Professionally, I am retired after a long career in banking, finance and community economic development, most recently as head of treasury operations at Tufts University.  I am honored to have been nominated to serve on the First Parish Board and, if elected, I hope to bring my energy, perspective and experience to our shared work of nurturing, supporting and sustaining our First Parish community and its work in the larger community.