UUJO Leadership

UUJO Leadership includes our paid and volunteer Staff and our Board of Directors.

Executive Director & Administrator

Pastor Hank Osmundson, M.Div., MASJ (he/him)

Hank is a native of the Petersburg, Virginia area and grew up in the Southern Baptist church. He felt a call to ministry when he was 16, but when in college came to terms with being gay and gave up his plans for seminary. After college, he spent four years teaching high school in Mississippi and Virginia. In 2001 he moved to Southern California, remaining there most of his adult life.

He connected with Altadena Community Church (UCC) in 2014, which provided him profound healing and a renewed sense of his call. His brother and parents had settled in Ohio while Hank was in California; Hank relocated to Ohio in 2016 to be closer to his family. While not intending to enroll in seminary at the time of his move, in 2017 he started classes at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO). Hank received a Master of Divinity degree with a focus in Feminist and Womanist Studies in 2021 and a Master of Arts in Social Justice degree in 2022. Hank is currently pursuing ordination in the United Church of Christ and also serves as Pastor of Community Engagement at St. John’s United Church of Christ in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

Hank resides in the South Linden neighborhood of Columbus and somehow manages to keep his cats happy.

Hank is reachable at uujohank@gmail.com

Volunteers Wanted!

UUJO serves Unitarian Universalism and our Ohio congregations through our wonderful volunteers, including our Board of Directors, and Nominating Committee members.

If you think you might like to volunteer to assist with the UUJO News, web site updates, email Calls to Action, Ohio Legislative updates or other areas, please contact Hank at uujohank@gmail.com

Board of Trustees

UUJO’s Board of Directors is a team of dedicated volunteers, with years of experience in congregational leadership.

Samuel Prince

Board Chair, UU Akron

Samuel Prince serves as the UUJO Board chair. He has served as co-chair of the Oberlin UU Fellowship Board and in several other congregations as chairs of both Adult Religious Education/Faith Development and the Anti-Racism Team. He has also served on the UUA General Assembly Planning Committee and currently serves on the UU Funding Panel and the Black Lives UU Organizing Collaborative.

Edwin Fuller, CLF

Vice Chair, Organizer for LEAD – Leaders for Equality and Action in Dayton

Edwin seeks to “shape a society free of economic oppression, racism and discrimination in which every person lives in a safe and healthy environment, is respected and included, and has agency over the decisions that shape their lives.” As a Community Organizer with The Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Edwin supports and advocates for many justice issues, especially those around criminal justice reform and ending mass incarceration. In a former life he enjoyed a career in Information Technology and charity fund raising. He is a member of the Church of the Larger Fellowship Unitarian Universalist, and serves on the Board of LEAD.

Gabrielle Fields

Board Trustee, MTSO

Gabrielle is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in the Baptist
church but joined the United Church of Christ when she was 18 years of
age. She felt a call to ministry when he was 12 years of age; however, the
Baptist church she was raised in did not affirm women in preaching
ministry. After completing her undergraduate studies, Gabrielle started
working in higher education and eventually moved to Ohio to complete
seminary and begin the journey to ordination within the United Church of Christ.
Gabrielle is a member of Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri and is currently completing her third year of classes at
Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO). In May of 2022, she will receive a Master of Divinity degree with a specialization in biblical
languages and text and expects to receive a Master of Arts degree in Social Justice from MTSO in May 2023. Gabrielle is currently the New
Student Recruiter and Admissions Analyst in the Admissions department at MTSO.

CeeJay Cook

Board Trustee, Great Circle Fellowship, Newark

Caroline (CeeJay) Cook is a retired teacher of special education, American history, and Civics. She has been a member of the UU Church of Akron since 2003 and was a regular participant in the activities of the congregation, teaching RE, helping with the community meal, Interfaith Hunger Walk, etc. until she moved to Newark, Ohio in June of 2016. She was involved with the Let’s Make a Difference program in Medina where
she helped with a summer program for children at the local section 8 housing project and did after school tutoring during the school year.
After moving to Newark, she encouraged the development of a UU covenanting community, the Great Circle Fellowship (GCF) and became a
member of the United Church of Granville (UCC & American Baptist).

