Rev. Dr. Toni Dunbar
The Rev. Dr. Toni Dunbar is a founding elder and the Pastor of Education at City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California. She holds both a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Throughout her extensive career in human services and community ministry, she has achieved several notable “firsts.” These include serving as a grant writer and principal for some of Oakland’s first African American faith-based HIV/AIDS housing and education programs, becoming San Francisco’s first professional juvenile probation chaplain, organizing an inner-city, multi-disciplinary family resource center, and becoming the first seminary intern in the Northern Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC). She was also the first Black and first female Associate Conference Minister of the Northern Nevada Conference UCC.
Today, as the founder of Imara Heritage LLC—a for-profit organization with strong nonprofit roots—she continues to serve marginalized communities by offering grant writing, community education, and consulting services.
Erin Gilmore
Erin Gilmore is the Acting Conference Minister for the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ. Prior to this role, she served as an Associate Conference Minister of the Rocky Mountain Conference from 2017-2023. In her current work she seeks to support clergy and lay leadership as they aspire to create life-giving and life-affirming spaces that embody the best of what we can be as the Body of Christ. Rev. Gilmore received A Master of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion and undergraduate degree in Mathematics from St. Olaf College. Before being called to serve in the conference, Rev. Gilmore served as a pastor of two congregations, first at Holladay United Church of Christ in Salt Lake City, UT and then at First Congregational Church, in Loveland, CO. In addition to serving in the UCC, she is also involved in a worldwide practice of Participative Leadership or the Art of Hosting, which is an approach to leadership that seeks to address the complex challenges we face by harnessing the wisdom and self-organizing capacity of human beings.
Rev. Li’avaa Moevao
Li’avaa Moevao is the Senior Pastor for the First Samoan Congregational Church in Huntington Beach, California. He is a member of the National Samoan Council of Churches serving as the Youth Director. Rev. Moevao attended Kanana Fou Theological Seminary in Pago Pago, American Samoa from 2012 to 2015, graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity. Prior to attending KFTS, Rev, Moevao worked for the Los Angeles Police Department as a Police Officer from 1988 to 2012, retiring after 24 years. Rev. Moevao also served in the United States Navy from 1978 until 1987.
Melissa Garrett-Hirsch
Melissa Garrett-Hirsch is an executive level technology leader, business organizational development professional and business owner. She has over 30 years of experience developing Information Technology strategies and delivering operational excellence within the consumer products and financial services verticals. She is the Owner and President of the UnBAR Café Inc., an independent Coffee and Wine Bar located in the Larchmere neighborhood of Cleveland, and a licensed Real Estate agent in Ohio. Ms, Garrett-Hirsch currently leads a team of Sr. Analysts at Progressive Insurance Company responsible for improving the quality of IT systems across the enterprise. Previously, Ms, Garrett-Hirsch has spent over 25 years in various senior leadership roles at Cleveland Metropolitan School District, American Greetings, and KeyCorp. She is an active member of the Shaker Area Development Corp (SHAD), Woodhill Steering Committee, National Association of University Women, and Alpha Kappa Sorority Inc., past trustee for the Shaker Heights Library Board, and Greater Cleveland YMCA. She holds a Bachelor of Management and Information Systems (Notre Dame) and a Master of Management with a concentration in Systems Thinking (Ursuline College).
Robert Fard
Robert (Bob) Fard serves as Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Retirement Housing Foundation; managing the acquisition, construction, project management, forward planning and entitlements for RHF, a recognized ministry of the UCC. His background is rooted in single-family tract, multi-family and office/retail developments. Prior to joining RHF, Mr. Fard served in an acquisitions or forward planning role for companies such as CityView (founded by former Secretary of HUD, Henry Cisneros), Red Mountain Retail Group and Young Homes. Mr. Fard holds a BA in Economics from University of California, Irvine and earned a Masters of Real Estate Development (MRED) from University of Southern California (USC). Mr. Fard also holds a real estate brokers’ license in California.
Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Dipko – Director Emeritus
Thomas E. Dipko is the retired Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries and Charter Chair and member of the Board of Directors of the Cornerstone Fund. He served as a local church pastor for 21 years and as Conference Minister of the Ohio Conference for 8 years. His specializations include ecumenical theology and liturgy, and he served as the first draft writer of the UCC Book of Worship. He holds a B.A. from Otterbein College, an M.Div. from United Theological Seminary (Dayton), and a Ph.D. from Boston University.
Norman Williams
Norman Williams retired as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Illinois-Service Federal Savings and Loan Association in April of 2016 after completing a successful recapitalization of the bank. In addition, Mr. Williams was the past Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois League of Financial Institutions and has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Bankers Association. He is the Past Chair of the Board of Trustees of Chicago Theological Seminary and served as Moderator of the 32nd General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Having served his local church as Chair of the Diaconate, Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Treasurer, he has returned to serve them again as Treasurer. He owns and operates Unity Funeral Parlors, Inc., as the second generation of a funeral service business in Chicago founded by his father. Mr. Williams is a graduate of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is married to Dr. Lynda W. Williams, an educator and professional leadership coach to school principals in the State of Illinois.
Rev. Dr. Timothy Tutt
Timothy Tutt is an ordained United Church of Christ clergyperson and a non-profit executive and consultant. He has previously served as the pastor of churches in Austin, Texas, and Bethesda, Maryland. He is a graduate of Baylor University and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond in Richmond Virginia. The Rev. Dr. Tutt also holds a Doctor of Ministry (focusing on Public Theology) from Wesley Seminary. Prior to entering seminary, he worked on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant. After seminary, he served as Protestant Chaplain at Georgetown University for a school year. He serves on various NGO boards and denominational committees.
Ms. Bee Moorhead
Bee Moorhead is the executive director of Texas Impact, a position she has held since 2000. She is also the executive director of the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Texas Impact’s sister organization. Under Bee’s leadership, Texas Impact and the Interfaith Center have earned state and national recognition for work on interfaith education and community leadership development.
Bee holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Texas LBJ School. She also holds an undergraduate degree in theatrical costume design from UT Austin, and she has studied theology and New Testament at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Bee is an adjunct faculty member at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, lecturing on faith and public policy.
Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin
The Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin, a Chicago native, currently serves as the first Executive Conference Minister of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. Before this role, he served the Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota Conferences as an Associate Conference Minister. Darrell is a member of the United Church of Christ Board, the UCC Council for Health and Human Service Ministries, and the Global Ministries Board. In his 20 years of ministerial experience, the Rev. Goodwin has served as Program Director and creator of the Pension Boards’ Faith and Personal Finance Initiative; Assistant Vice President of the Youth Department at Chicago’s Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ; Youth Pastor and Staff Minister of Mason Cathedral Church of God in Christ in Dorchester, Massachusetts; Pastoral Intern at St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Pastor and Founder of ALANA (African, Latin, Asian, and Native American) Campus Ministry at the University of Vermont, and Staff Minister at Second Advent Christian Church in Omaha. The Rev. Goodwin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Theology from Boston College; a Master of Education in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from The University of Vermont; a Master of Arts in Transforming Spirituality from Seattle University; and is currently a doctoral candidate in San Francisco Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program.