Welcome to everyone visiting with us in our offices here in New York City—members of our PB staff, our Board of Trustees, the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson—and to those of you online.

First, in my new role at the Pension Boards as President and CEO, I want to give special mention to my predecessor, Brian Bodager, who passed away earlier this year, and whose deep thinking and commitment will continue to shape the foundation upon which we build and serve your needs. I hope you will have the opportunity to review our online 2024 annual report which has been dedicated to Brian’s service.

For those who perhaps don’t know me, I’ll share a little bit about myself. Prior to becoming CEO in March, I was the Chief Investment Officer here at the Pension Boards for 14 years. At the start of my career, I had relevant key investing and leadership roles over 18 years at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and JPMorgan Chase. But in-between, like many of you, I answered a different call, and made my way to Union Theological Seminary, across the street, which changed my trajectory forever (and got me here). I graduated with a Master of Divinity degree while also earning 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education as a chaplain resident. After Union, I spent 7 years at Springboard Partners in Cross Cultural Leadership, where we helped top leaders and organizations to build diverse leadership capacity in the finance, not-for-profit, and government sectors. I’m also a long-time member of Middle Collegiate Church, a United Church of Christ affiliated church in New York City, and serve on the Union board. Enough about me and back to the present. To state the obvious, our world is in serious flux, and in adapting to changes in our global economy and climate, and assaults on culture and society, we need community effort. While we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we can still work together with hope and optimism to address foundational concerns when life and ministry are on such shifting ground.

That’s why we at the Pension Boards, as your partner in ministry, continue to be dedicated to helping solve financial and health challenges affecting people of call. Today, more and more pastors, lay staff and caregivers are feeling the pressure—from managing heavy student loan debt, working multiple jobs, navigating low pastoral salaries and health insurance needs—to the struggle of planning for a secure financial future. Finding financial stability is an ongoing challenge, but we are here to help you stand on solid ground. You are worthy of peace of mind now and in the future— it’s a matter of dignity, justice, and self-care.

It is why we are committed to offering you unwavering support in accessing robust and no-cost financial education and counseling services; a solid and healthy retirement plan that provides the dignity of income security at retirement (which you can’t outlive) for your years of commitment and service to your communities; Ministerial grants to help you in times of personal challenge; and access to robust health benefits to support your mental and physical needs—all pillars needed to build a stronger foundation as you practice self-care.

Other examples over the past year where we have been working on your behalf, include:

• our partnership with the National Setting in Together for Tomorrow, a shared legacy campaign, is helping individuals, congregations, and ministries secure their legacy through planned giving and creating a legal will.
• participants in the Ministers’ Financial Vitality Initiative received low-interest loans through Generations Financial Resources, to alleviate their debt burdens. Since its inception in 2020, a total of $880,000 in loans have been issued, and re-paid loans were immediately available to other ministers in need.
• we have maintained our commitment to sustainable and values-based investing strategies that also ensure that income becomes your outcome in retirement, and we continued to increase those payments.
• Generations United Federal Credit Union onboarded initial test/pilot accounts in 2024, and is working to provide future banking services to the UCC community
• our partnership with LSS Financial Choice offers you and your immediate family access to six free confidential financial counseling sessions per year.

In 2025, we focused our attention on three key goals to guide our organization in serving you— 1) maximizing missional impact by addressing your relevant needs; 2) improving church and member relationships and trust; and 3) focusing on our internal core operations, and efficiencies.

For me, in my new role, I’ve asked our people to use the multiple lens of simplicity, compassion, impact, and transparency to guide our activities, large and small. In this way, we expect to further support our mission of faith and finance on behalf of the amazing United Church of Christ.

One more thing: You should know that despite the growing political challenges surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, the Pension Boards is committed to intentionally building diverse and inclusive teams to boost performance. This year, the Pension Boards was named a 2025 Top Workplace among New York City not-for-profits for the third consecutive year—demonstrating that inclusive workplaces foster greater employee engagement and retention.

In closing, the Pension Boards is here for each one of you. We are listening and are getting better at hearing you. We remain committed to your retirement and health outcomes and in offering you essential value-added products and services to help you find financial stability and ensure sustainability of ministry, so you can answer your God-given call with confidence.

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions. We are happy to speak with you, give you our ear, and offer both our hearts and expertise.