United Thank Offering Leadership (2024 - 2027)
Our Board
Karin Elsen (Diocese of Colorado) serves as the UTO Board President. Karin lives in Englewood, Colorado, a Denver suburb, with her husband Ron. She is originally from Seattle and has also lived in Anchorage, Alaska. She is a retired senior paralegal at an international labor and employment law firm. She has served in many leadership and ministry roles at her church, Good Shepherd Episcopal in Centennial, and at community nonprofits. Karin has been UTO Diocesan Coordinator in Colorado since 2018. In addition to volunteering, she enjoys travel, art, and reading.
Contact: kelsen@episcopalnetworks.org
Rev. Rowan Larson (they/them)
Vice President for Grants
The Rev. Rowan Larson (Diocese of Montana) serves as the UTO Board Vice President for Grants. Rowan is the Rector of Saint James in Bozeman. Their passions in ministry include formation for all ages and theology of and for LGTBQ+ Christians. They live with their wife, Kelsey (she/her), and two cats, Bronwyn and Bleu. When not at church, Rowan can be found riding their horse Ramsey, hiking, volunteering at a therapeutic riding barn for children with disabilities, knitting, quilting, or otherwise crafting, or playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Contact: rlarson@episcopalnetworks.org
Maggie Noland (she/her)
Vice President for Finance and Archives
Maggie Noland (Diocese of Alabama) serves as the UTO Board Vice President for Finance and Archives. Maggie is from Livingston, Alabama. She has been an active Episcopalian all her life. Through the years, she has attended Sunday School, was a member of EYC, has been a long-standing member of ECW, and is a Daughter of the King. She has participated in Kairos weekends at the Aliceville Federal Prison for Women and now serves on the Kairos Advisory Board. In addition, she has attended Cursillo and Triennial. In other words, she is all into sharing love through the Episcopal Church. Her tenure with UTO began with regular participation in Ingathering Sundays and moved on to being on the Diocese of Alabama’s UTO committee. Eventually, she became the UTO Coordinator for the Diocese of Alabama. From there, she was appointed to the UTO Board for Province VII and then Province IV. She has one daughter, two granddaughters, and four great-grandchildren who are the joys of her life. She is filled with gratitude for this opportunity to serve God and The Episcopal Church.
Contact: mnoland@episcopalnetworks.org
Rev. Tracy Shaffer (she/her)
Province I Representative
The Rev. Tracy Shaffer, Deacon, (Diocese of Maine) serves as the Province I Representative on the UTO Board. Tracy has been serving the church as a parish deacon since 2021 in the Diocese of Maine, sharing her time with St. Dunstan’s in Ellsworth and three parishes on Mount Desert Island. As part of her preparation, she completed a two-year cohort learning experience with the Province One School for Deacons, graduating in December of 2020. She has a BS in Communications and a Graduate Certificate in Program Management.
She has been a local champion of UTO and its message of thankful generosity since 2015, reintroducing it to her local parish and serving for one year as the diocesan UTO coordinator shortly after. Tracy now represents Province One on the UTO board and is also serving once again as Maine’s diocesan coordinator.
Tracy has been a resident of Ellsworth since 2013. She built a retirement home in Maine after retiring from Verizon and its predecessor companies after a career of over 25 years. She decided on this area because of its proximity to family as well as to a family camp on Gouldsboro Bay.
Called to community service, Tracy remains an active Rotarian after serving as President of the Rotary Club of Ellsworth in 2018-19 and helps to lead various community organizations such as Everybody Eats! Free Community Meal and Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry of Ellsworth. She likes to dine out with friends, engage in discussion groups, and spend time at camp – a favorite part of the Maine coast for her.
Rev. Caroline Carson (she/her)
Province II Representative
The Rev. Caroline Carson (Diocese of New Jersey) serves as the Province II Representative of UTO. Caroline is honored to be the Province II Representative to the UTO Board. She is the rector of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal in Beach Haven, NJ in the Diocese of New Jersey where she is active in several committees. She previously hails from New Orleans. She is a professional conductor and a former university professor in music. Caroline is passionate about photography and cooking and is grateful for the opportunities that both nature and deliciousness afford for meditative time with the Holy Spirit. She loves coffee, travel, space, and puns. Caroline lives with her mischievous, but sweet cat Bluebell.
Contact: ccarson@episcopalnetworks.org
Mathy Milling Downing (she/her)
Province III Representative
Mathy Milling Downing (Diocese of Washington, DC) serves as the Province III Representative of UTO. Mathy resides in Laytonsville, Maryland with her husband, Andy to whom she’s been married for over 30 years. They are the parents of two adult daughters, Candace and Caroline. She is a nonpublic Title One teacher., with more than 40 years of experience working with children. Mathy has been an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olney, Maryland for 26 years, serving on the vestry, as Lay Eucharistic minister, lector, Monday Mission Society (women’s group), Parish Life Committee, and a board member of St. John’s Episcopal School and African Palms, USA. Mathy has been active as a board member of ECW, Diocese of Washington, DC., serving as the Northern Montgomery County regional representative before becoming the UTO coordinator in 2017. She became the Province III representative in 2020 and looks forward to continuing to serve the Episcopal community on provincial and national levels.
