Over forty members from eleven countries took time to attend our annual meeting in June. That was a great showing for a business meeting. Thank you to each and every one of you who attended and with your attendance expressed your interest in our organization. Annual business meetings are just dry business with reports and elections, aren’t they? Well, this one wasn’t!
First, we heard from Reverend Rosemary Newberry who shared with us why she became a sustaining member in our organization. She attended our fourth convocation last year and realized “how much immense good was being done” by us through our members. And even though she currently doesn’t have the time to become an active volunteer, she supports us with a monthly donation so we can continue the good work we are doing. Reverend Rosemary summarized it well when she said our organization needs members with time to do the work, talent to do it well, and money to work on our goal of connecting women to advance women’s leadership and self-determination.
After electing five new Board members and a new member of the Nominating committee, we spent most of our time together hearing from the many volunteers who make ICUUW what it is:
Renee Hills in Australia is leading our Member Engagement Team. Allison Balogh in Greece reported on the team’s efforts to strengthen our organization by providing more opportunities for all to get to know each other and to learn how they can become active volunteers. Since we started our membership program less than five years ago, our membership has almost doubled. And a great event in July, hosted by the member engagement team, was so successful that they are working on another one for October.
Reverend Denise Tracy and Julie Steinbach, co-chairs of our Outreach Committee, provided an update on the Share-the-Plate program they developed a few years ago. In 2024-2025, 28 congregations shared their Sunday collections with us. In addition, women’s groups in congregations held special events to raise funds to support our global organization. It is good to be connected locally and globally! We appreciate the support. Each time we receive a donation, we are reminded how important our work is to many of us.
Reverend Carol Huston chairs our United Nations (UN) Advocacy Committee. In March, members were involved in the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women. Parallel to the official meetings, the committee hosted a Spring Seminar in New York where participants learned about the role of the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals, and how women’s rights are addressed in various UN forums. Over twenty women from eight countries found their way to New York to be together and learn from each other.
Peg Swain and Karen Kortsch co-chaired the Programs & Partnerships Committee. They reported on the Navchetna program that our member Elgiva Shullai is leading together with her sisters in the women’s organization of the Unitarian Universalist of Northeast India. The committee organized an annual gathering in December to recognize Human Rights Day that was well received, and the committee also had a taskforce working on the renewal of the strategic plan for our organization. Of course, the biggest program of the last year was our fourth convocation in Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca, Romania in September. But you probably know all about that already, and if you don’t, do see the video on our YouTube channel or read the wonderful reports available on our website. We closed the convocation with a Declaration of Peace, and we committed ourselves personally and organizationally to work towards peace. There is much to do!
Karen Kortsch, chair of the Communications Committee and interim Executive Director, shared that we have hosted over 100 online gatherings since we started them in early 2020. These gatherings have reached over 200 unique participants; some participants have become regulars! In these gatherings, women get together and share insights on a big variety of topics. We don’t need to think alike to love alike. It’s always fascinating to hear from each other, especially when we live in various cultures with vast differences.
If you want to read more about the work we did last year, read our 2025 ICUUW Annual Report.