Board President, 2022
Diane Nassif
Diane Nassif (she/her) is a retired software project manager who started out her career as a Sociology instructor and Ph.D. candidate. When she retired early from the financial services industry she made a few life changes and moved to the beautiful, and under-appreciated, North Quabbin area of Massachusetts.
There she immediately found soul-mates in the volunteer organizers who have been running the annual Garlic and Arts Festival for the past 20 years (https://garlicandarts.org/). A celebration of the bounty of the Earth and the beauty of hand-made goods, this festival is green, clean, and mission-driven.
Diane also supports the local land trust (Mount Grace), North Quabbin Energy (a network of local folks from the nine North Quabbin towns affiliated with Climate Action Now), the growing Quabbin Harvest
Food Coop that brings the harvest from local farms to the “food desert” of this impoverished area, and
the Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOFA) that is a treasure of wisdom about sustainable
farming and gardening.
Diane became a UU in 1986 at the North Parish of North Andover when she was seeking a supportive
community for her son’s religious education. She is most recently affiliated with the Unitarian church
in Petersham, MA, where she lives “way out in the woods next to the Quabbin Reservoir.” She hopes
to combine local and global wherever she goes.
Treasurer, 2022
Sheila Murphy
Sheila Murphy (she/her) has more than twenty years of experience in nonprofit management as the chief operating officer of a regional economic development agency and, later, as chief financial officer of a national education reform organization. Prior to that she worked in a wide range of industries, including a Fortune 500 company and privately held entrepreneurial ventures. She brings a long-time commitment to social justice to her work. She relates that the first time she entered a UU church was for a draft card burning at Arlington Street Church. Years later she found her way back to Unitarian Universalism and has held leadership positions in three congregations, including racial justice groups, Welcoming Congregation efforts, and social action teams. Sheila has an adult daughter and lives in Concord with her wife and their cat. She has a Buddhist practice and is a member of First Parish in Sudbury.
Board Clerk, 2022
Donna Savicki
Donna Savicki (she/her) has been a member of First Parish Church Duxbury (FPC Duxbury) and its Social Justice Committee (SJC) since the mid-80's and has served as SJC chair or co-chair a number times over the years. Donna is also a co-founder and co-convener of FPC Duxbury's Environmental Working Group and was a co-founder and co-convener of the church's Racial Justice Task Force, the work of which culminated in the church's adoption in 2018 of a resolution in support of Black Lives Matter, placement of a Black Lives Matter sign on the church's front lawn, and the creation of a Racial Justice Working Group, of which Donna is a member.
Donna retired in 2018 after a 44-year long career in administration at MIT during which she served for 36 years as Assistant Dean for Administration in the School of Engineering. A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, Donna and her late husband, Jim Savicki, moved to Duxbury in 1979. She has one son and a four year old granddaughter. Donna, who was raised as a Roman Catholic, "discovered" Unitarian Universalism while looking for a church in which to raise her son. Until the start of the pandemic, Donna and her husband served as volunteers for the Mass Bail Fund, traveling to jails across the state posting bail for people incarcerated pre-trial because they could not afford bail. She is currently a member of the South Shore Chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby, the Treasurer for Sustainable Duxbury, and a Head Start volunteer.
Board Member, 2019
Karen Martin
Karen Martin (she/her) has been a UU for most of her adult life and currently chairs the North Parish of North Andover Climate Justice Task Force. She is involved with the Merrimack Valley Interfaith group in the aftermath of the gas explosions, working toward a transition to renewable energy. Karen is politically active in making the response to climate disruption a priority in the Massachusetts legislature. Her three grown children and three grandchildren are front and center in her work for climate justice.
Board Member, 2019
John Metzger
Misuse of our planet's resources, loss of biodiversity, polluted water and air and disregard for science, epitomized by the climate crisis and other changes, all threaten the world for current and future generations and affect the most vulnerable populations the hardest. Addressing this will require far reaching changes in business decisions, personal behavior and governmental policies at local, state, national and international levels. UU Mass Action can be an important catalyst in sparking these changes in fair and just ways.
John Metzger (he/him) is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Westborough (UUCSW) and also active in Sustainable Westborough and the Massachusetts Sierra Cub energy committee.
Rev. Elizabeth ide
Rev Elizabeth Ide, our newest board member is a community minister and last served as senior minister of First Church in Salem, MA. Full Bio coming soon!