Our People
Over the years our cohort has built solidarity among communities across racial, religious, generational, and socioeconomic lines. The diversity of the Solidarity Cohort members and their affiliated faith communities increases our collective power to advocate for justice and equity.
Cohort participants represent over twenty different faith communities in San Mateo County, including faith communities where members are primarily White, Black, Latinx, affluent, low-income, and LGBTQ. Our cohort has included leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist, and Unitarian Universalist religious communities, as well as eight different Protestant denominations.
Cohort Planning Team
Previous planning team members include Rev. Thomas Fisher, Rev. Amie Giordano, Rabbi Marv Goodman, Rabbi Corey Hefland, Nyla Ibrahim, Jennifer Martinez, and Rev. Ben Meyers.
Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon, Co-director
Penny Nixon served as the Senior Minister of the Congregational Church of San Mateo (CCSM) from 2007–2022 and was honored with the title of Minister Emerita upon her retirement from pastoral ministry. She was the first woman to hold that position and with her leadership CCSM thrived as a vibrant, progressive spiritual community; became known for its work in social justice; received the MLK award from the county of San Mateo; and became a sanctuary church. She also served as the pastor of an LGBTQ church in San Francisco for 12 years.
A community leader and political activist, she has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work in both San Francisco and San Mateo, the most recent being named 2019 Woman of the Year for Assembly District 22. Currently, Penny works as the Faith Director with Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo and the Faith Communities Housing Liaison for the County of San Mateo. She is the founder and co-director of the Peninsula Solidarity Cohort.
Rev. Dr. Marlyn Bussey, Co-director
Rev. Dr. Marlyn Bussey has been the Pastor of St. James AME Zion Church since January 2009. She is the first female appointed to St. James since the church was erected in 1927, and previously served as the associate minister at First A.M.E. Zion Church in San Francisco. During her tenure, St. James has become known as not only a church in the community but a church of the community, meeting the needs of the North Central community, the city of San Mateo and San Mateo County with health education and services, voter education and registration, census education and registration and educational services for the children of the neighborhood.
Pastor Bussey stands proudly on the front lines of social justice as a community leader and social activist. She is the recipient of numerous awards: Heroes for Health, 2013; Everyday Heroes, 2014; The Jefferson Award in 2016 for Outstanding Public Service; and the NAACP Award for Outstanding Community Service in 2018, to name a few.
Dr. Bussey serves as the Co-Director of the Peninsula Solidarity Cohort.
Rev. Dr. Tovis Page, Program Coordinator
An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, Tovis Page currently serves the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo in a transitional capacity and has deep connections to the two other UU communities in San Mateo County as well (UU Fellowship of Redwood City and UU Coastside Community). Prior to ordination in 2023, she earned a Master’s of Arts in Social Change from Starr King School for the Ministry and completed her Clinical Pastoral Education at Stanford Hospital. Tovis has been active in interfaith circles on the Peninsula for nearly a decade. She joined the Peninsula Solidarity Cohort in 2018 and was hired in the role of Program Coordinator the following year. She is an integral member of the Planning Team.
Prior to receiving her call to Unitarian Universalist ministry, Tovis earned a Master’s of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD in Religion, Gender and Culture from Harvard University. During her time at Harvard, Tovis taught graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of theology, religion, feminist studies and environmental studies. She has a background in Vipassana meditation practice and completed a yearlong course in Buddhist chaplaincy before starting her UU training.
Rabbi Rebecca Hecht
Rabbi Rebecca Hecht (she/her) serves at Peninsula Temple Beth El (PTBE) in San Mateo, where she leads efforts in social justice, interfaith relationships, and adult engagement. Rebecca is honored to work with dynamic lay-leaders to infuse PTBE with social justice, including our annual Repro Shabbat and Justice Shabbat, voter engagement and climate work across the congregation, and partnership with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. She particularly enjoys bringing PTBE teens to Washington, D.C. for the L’Taken Social Justice Seminar.
Rebecca holds rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. In rabbinical school, she was a leader of and Mandarin interpreter for the HUC Soup Kitchen, which is guided by the prophetic call to repair the world, feed the hungry, and honor human dignity. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford University, where she directed the social justice organization Challah for Hunger. A lover of languages and travel, she has lived in the Bay Area, Boston, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Paris, Jerusalem, and Brooklyn. She is honored to join the Peninsula Solidarity Cohort planning team.
