QUUF has a successful blend of lay leadership and staff. Together they govern with integrity and grace, balancing the administrative and legal aspects of the organization with the heart and spirit of ministry.

2024-25 Candidates for Congregational Committees

President – Sarah Walker

Email: walkersvc@gmail.com

Sarah wants to serve on the board because of her motivation to work with our newly appointed Developmental Minister to help our community build on our strengths and potential. She has been a UU for 44 years and a member at QUUF since 1991 – participating in many aspects of our program development and forming enduring relationships. Her daughters attended RE programs here and over the years she has volunteered here in many rewarding roles, including a previous term on the Board from 2002-2005. Since her retirement from teaching in 2017, she has been a member and then co-chair of the Pastoral Care Team. This winter she served as a member of the Developmental Minister Hiring Committee which involved creating a comprehensive overview of QUUF’s strengths and needs to share with applicants. This renewed her interest to reengage in the responsibilities of governance to support our ever-evolving Fellowship community. (Term expires 2026)

Vice-President – Larry Morrell

Email: larry@larrymorrell.com

Larry is retired from the high-tech world where he worked with start-up companies to develop products, business models, and strategies for investors. He has been a UU since his college days in the 1970s, involved in many areas: committee on ministry, strategic planning, board member trainer, speaker, men’s group, and social justice in UU fellowships in Kirkland, Bellevue, Whidbey Island. A veteran, he supports the people in uniform while also working to hold the military accountable to local communities and helps organize action around issues of community-military concern. Elected to the Board in June 2021, he became president when Colleen Johnson resigned in 2022, then became Vice-President in 2023. (Term expires 2024)

Secretary – Elizabeth Walker

Email: elizabeth.walker317@gmail.com

Elizabeth was drawn to QUUF in large part because of our social justice work. She is a lesbian, a feminist, and a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and people. A former college teacher, while at QUUF she has taught many ALPs classes, mostly on topics of personal health, planetary health, and conflict resolution. For several years she facilitated the Buddhist Book Group, and she has also taught in the OWL program and served as a mentor in the Coming of Age program. She offers her commitment and skills to QUUF to help us build a fellowship that is healthy, strong, and working together to become a true Beloved Community. (Term expires 2026)

Treasurer – Bruce Zalneraitis

Email: treasurer@quuf.org

Bruce Zalneraitis’ entire professional career for over 40 years has been in working for 501(c)3 non-profit, medical organizations before retiring in 2019. For the last 15 years of his career, he served on the boards of these organizations both as a member and as the chair. In the role of leadership, he has contributed, starting at the department head/director level and ending up at the president & CEO level. The organizations had annual budgets ranging from around $20 million up to $50 million. New to Port Townsend and the Pacific Northwest, he brings a different perspective based on his experience in Boston, San Francisco, and Anchorage AK. He has been associated with Unitarian Universalism for the last 30 years. (Term expires 2025)

Trustee – Roseanna Almaee

Email: texasrose421@hotmail.com

Roseanna Almaee is a retired educator who has taught every grade level from pre-school to adult in four different states over 30+ years. She spent the last 20+ years teaching and working as an administrator at the college and university level in Georgia. She has multiple degrees and certificates in education as well as in a variety of teaching fields. She and her husband owned an environmental consulting company in South Georgia for almost thirty years where she also worked. Roseanna has a long history of volunteerism and organization in several communities and group, and in several states serving on arts boards, serving as a lead for integrated community events and discussions, working with BIPOC communities as an educator and social service coordinator, and more. She has a strong belief in and experience in community connection and problem solving, as well as a historical family background in the love of diversity of culture, religious beliefs, and the arts. (term expires: 2026)

Trustee – Sarah Hull

Email: starrinu2@gmail.com

As a lifelong Lesbian, finding a spiritual home was difficult for Sarah. Being welcomed as a member into a thriving QUUF in 2008 was an unexpected blessing! She found many ways to contribute: six years on the QUUF Board (2010 – 2016; two years as President); partnering with Gary Nelson in developing the Audio/Visual systems for our new Sanctuary; co-chairing Performance Services, and scheduling Techs for the sound booth; facilitating a Covenant Group from 2010 to the present. The direction in which the UUA is moving is of concern to 70+ QUUF members who have made significant contributions to our Fellowship. There have been no opportunities to present dissenting opinions to the entire Fellowship. She loves her bumper sticker “Unitarian Universalism, where all your answers are questioned.” May we always welcome the questions! (term expires 2024)

