{"id":27522,"date":"2026-08-31T15:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?p=27522"},"modified":"2026-08-31T15:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:52:00","slug":"announcing-the-lavona-grow-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/announcing-the-lavona-grow-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing the Lavona Grow Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-27523 \" src=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lavona1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"685\" height=\"303\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Carrying Forward a Legacy of Courageous UU Advocacy<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) is honored to announce the launch of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.salsalabs.org\/lavona-grow-fund\"><b>Lavona Grow Fund<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a new initiative created to carry forward the bold, values-rooted advocacy that defined Lavona Grow\u2019s life and leadership. Lavona passed away in January 2026, and this fund reflects our commitment to keeping her spirit of grounded, justice-driven leadership shaping UUSJ\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lavona\u2014co-founder of UUSJ, longtime Board Chair, and architect of our Capitol Hill Advocacy Corps\u2014brought uncommon clarity, curiosity, and moral courage to every facet of her work. Her decades of public service included leadership at Common Cause of Indiana, government relations work at George Washington University, federal service at the U.S. Department of Education, and a pivotal role as a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Capitol Hill Lobby Corps, where she volunteered as a lobbyist beginning in 1986. She was a strategic force behind national UU advocacy efforts, shaping programs like our <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Write Here! Write Now!<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> letter-writing campaign and elevating UU voices on issues of climate, immigration, democracy, and economic justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lavona Grow Fund strengthens UUSJ\u2019s capacity to do what Lavona modeled so powerfully:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build national advocacy coalitions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Train and equip UU advocates across the country<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advance environmental and economic justice<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Support strategic initiatives that grow the UU justice ecosystem\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This fund reflects Lavona\u2019s belief that advocacy is both a moral calling and a teachable skill\u2014and that UUs can and must show up with courage, competence, and compassion in moments of national consequence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we launch this fund, we honor Lavona\u2019s memory by investing in the future she envisioned: a vibrant, prepared, values-driven corps of UU advocates making meaningful progress at the federal and state levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We invite you to join us in celebrating Lavona\u2019s legacy and supporting the work that will continue in her name.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.salsalabs.org\/lavona-grow-fund\"><b>The Lavona Grow Fund: Because her spirit of bold, grounded justice must remain part of our future.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Carrying Forward a Legacy of Courageous UU Advocacy &nbsp; Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) is honored to announce the launch of the Lavona Grow Fund, a new initiative created to carry forward the bold, values-rooted advocacy that defined Lavona Grow\u2019s life and leadership. Lavona passed away in January 2026, and this fund reflects &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/announcing-the-lavona-grow-fund\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Announcing the Lavona Grow Fund<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,1967],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-organizing","category-enews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27522"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27527,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27522\/revisions\/27527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}