Current cohort members
| Matt Alexander | Faith in Action Bay Area | San Francisco |
| Rev. Jorge Bautista | College Heights Church (UCC) | San Mateo |
| Rabbi Julia Berg | Peninsula Temple Sholom | Burlingame |
| Rev. Marlyn Bussey | St. James AME Zion Church | San Mateo |
| Rev. Michael Cronin | Island United Community Church | Foster CIty |
| Rev. Ann Duncan | Burlingame United Methodist Church | Burlingame |
| Rev. Alvaro Duran | Congregational Church of San Mateo | San Mateo |
| Rev. Terri Echelbarger | Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo | San Mateo/Pacifica |
| Rev. Stefanie Etzbach-Dale | Unitarian Universalist Minister; Spiritual Director | San Mateo & RWC |
| Diane Fahrner | Peninsula Multifaith Coalition and the Sisters of Mercy | Burlingame |
| Rev. Brian Ferguson | UU Fellowship of Redwood City | RWC |
| Rev. Pam Gehrke | Retired UU Minister | San Mateo |
| Rev. Courtney Geibert | Messiah Lutheran Church | RWC |
| Rev. Katie Goetz | Woodside United Methodist Church | RWC |
| Rabbi Marv Goodman | Retired Rabbi | Foster City |
| Rev. Mary Graves | Trinity Presbyterian Church | San Carlos |
| Adriana Guzman | Faith in Action Bay Area | SMC |
| Rabbi Laurie Hanh-Tapper | Stanford University Office of Religious and Spiritual Life | Palo Alto |
| Krista Hanson | Social Action Committee, CCSM | San Mateo |
| Rabbi Rebecca Hecht | Peninsula Temple Beth El | San Mateo |
| Rabbi Moshe Heyn | Coastside Jewish Community | Half Moon Bay |
| Kimberly Hines | Community UMC in Half Moon Bay | Half Moon Bay |
| Pastor Sue Holland | Coastside Lutheran Church | Half Moon Bay |
| Rev. AnnaMarie Hoos | Church of the Epiphany | San Carlos |
| Patrick Horn | United Religions Affiliate/Vedanta Society | Pescadero |
| Rev. Andrea Howard-Washington | Trinity Baptist Church of San Mateo | San Mateo |
| Rev. Anna Lange Soto (“Madre Anna”) | Trinity Episcopal Church | San Jose |
| Rabbi Laurie Matzkin | Peninsula Jewish Community Center | Foster City |
| Jerry McBride | San Mateo Quaker Worship Group | San Mateo |
| Deacon Lauren McCombs | Episcopal Church of St. Matthew | San Mateo |
| Rev. Jim Mitulski | Congregational Church of Belmont | Belmont |
| Rev. Eric Metoyer | Episcopal Diocese of CA (Canon for Social Justice) | |
| Rev. Carole Moore | Trinity Baptist Church of San Mateo | San Mateo |
| Mary Ellen Morgan | Ministerial Intern, UU Fellowship RWC | RWC |
| Rev. Penny Nixon | PSC Co-director | San Mateo |
| Sister Joan Marie O’Donnell | Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Center | Burlingame |
| Rev. Tovis Page | Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo | San Mateo |
| Rev. Joshua Serrano | Holy Trinity Lutheran | San Carlos |
| Rev. Pamela Stevens | St Peter’s Episcopal and El Buen Pastor | RWC |
| Rev. Melissa Thomson | Unitarian Universalist Chaplain | RWC |
| Rev. Jessica Vacketta | Congregational Chuch of San Mateo | San Mateo |
| Rev. Evelyn Vigil | Ladera Community Church UCC | Portola Valley |
| Deacon Sina Vuna | Minister of Community Engagement, Bay District Peninsula, United Methodist Church | San Mateo |
| Rabbi Elana Zelony | Rabbi, Peninsula Temple Sinai | Foster City |
Former Cohort Members
Rev. Dr. Jorge Abdala, Rev. Henry Toryo Adams, Rev. Kristi Denham, Rev. Valerie Duecker, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Rabbi Nat Ezray, Rev. Dr. Thomas Fisher, Nani Friedman, Rev. Amie Giordano, Rabbi Ilana Goldhaber-Gordon, Rev. Rolf Hansen, Rev. Kurt Heineman, Rabbi Corey Helfand, Rev. Holly Hillman, Nyla Ibrahim, Lorena Melgarejo, Rev. Dawn Neal, Rev. Ted Pecot, Sonja Pilman, Rev. Tuhina Rasche, Rabbi Laura Rumpf, Rev. Dr. Kibbie Ruth, Rev. Thomas Skillings, Rev. Dr. Don Smith, Rev. Kaloma Smith, Rev. Iain Stanford, Samina Sundas, Msgr. John Talesfore, Rev. David Usher, Rev. Connie Winter-Eulberg
Contacts
Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon, PSC Co-Director: revgpn@gmail.com
Rev. Dr. Marlyn Bussey, PSC Co-Director: marlynbussey@gmail.com
Rev. Dr. Tovis Page, PSC Program Coordinator: peninsulasolidaritycohort@gmail.com