Contact: mdowning@episcopalnetworks.org
Linda Kennedy (she/her)
Province IV Representative
Linda Kennedy (Diocese of Alabama) serves as the Province IV Representative of UTO. Linda, a compliance project manager with AT&T, resides in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, John who is a pulmonary physician and Deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. They have two sons, Trey (an Episcopal Priest in PA) and Walker (a director at an online medical start-up); and two wonderful daughters-in-law, Sophie and Rachel. Linda has served in various leadership roles in the Diocese including Diocesan Council representative; ECW President and Vice-President; UTO Chair (twice); Bishop’s Guild Chair; Triennial Delegate; and CPC Chair. She is a member of the Order of the Daughters of the King; a Spiritual Director; a Level II Catechist; and has taught Sunday School for over 25 years. She is also on the Board of Episcopal Campus Ministries and the Sawyerville Day Camp Commission. She has served as Prayer Partner Coordinator for Sawyerville since 2006. She enjoys needlepoint, reading, travel, and walking.
Contact: lkennedy@episcopalnetworks.org
Cheryl Dobrzynski (she/her)
Province V Representative
Cheryl Dobrzynski (Diocese of Wisconsin) serves as the Province V Representative on the UTO Board. She is a life-long Episcopalian who was born in Idaho but grew up in Wisconsin. Cheryl currently serves as the UTO Coordinator for the recently reunified Diocese of Wisconsin after serving as the Diocesan Coordinator for the Historic Diocese of Fond du Lac since 2018. She has served in her local parish in many ways including altar guild, Vestry, and Sr. Warden. Cheryl is an EfM graduate, serves on the Commission on Ministry for the diocese, and is active in Cursillo, serving on the Secretariat two terms, and as the Rectora of Monarch #74. Cheryl serves as a delegate to diocesan convention, and as a deputy to General Convention 3 times.
Cheryl works 3rd shift as a line operator in for a plastics manufacturer and lives just outside Plymouth Wisconsin (the Cheese Capitol of the World), with her sister and two golden retrievers (Sandi and Lily), and three cats (Archie, Oreo, and Bob). She has one adult son who volunteers as a firefighter and first responder.
This is Cheryl’s first time serving on the UTO Board and she is looking forward to learning more about the work of UTO, and sharing it with others. A life lived in gratitude is really life changing!
Contact: cdobrzynski@episcopalnetworks.org
Kim Fox
(she/her)
Province VI Representative
Kim Fox (Diocese of North Dakota) serves as the Province VI Representative on the UTO Board. In 2024, she served as a member of the Deputies of Color (Native) Caucus for General Convention, as a deputy. She serves as the Missioner for Reconciliation, Creation Care, & Congregational Ministry Development in the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota and priest in charge of three congregations, two Native and one Anglo. She is a writer for Forward Day by Day and also wrote a successful UTO grant in 2022, specifically addressing environmental reparations, for St. Paul’s, White Shield, ND, as well as a successful Roanridge grant for rural ministry. She has also presented at Forma on ministry in Northwest North Dakota. Kim is a former hospice, ICU, and level 1 trauma chaplain, with four units of Clinical Pastoral Education. She is also a published poet with five books from national presses and has published poetry in Anglican Theological Review. Kim gave the 2023 annual address for Church Periodical Club.
Contact: kfox@episcopalnetworks.org
Daria Condon
(she/her)
Province VII Representative
Daria Condon (Diocese of Kansas) serves as the Province VII Representative of UTO. Daria Condon is a cradle Episcopalian. She has been an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Parsons, Kansas, for most of her life where she is serving on the altar guild, is a lector and a lay Eucharistic Visitor. She has also served on the Vestry. Daria has been on the Kansas Episcopal Church Women’s Board for many years serving in many capacities. She is currently Secretary and the UTO Representative. Daria has attended four Triennials and is looking forward to serving on the UTO Board.
Contact: dcondon@episcopalnetworks.org
Tammy Smecker-Hane (she/her)
Province VIII Representative
Tammy Smecker-Hane (she/her) (Diocese of Los Angeles) serves as the Province VIII Representative to the UTO Board. She has been the UTO Coordinator for the Diocese of Los Angeles since 2022 and an avid supporter of UTO for decades because gratitude makes you fall in love with the life you have and when you feel that then you want to share it with others. She was a Vestry/Bishop’s Committee member and Mission/Outreach Committee chairperson at Saint Michael & All Angels Church (Corona del Mar, CA) and Saint Andrew’s Church (Irvine, CA). Currently, she is the Sunday School teacher at Saint Andrew’s Church. She also serves on the board of Episcopal Church Women of Province VIII. Tammy grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA, spent over a decade as an undergraduate and graduate student at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) where she earned a Ph. D. in physics & astronomy. Tammy was an astrophysicist for over 30 years, mostly as a professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) teaching physics to biological science majors, astrophysics to physics majors, and astronomy to everyone, including the general public. She was a key member of the UCI Graduate Dean’s Council on Diversity and an Equity Advisor for the School of Physical Sciences for many years. She was also co-director of the Cal-Bridge Program, which created a bridge for women and minority students from their undergraduate years at Cal State Universities to graduate school at University of California campuses. Now in retirement, Tammy enjoys spending time reading, gardening, making art in many different ways, and enjoying life with her husband, Chris, their son, Ryan, a 1st lieutenant in the US Army, and their daughter, Caitlin, a junior at the University of Washington.
