Our Director of Faith Development ...
Karen Gonzalez comes to us as an experienced religious educator for our faith, a retired public-school teacher for both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and a charter member of River of Grass.
Karen found Unitarian Universalism in 1990 and soon found herself as the Director of Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Lauderdale and the chair of the Florida District Religious Education Committee. Shortly after working to establish the newly formed River of Grass in 1997, she returned to the teaching profession at Silver Ridge Elementary School in Davie. Karen is excited to come home to the work her heart calls her to do, now that she is retired from public-school teaching where she worked with gifted youth and coordinated environmental youth programs.
Karen, along with her husband, Gary, raised two daughters in this powerful faith and recognizes that “it takes a village” to do so. She credits amazing teachers, youth advisors and friends at both the UUCFL and River of Grass, as well as the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute (SUUSI) for helping her to raise her daughters to become strong, independent and socially active young women. Her eldest daughter, Sarah manages her own equestrian business in Laurel, Maryland after having been the Director of Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring for 7 years. She is also raising Karen's two beautiful grandchildren! Karen's daughter, Emily, is pursuing a career in fashion while hosting a podcast in Los Angeles.
Karen recently served our faith as a member of The Board of Trustees for our Southeastern Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute (SUUSI) and currently serves as the Vice-President of the Southeast Liberal Religious Educators Association (SE LREDA).
If you have any questions about our Faith Development program,
Karen can be reached at religiouseducator@riverofgrassuu.org.