Nominating Committee Announces Leadership Slate
The Nominating Committee announced its candidates for leadership positions for the 2022-23 church year, to be voted on at the annual meeting May 25. Jen Vandiver is the nominee for vice president of Program Council, succeeding Nick Hart, who will be the candidate for president. Anne Kelly is the nominee for Parish Board vice-chair, replacing Trapper Markelz, who steps down after serving two two-year terms. Kathy Blake will be nominated for secretary of Program Council, succeeding Ann Shildneck, who served for three years. New Action Team Reps will be Jim Herzig for Pastoral Care and Margot Tracy for Religious Education.
Jen Vandiver married into a Follen family and has been a member for the last eight years along with husband Ben and children Ian and Sierra. From being a player on the Follen Angels softball team and singing in choir, to selling Christmas trees and volunteering at the East Village Fair, Jen enjoys being an active participant in the Follen community in addition to her career as a director of product development for a small pharmaceutical and medical device company. She has lent her energy and organizational strengths to running the Follen Auction and most recently as the Parish Board representative on the Music Program Steering Committee.
Anne Kelly is the Vice President of Government Relations at Ceres, a non-profit sustainability organization that mobilizes investor and business leadership to build a more sustainable global economy. Anne also directs Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP), a coalition of 80 leading companies including advocating for meaningful climate and energy policy at the state and federal levels. She directs a team of 20 advocates and is actively engaged on Capitol Hill on behalf of Ceres. Anne is an environmental lawyer with 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors. She is a fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers and serves on the board of trustees for the Waldorf School of Lexington and the Environmental League of Massachusetts. Anne lives in Lexington and is married to Paul Cotran. They have three grown children, Emma, Henrik and Oliver and one granddaughter, Mia. A 19-year member, Anne is completing a three-year term as at-large Rep on Parish Board. She worked alongside Maggie Herzig to facilitate the congregational dialogue around the departure of Laurie Auffant. Anne has taught RE in several grades, served as an operetta volunteer and lectured on climate action for Follen’s adult education series.