Carmen Alvarez (she/her)
Province IX Representative
Carmen Alvarez (Diocese of Honduras) serves as the Province IX Representative of the UTO Board. She is a Sunday school coordinator and teacher. She is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras but lives in Siguatepeque. She has a degree in Pedagogy and works as a principal at Saint John´s Episcopal School, Siguatepeque. She has a handsome son. She loves to read, sing, do exercises, and dance zumba. This is her second triennium on the UTO Board and she feels so grateful to be part of it.
Contact: calvarez@episcopalnetworks.org
Erin Sample-Kaltenmark (she/her)
Young Adult Member
Erin Sample-Kaltenmark (Diocese of Indianapolis) serves as an appointed Young Adult Member of the UTO Board. She hails from the exotic lands of Ohio, but currently resides in Indianapolis. She has three cats, Annebelle, Jerry, & Dave, who have been her entire world during this pandemic. Some of her hobbies include reading, crocheting, sewing, dancing, and board games. She is a recent graduate from Purdue University with a degree in human development and family studies and a minor in religious studies. She believes God has created each and every one of us uniquely, and we are called to love and cherish every individual. She feels so blessed and excited to be able to do good work with the United Thank Offering.
Contact: esample@episcopalnetworks.org
Rev. Molly Minnerath (she/her)
Young Adult Member
The Rev. Molly Minnerath (Diocese of Massachusetts) serves as an appointed young adult member to the UTO board. Molly was recently ordained a transitional deacon and, God-willing and the people-consenting, she looks forward to her priestly ordination in January 2025. Currently, she serves as a deacon in two roles: as the Curate at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, a vibrant parish North of Boston, and as a Chaplain at Hebrew Senior Life, a Jewish senior care community South of Boston. Molly loves nothing more than being outside: hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, fishing, walking around her neighborhood, she takes any opportunity to get outdoors, especially with her partner, Maryclare. She is proud to be from lake country in Minnesota and lives by her home state’s motto: “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation!” Molly is honored to be one of the newest members of UTO’s board.
Contact: mminnerath@episcopalnetworks.org
Laura Jackson
(she/her)
Appointed Member
Laura Jackson (Diocese of Chicago) serves as an Appointed Member of the UTO Board. Laura is the Executive Director of The Partner’s Path. A Leadership Coach and D.Min. candidate in Spirituality, Laura studies and writes about the spiritual lives of clergy spouses. She is the founder of Holy Ground Coaching and a coach at Province V’s Leadership Coaching Project. She has been a chaplain, crisis counselor, trauma therapist, and a spiritual director. Laura is fascinated by human flourishing and unlocking joy. She lives in Evanston, Illinois with a small dog, a middle-sized kid, and a seminary president.
Contact: ljackson@episcopalnetworks.org
United Thank Offering Staff, Consultants, and Advisors
Lorraine Candelario (she/her)
Advisor for Spanish Language Outreach and Membership Support
Lorraine Candelario (Diocese of Puerto Rico) serves as the Advisor for Spanish Language Outreach and Membership Support. She is a Eucharistic Minister and Sunday school teacher since 2003. Wanting to expand her service to the community, she obtained a Chaplain’s license in 2012. As an active member of the Episcopal Church, she continues to help support the outreach of UTO into Spanish speaking and bilingual communities while furthering her theological education in Puerto Rico. She has served in many capacities in the church both at the parish and diocesan levels including, presently, member of the PR Diocesan Standing Committee, Board of Directors, and Companion Committee. She is also the United Thanks Offering coordinator and has served at all levels in ECW and UTO. She’s married to the Rev. Deacon Luis Reyes and has two beautiful girls. While at home, Lorraine enjoys gardening, recycling, arts & crafts, playing with her Labrador (Bella), and spending time with her two grandsons. She is committed to her family, her church, and spreading gratitude in the church and the world.
Contact: lcandelario@episcopalnetworks.org
Rev. Canon Heather Melton (she/her)
Staff Officer for the United Thank Offering
Contact: hmelton@episcopalchurch.org or (917)-771-3366
Asma Lee is a digital content and design specialist working with the United Thank Offering. She graduated from the University of Baltimore with a focus in Digital Communication. From there, she served in the Episcopal Service Corp working with local churches during the pandemic to provide fresh produce in Los Angeles, CA. Since returning to the East Coast, she’s worked in digital publication, social media, and website development. She loves to draw, read, cook, and spend quality time with her family and friends.
Contact: alee@episcopalnetworks.org