Senior Associate for Volunteer Placements
djones@uucsj.org
617-301-4393
Senior Associate For Immersion-Learning Programs
gcollignon@uucsj.org
617-301-4305
Coordinator for Congregational Activism
Senior Associate for Justice Education
akelly@uucsj.org
617-301-4381
Before joining the staff of UUCSJ in 2012, Rev. Kathleen McTigue (she/her/hers) served for 25 years as a UU parish minister, including 21 years as senior minister to the Unitarian Society of New Haven, Conn. A core part of her ministries has been public advocacy and faith-based organizing for marriage equality, immigrant rights, economic justice, and peace. Her previous experience also includes multiple roles with Witness for Peace and a yearlong economic study in Tanzania. McTigue earned a master of divinity degree from Starr King School for Ministry and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University.
Rev. McTigue may be contacted at kmctigue@uucsj.org and 617-301-4362.
Deva Jones (she/her/hers) is responsible for developing and supporting a portfolio of volunteer opportunities, including summer internships, skilled volunteer placements, and service learning opportunities for youth and adults. As Senior Associate for Service Learning and Volunteer Placements, she will also refine and strengthen the learning framework of resources that is designed to deepen participants understanding of the systemic injustices confronted by the partner institutions with which UUCSJ works.
Throughout Jones’ professional career, she has supported and advocated for individuals and communities striving to bring about positive change to their communities. Prior to joining UUCSJ, Jones served as the Fellowship and Youth Engagement Program Director at Peace First, an organization investing in young people around the world by providing the skills and resources they need to solve the problems that matter most to them. She also worked at KaBOOM! in Washington D.C. managing their community playground construction grant program, and at Echoing Green in New York, promoting their Fellowship program and supporting social entrepreneurs worldwide. Jones has a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Maryland and degrees in Spanish Language Culture and Foreign Affairs from The University of Virginia.
Jones may be contacted at djones@uucsj.org and 617-301-4393
Gina Collignon (she/her/hers) is responsible for planning, developing, and supporting the UU College of Social Justice’s experiential learning programs. As the Senior Associate for Immersion Learning Programs, Collignon designs travel programs that connect participants to activists and change-makers in new environments so that participants can leave inspired to join related social justice campaigns in their home communities.
Over the last decade, Collignon has worked to understand how experiential education and facilitated travel experiences can most effectively be used to empower individuals and communities to deeply engage with spirituality, justice, and self-development. Prior to joining UUCSJ, she spent several years leading U.S. teenagers on experiential and service-learning programs in South America with Where There Be Dragons. She was the inaugural on-site director for the Princeton Bridge Year Program (a nine-month service gap year program for rising Princeton freshmen) in Bolivia. She has also served with the Peace Corps for three years in Bolivia and Ecuador, as well as worked with Americorps in Montana as a crew leader with the Montana Conservation Corps.
Collignon’s love of community and interconnection first manifested as a deep desire to understand our natural world. She has a Bachelors degree in Biology from Reed College and a joint Masters in Environment and Resources and Agronomy from the University of Wisconsin—Madison
Collignon may be contacted at gcollignon@uucsj.org and 617-301-4305
Heather Vickery (she/her/hers) is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with UU Congregations, State Action Networks, past program participants and Regional Staff in order to expand engagement in UUSC and UUCSJ’s work. As the Coordinator for Congregational Activism, she manages the workshop offerings and group visits to the UUSC/UUCSJ office and assists with the communications for the Activism and Justice Education Team.
Vickery is the President of the Board of the First Parish in Malden, Universalist and is an active member of the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network.
Vickery may be contacted at hvickery@uucsj.org and 617-301-4303
As senior associate for justice education at the UU College of Social Justice, Angela Kelly (she/her/hers) facilitates leadership development for people seeking to be more effective activists through strengthening existing justice education programs and creating new training tools and opportunities, particularly for youth and young adults.
Kelly has worked with a range of grassroots and nonprofit initiatives related to peace, community development, youth empowerment, and social, racial and gender justice, and has facilitated workshops on community organizing, civic engagement, health equity, and service-learning. Prior to joining UUCSJ, she most recently served as the director of resident leadership & services in a community action program in Boston’s Dudley Square neighborhood and on the faculty and steering committee of the Mel King Institute for Community Building.
Kelly’s journey has also included peace and human rights delegations to Asia and the Middle East, involvement with women’s health organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and with refugee solidarity efforts at the borders of Greece. She has a BA in public & community service studies; a graduate certificate in women, politics & public policy; and an MS in mental health counseling, with a focus on trauma, injustice, and empowerment.
Kelly may be contacted at akelly@uucsj.org and 617-301-4381