Trustee – Liesl Slabaugh

Email: lieslmarie526@msn.com

I joined QUUF when my twin daughters were barely walking. They are now 23. My husband and I began attending services to have a brief bit of ‘adult time’ in our week and discovered a community that has enriched our lives in so many ways over the years. When I see how the values that our children learned at QUUF have deeply influenced who they are today, I am so proud of and so grateful for this loving, thinking, and justice seeking community. Over the years I have been an RE teacher, on the Leadership Development Task Force, on the Pathways to Service Committee, and the Right Relations Covenant Team. My husband is Joseph Bednarik who is a frequent speaker from the pulpit. Currently I am the Development and Marketing Director at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. Previously I have worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Rose Theatre, and a domestic violence shelter. I hold a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit management. Other volunteer service includes board membership for the Jefferson Community Foundation, the Non-Motorized Transportation Board, and the PT Planning Commission. I have also completed a mediation training. (Term expires 2024)

Trustee – Mary Tyburski

Email: marylbyburski@gmail.com

Mary, a UU for 27 years, joined QUUF eight years ago in order to belong to a community with shared beliefs and seek behaviors aimed at creating a better world. She has been involved in many aspects of the congregation such as committee work, RE mentor, Affinity and Covenant groups, and fundraising. Mary has worked with Head Start, PT Historical Society, Centrum and the film festival.
Now retired, Mary served people with disabilities, advocating for legal, medical and educational rights for over 40 years. What Mary most learned is that everyone has gifts to share and receive. Mary looks forward to helping QUUF members share their gifts to further create a vibrant and loving community. (Term expires 2024)

Trustee – Jesse Wild

Email: jesse@wildward.net

I am working on the Board to help us navigate a new governance model, refine processes for inter-congregational communication, and manifest QUUF’s collective vision. I moved to Port Townsend with my wife and two daughters at the end of 2019, after retiring early from the US Fish and Wildlife Service where I was a biologist/writer/editor. We joined QUUF just before the covid pandemic started and became involved through caring circles, book groups, online classes, and covenant groups. I look forward to maintaining and creating more deep relationships in my new hometown, with people who share – and challenge – my path to spirituality. (Term expires 2025)

Ex-Officio – Rev. Dr. Linda Hart

Rev. Hart comes to us from Tacoma, where she served as minister for the Tahoma UU Congregation from 2017 to 2023. She earlier served as Tahoma’s Developmental Minister for three years. Prior to that, she served as interim minister for Evergreen UU Fellowship in Marysville and minister of the Richmond and Putney Unitarian Church in London, England. Linda is a lifelong UU, well-known among Pacific Northwest UU ministers, serving for the past three years on the Pacific Northwest UU Ministers Association Leadership team, and as a UUMA Good Officer, working with ministers in conflict situations. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Meadville Lombard Theological School and received her Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago and Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Maryland College.

Board Covenant – adopted July 13, 2019

As Board Members of QUUF, we will:

1. Hold in love all that we do for QUUF and the Board. Love serves to make service on the Board a spiritual experience.
2. Listen mindfully and deeply, encourage each other, work toward trusting relationship in order to transcend our individual irritations and achieve a greater result.
3. Seek consensus, honoring dissenting opinions. We will speak with one voice about Board decisions once they are made.
4. Be prepared to achieve the goals we collectively set, keeping mind the spirit of cooperation, trust and joy.
5. Resolve our conflicts in a timely manner. Forgive each other and ourselves.
6. Speak honestly and be discerning about what needs to be kept confidential.
7. Express sincere appreciation of each other.
8. Maintain a sense of humor.
9. Represent the Congregation by listening to their concerns and dreams and by acting in their best interest.
10. Be guided by the seven UU Principles.

We meet (usually) the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6pm; all interested members are welcome to attend our meetings. See the QUUF calendar for location and Zoom links.