Many of the members of the Granville Church are also involved with the GCF and are actively involved in social justice activities and advocacy
groups. She has worked and is working with others in Newark to advocate for: A needle exchange program, public transportation, housing for those who are homeless, and environmental justice. She has also volunteered in the “Together We Grow” non-profit community garden program. She has been involved with CERSI and is presently on the planning committee.

Some of the groups she is involved with in Newark are the League of Women Voters, Newark Homeless Outreach, NAACP, Freedom School of
Licking County, and Newark Think Tank on Poverty. She is a member of UUJO, Poor People Campaign and League of Women Voters and has
participated in social justice actions at the Ohio State House and has given testimony on several issues. She is involved with the UU Environmental
renewal group. Encouraging Interfaith understanding, respect for diversity and encouraging all to present a united front in advocating for social justice and beloved community is her passion.

Saroya King, UU Toledo

Board Trustee, UU Congregation of Toledo

The Apostle Saroya M King is the founding Director of Ecumena Spiritual Center. Apostle King remains a preacher and conference speaker focusing on the area of ministerial
leadership both in the Church and Missions. She is an Affirmed Apostle of the Pentecostal and Apostolic Church.

She has devoted herself to the betterment of the human community through the spiritual and educational process. She has been established as a ministerial mentor, and trainer.
Apostle King has matriculated through a number of college degrees including a Master‘s degree in Divinity and a Master’s degree in Education,
and an enthusiast in gardening and ecological sustainable development.
Apostle Saroya has one son, Benjamin Edward King,and daughter, Ciera Howard and a grandson, Benjamin Edward King II. She calls them, “her kids”. She has a plethora of nieces and nephews. She has sons and daughters through her Ministry and looks forward to being blessed withmore.

John Kachuba

Board Trustee, St. John UU Cincinatti

John has been a member of St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church since 2008. His work in social justice has emphasized race relations and immigration issues and he was one of the authors of St. John’s Commitment to Racial Justice passed at a congregational meeting in 2016. John chairs St. John’s Outreach Committee, which awards grants to local organizations doing social justice work. He is a past member of St. John’s Board of Trustees where he served as Mission Council Director. He is also a member of the church’s Sanctuary and Immigration Team and is St. John’s liaison to UUJO.

Carole Womeldof, UU North Hills

Board Trustee, Cincinnati

With a background in engineering, education and African-American literature, Carole Womeldorf is engaged in finding effective ways to dismantle white supremacy through education, mediation, and restorative justice. Supporting ongoing efforts by community groups in voter engagement and civics education, the coordinating committee of the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, connecting with UU’s in Cincinnati, singing with MUSE choir, and starting a Cincinnati Showing Up for Racial Justice chapter. Her day-to-day anchors are family and academic advising at Cincinnati State. Together it all gives her opportunities to meet a wonderful range of established and budding activists.

Tadd Pinkston

Secretary, UU Church of Cleveland

An attorney from Cleveland, Tadd has built his practice around serving the underrepresented. He is active in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, joining statewide demonstrations and protests at the state capitol building as a legal observer. Beyond his work for UUJO, Tadd is a Lake County Public Defender and serves on the Board of LegalWorks Inc., a non-profit that helps folk expunge their criminal record. Finally, Tadd formerly served on the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland as its secretary.

Rev. Kellie Kelly, Minister, Miami Valley UU Fellowship

Board Trustee, Dayton

Rev. Kellie Kelly is the minister of Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Dayton, OH. As a third-generation single mother, she became the first person in her family to attend college, completing her undergraduate degree at the age of 41. She went on to earn a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Leadership at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Kellie considers social justice work an important part of her ministry. She was the chairperson of UU Class Conversations for 3 years, which seeks to make Unitarian Universalism a more class-inclusive Faith. She also is a mental illness advocate and suicide-attempt survivor.