Meet Our Board of Trustees

What does the UUSM Board of Trustees do?

Dan Hotchkiss, a UU minister an expert on governance, describes the governance of a congregation as consisting of:

A Board that articulates mission and vision, evaluates results, and ensures responsible stewardship of resources.
Ministry leaders, paid and unpaid, who create effective programs with the support of a structure that delegates authority and requires accountability.
Members and others who enjoy many opportunities to learn and grow and serve in an atmosphere of trust and creativity where structure, goals, and purposes are clear.

Would you like to join us for the 2024-2025 term? Reach out to any board member or the leadership development committee lead, Julianna Rees. You will learn a lot, build relationships, develop your leadership skills and get to know your congregation from the inside out. It's a rewarding--and challenging--job. We welcome newcomers to the congregation and those whose faces we know well but haven't served before. You bring diversity of thought and new energy to the longer-serving, experienced Board members.

Board meetings are typically the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Check your Friday bulletin or click here for details. Meetings are by Zoom and open to all friends and members; however, only Board members may vote.

Becky Howland, President

Becky is returning for her second one-year term as POBOT. Over her 15 years at UUSM, she has served as choir member, chair of the music director search committee, newsletter editor, liaison to the UU Coastside Community on the board of trustees, and co-chair of the All Together Now auction with Tricia Dell. Three of her children participated in religious education in the early 2000s. A strong proponent of actively soliciting and integrating diverse thought, Becky has a three-decade career history of building and leading teams through challenging situations, primarily in corporate marketing, integration of corporate acquisitions, and communications. She believes in and practices warm, respectful, open communication among all interested parties, and pledges to bring this practice to UUSM’s leaders, staff and congregation. Through their work as co-chairs in last year’s and this year’s auctions, Becky and Tricia together have built a strong working relationship and friendship. Becky’s corporate experience is balanced by Tricia’s extensive experience in the non-profit sector. Together they plan to bring energetic, upbeat, steady, thoughtful leadership to UUSM as board president and vice-president.

Tricia Dell, Vice President

Tricia has been a member of UUSM for 25 years and has served in leadership capacities including fundraising, the ATN auction, strategic planning, and a Ministerial Search. She is currently VP of the Board of Trustees. Tricia is grateful for the religious education and OWL programs that were available for her two now adult daughters. And for being held by this community in countless experiences of joy, sorrow, and learning resulting in growth and friendships of all kinds. Tricia completed Beloved Conversations Virtual in Fall ‘21 and continues the work in her life. As a Coastsider, she's proud to have completed the Shared Pulpit class offered at UU Coastside Community in 2021 which led to the delivery of her first sermon at UUCC. Like Becky, Tricia values diverse thought and perspectives and plans to bring energetic, thoughtful leadership to UUSM as a board president/vice president team.

Eileen Manning-Villar, Treasurer

Eileen Manning-Villar has been a UUSM member for about 22 years. Since becoming a UU she has been active with the Religious Education Committee, the Leadership Development Committee, Family Camp, the Usher and Greeter crew, and the Tech Team. She now serves as the ad-hoc Chat Chaplain. Eileen is a youth defender, currently practicing in the appellate courts, but she is expanding her practice to defending kids in the local juvenile courts. She also works part-time as the Director of Operations of a small non-profit, Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, where she is seeking to master QuickBooks.

Lisa Stalteri, Secretary

Lisa became a member of UUSM in 2019. She grew up in San Mateo and Belmont. She is an environmental attorney and mother to 3 young adults. Lisa is a member of the Exploring Campus Options Task Force. Lisa has served on the Campus Development Task Force, the Anti-Racist Coalition, and as the Social Justice Activities Coordinator. She has also volunteered with Religious Education for adolescents.

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Betsy Blosser, Trustee

Betsy Blosser was a VISTA Volunteer, working with Latin American steelworkers, and ran educational programs for migrant farmworker children and adults before going back to grad school. After earning her Ph.D., she taught in the field of mass communication for 35 years, at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and San Francisco State University. At SFSU, she took students to different parts of the world to produce videos for NGOs. In 2017, she happily retired, and since then, she’s been sewing, knitting, and weaving. Betsy has been a member of UUSM since 1989. She raised both of her sons at UUSM, and has served on the board a couple of times before.

Laura Bull, Trustee

Laura has been an active member of UUSM for 15 years and has volunteered in many areas including 5 years on the finance committee, 3 of those serving on the board as Treasurer (2016-2019). She currently serves on the Benefits and Compensation Committee, and sings in the choir; when her now-adult son was growing up, she volunteered in religious education. Laura is a transplant from the Midwest living in Northern California since 1987. She is a scientist and has a research laboratory located at UCSF, where she studies genetic factors contributing to liver disease. She recently also became qualified as a dietitian. She enjoys gardening and day hiking.

Hildur Carlen, Trustee

Hildur and her husband, Conrad, have been members of UUSM since 2010. She is a proud third generation Unitarian Universalist! UUSM was a big part of the growing up years of her daughters, now a young adult and a teenager. Hildur has taught RE and OWL, and supported COA and UU youth involvement in the Peninsula Multifaith Coalition. She has served on the RE Committee for years and on three RE hiring committees. Her professional background is in Early Childhood Education and she has been a mother for nearly 21 years, so she seems to be naturally drawn to all things RE. She also served as as Co-Leader of the COVID Task Force. Now that the kids have grown up, and she has too, she decided to spread her wings and her faith a bit and joined the UUSM Board of Trustees last year. Over the past year, Hildur supported the Religious Exploration transition. She also led our youth in the Coming of Age program that culminated this past spring. She has served on multiple Boards in the past (all education related). It seems to be impossible for her to stay away from work with children, youth, and families! After all, they are the future of our faith.

John Farrow, Trustee

John joined UUSM to seek religious education for his children but stayed despite their precocious Rumspringa. He has previously served on the Board; now belongs to a couple of committees; and has helped with recruitment of a ministerial intern, two RE directors, and two ministers. In real life he practices environmental, land use, and water law on behalf of non-profit groups.

Bryan Klech, Trustee

Bryan joined UUSM in 2016 seeking youth focused programs for his now adult children, and subsequently staying for the community. In addition to his role as a Trustee, Bryan serves on the Committee on Ministry and the Governance Task Force, and in the past as a mentor in our Coming of Age program. Bryan invests most of his volunteer attention in the local Scouting community.

David Kramer, Trustee

David has been a member of UUSM since 2019. He has been part of tech support for Sundays services as it has evolved from running the sound board to virtual to hybrid. David serves on the COVID Task Force, and is just starting as a mentor for Coming of Age. David works as a construction executive. He is a Planning Commissioner for the city of Belmont. David is married and has two sons. For fun, he plays bass in a garage band, and podcasts light hearted advice with his college roommate

Steve Latner, Trustee

Steve has been a member of UUSM since 2013. He was chairman of the Pastoral Care Committee for three years. He has also worked in the RE program and served on various UUSM committees. Steve has lived in San Mateo most of my life. His hobbies include fiction writing and following the San Francisco Giants.