AEU Weekly Update: Thursday, Oct 12, 2023

Dear Members,

This past Saturday, the Board held our first meeting of the 2023-24 Fiscal Year!

Introducing Two Newly Certified Ethical Culture Leaders & an Officiant

We are proud to announce that the Board has certified KC Slack (Washington Ethical Society) and Nori Rost (New York Society for Ethical Culture) as Ethical Culture Leaders. Both KC and Nori are dually affiliated in fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. Jessica Kruse of the Ethical Society of Mid Rivers was also certified as an Officiant. Ethical Culture Officiants are endorsed by the AEU to perform weddings, memorials, and other rituals that witness the shared rhythm of life.

KC Slack

KC has served as Senior Leader of the Washington Ethical Society since August 2022. Their work as a clergy person, chaplain, academic, and artist is grounded in embodied practice and focused on finding and building beauty into the future. 

Nori Rost 

Dr. Nori Rost representing the New York Society for Ethical Culture at a rally on the first anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.

As the full-time clergy Leader for the New York Society for Ethical Culture, it has been Nori’s honor to be a voice for justice both in the congregation and the larger community. She looks forward to continuing this important work as well as providing resources for individuals to grow ethically and spiritually in community. 

News on Apportionments

We’ve received a lot of feedback about the current apportionment formula, and we hear you. The Finance Committee has presented a three-year financial plan to reduce the AEU’s dependency on Society apportionments and grow services that support our member Societies. The plan will: 

• Maintain 22/23 apportionment with no increase in FY 23/24

• Develop a responsive, easy-to-understand formula that redirects money to Societies; a less financially stressful apportionment formula

• Reduce AEU dependency on apportionment from Societies by expanding and diversifying income sources

• Increase annual income by $48,000 by growing major donors, retaining existing donors, and re-engaging lapsed donors.

• Introduce a standard practice of Board giving ($29 per month per Board member with a 10-20% increase each year)

• Create a new, non-religious 501c3 in addition to the AEU’s religious designation that enables us to raise funds through grants for justice, art, science, climate change, and culture change initiatives 

Budgets, and finances in general, are a material reflection of an institution’s values. This new plan reflects the Board’s adoption of JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) by: 1) reducing the financial strain on our member Societies; 2) bringing in more funding to support justice-centered and equity-centered projects led by Regional Teams; and 3) and building capacity to support those in our movement who have less access to financial resources.

Featured Board Member of the Week 

Each week, we will introduce a new Board member so you can get to know them and connect with our new leadership.

Please meet Zia Durrani (she/her), the new Board Director representing the Ethical Society of Essex County.

Zia Durrani

Zia was born and raised in a non-English-speaking Muslim household in Kashmir, India. Educating girls was not a paramount agenda in that community, but her father was passionate about education. At age 14, Zia went through the upheaval of the country being divided. Then, she was sent to a boarding school — a convent run by Irish nuns — where she learned to speak English.

She took on learning English as a personal challenge and got a Master’s degree in English Literature from a university in India. After teaching for a few years in a women’s college in her hometown, Zia received a scholarship to attend a university in England. She taught for another three years, married, and lived in England for 12 years. Then, the family moved to the US with three young children. She has taught ESL (English as a Second Language) in Community Colleges in Long Island, Brooklyn, Oregon, and New Jersey. 

These days, Zia is a board trustee of a local adult school and enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with her family. She lives with her daughter, her husband, and their two teenage children, continuing the Indian tradition of multi-generational living. 

Zia lived on Long Island for 20 years without hearing about the Ethical Society, but she got acquainted with the Essex Society of Ethical Culture soon after moving to New Jersey in 2003. When she first joined, she only heard people mention the AEU regarding apportionments. Zia applied to be on the AEU Board out of curiosity and to bring her Society closer to the workings of the AEU. Now, she feels that the Essex Society of Ethical Culture is much more aware of other Societies and their programs. 

While Zia did not physically attend a multi-Society gathering except for Board retreats, she has followed several Society programs on Zoom. She is very much in favor of Societies getting together and sharing their talents.

In community, 

Khandra, Jé, Liz, and Anya

Reach us at PresidentandVP@aeu.org.