Eyes on the Board – Youth Observer 2015

Posted by jennicadavishockett // September 12th 2014 // Stories and Voices // 2 comments

SOMEONE

TO

WATCH

OVER

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You’d have to be pretty brave to run for the highest youth leadership position available in the Unitarian Universalist Association. And even braver to accept the position, knowing your first task will be to travel alone to Boston and walk into a boardroom with these faces greeting you.

(Note: While maybe not reflected by this mugshot, President Rev. Peter Morales, Moderator Jim Key and Treasurer Tim Brennan are really nice fellas.)

But that’s just what Benji Janapol did. Benji is a high school senior from the Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church just north of Seattle, WA. As Youth Observer to the UUA Board of Trustees, she hopes her position will show youth that they have a voice in our movement. Benji wants to help youth, “see that they are the direction and life of Unitarian Universalism and that they can make a difference.”

The Youth Observer is a one-year position on the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees (BOT), elected each spring by congregational youth groups across the country. While the YO does not vote, they share all the other responsibilities of the trustees.

In the upcoming year, the new Youth Observer will have participate in BOT discussion on issues including transforming General Assembly, Emerging Congregations and Inclusion.

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