IA Conference Committee

Each year the conference is planned and organized by the Conference Committee.  Conference Committee members serve for six years; four years as Committee members, one year as Committee Chairperson, and one year as Chairperson Emeritus.  At the end of each conference, a new member rotates on and the Emeritus member rotates off.  The Chairperson is responsible for selecting and executing the theme, including the recruitment of theme speakers.  Other Committee members take on various responsibilities, including recruiting the minister of the week, workshop leaders, and volunteers from within the conference; coordinating with Island staff to ensure a smooth week; and generally being available to attend to the needs of the conference.

Committee Members

Kathy Elefterakis (Registrar/Treasurer), Lauri Yanis, Maria Getoff, Lisa Braiterman, Nick Dembsey, Beth Miller, and Ted Trainer

Maria Getoff, 2012 Chairperson

Maria first came to Star Island in 1967 at the age of one. Her parents loved Star so much they sometimes stayed for two and three weeks, attending IA as well as the Religious Education and Institute of Religion in an Age of Science conferences.  Maria and her sister Sarah grew up through the IA Youth program and worked on the island together the summer of 1988.  After a several year hiatus during which Maria lived in Israel, attended law school, began a legal career and started a family, she returned to IA in 2003 with her daughter Molly.  Maria and Sarah worked for several years with the toddlers in the Youth Program, and in 2008 Maria organized the IA silent auction.

Maria lives in Alexandria, Virginia and works in Washington, D.C. for the National Indian Gaming Commission, a small, independent federal agency that regulates the Indian gaming industry.  She is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington in Arlington, Virginia.

Lisa Braiterman, Chairperson 2013

Lisa is the Chief Financial Officer for Brewster Academy, an independent boarding and day school. Lisa first came to IA in the 1970’s and has been coming ever since bringing along their two children, Noah and Shira.  Lisa has done a variety of jobs at IA including children’s program, Sandpiper editor, bell-ringer, morning stretch leader, guitar player and more.  Lisa is also a member of the Star Island Corporation.

Lisa, Shira and Noah live in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire on the Brewster Academy campus. Noah was a Pelican for the first time in 2009. Shira is a junior at Brewster.
When not at Star Lisa enjoys singing in the Clear Lakes Chorale, playing piano and guitar, kayaking, biking, skiing and yoga.

Ted is presently the Director of Healthy Aging at the Southern Maine Agency on Aging in Scarborough Maine.  His programs include Meals on Wheels and the Maine Senior Games.  Before coming to Maine in 2000 he spent most of the previous 35 years in international public health, employed by the UN Fund for Population Activities, UNICEF and The Rotary Foundation.  He and his family lived in Japan for six years and Pakistan for five in the period from 1977 to 1988.

Ted and Leslie live in Lyman, Maine. Their son John lives with his family in McLean, Virginia and their daughter Kirsten lives with her husband Atul in Chicago.  Ted is a member of the First Parish Unitarian-Universalist Church in Kennebunk.

Beth Miller, Chairperson 2015

Beth first came to Star Island as Beth Cox in 1975 with her daughter, Lynn Curry, and then husband, Jim Cox, at the invitation of Ellen Johnson Faye (then Nelson) to work on the Children’s Program staff.  They returned in 1976 and then took a few years off when their son, Ben Cox, was too young for the Children’s Program which was only provided for children entering Kindergarten at that time.  The family returned in 1980 and kept coming back until 1990 when divorce and relocation made Star impractical.  Beth directed the Children’s Program for five years during that period. 

During those early years Beth was active in her Unitarian Universalist congregation in Rockville, MD and began preparation for UU ministry.  She was ordained in 1990 and served UU congregations in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mentor, OH, and Carmel, CA before becoming Director of Ministry and Professional Leadership at the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2006.  Her position ended upon the new President’s reorganization at the end of June, 2010, and she is currently job searching in the greater Boston area. 

Beth returned to IA in 2004 while on sabbatical from her congregation in CA and, after moving to Boston, returned in 2008 with daughter, Lynn Curry, and grandson, Soven Curry Letendre.  She was Minister of the Week in 2009.  Beth is a member of First Church, Boston.  She spends time regularly in Florence, MA with Lynn and family.  Her son, Ben Cox, who still loves Star Island and wishes he could fit IA into his schedule, lives in Monterey, CA with his partner, Laurel Thompsen.

Lauri Yanis, Chairperson 2016

Lauri has been attending the International Affairs Conference at Star Island for most of her life, having started her love of IA as a young child. Lauri’s family was among a group of families who first attended IA in 1969 as it was the first year that the conference offered a Youth Program. That was a fitting start for her life-long connection to the conference and it’s youth. Lauri’s children, Zak and Aliza, have both been attending the conference for their whole lives. Her step-children, Rachel and Rob, were first introduced to the Island in 2006 when Lauri and her husband, Matt, chose to celebrate their honeymoon at IA! Lauri served as the Youth Program Director from 1997 – 2002, and also as a Youth Staff Member from 2007 - 2009. She enjoys her week at IA as an opportunity to relax with family and friends, new and old, in the most beautiful place she has yet to discover.
Lauri lives in Hadley, Massachusetts her husband Matt Goggin. Their four children, Rachel, Zak, Rob and Aliza are older teens and young adults who move in and out of the home. Lauri works as the Marketing and Sales Director for a small publishing company and has a passion for The 3-Day Walks for Breast Cancer.  She is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Kathy Elefterakis, Registrar and Treasurer

Kathy, husband Peter, and daughter Anne first attended IA in 1992, and have attended almost every year since.  Their favorite years were 1996 to 2000, seeing Anne working as a Pel. 
For the past twenty years, Kathy has worked providing a variety of Financial Services to many small businesses, including Boston Children’s Theatre and Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.  For five years, she worked in the Fiscal Administration Department of Beth Israel Medical Center.  She and Peter live in Dedham, MA, where they are long time members of First Church & Parish in Dedham, Unitarian Universalist.  Kathy has been active in many church committees, and is currently the Treasurer.  Anne and husband Aaron (also a former Pel) live in San Francisco.

Emily Swomley and Jessica Patton Pellegrino, Youth Program Directors

Emily Swomley, Youth Program Co-Director

Emily lives in Litchfield, CT, with her husband Bruce and three children, who are 17, 16, and 12. While her training is in education - she recently became certified to teach high school English - she currently works as a sales rep for an outdoor clothing company.   Emily has been coming to the I.A. conference at Star since 2003 and she served on the youth staff for four of those years.  Emily is a member of the Star Island Corporation.  In her free time, Emily enjoys running, gardening, and hiking. 

Jessica Patton Pellegrino, Youth Program Co-Director

Jessica is honored to guide the IAYouth Program, especially alongside Emily! This feels like a true full-circle opportunity, since Jessica grew up participating in the Youth Program from ages 7-17, has worked on its staff with various age groups, and now has the joy of her children, Michael (13) and Stellina (3), experiencing the camaraderie, exploration and traditions of Star. Jessica lives in southern coastal Connecticut with her husband Michael, their kids, a dog, a cat, 10 chickens and--speaking of full circle--her aunt, Clarise Patton, who brought her to I.A. for a special week every summer throughout her childhood. Her family attends the Unitarian Church in Westport, CT, and she also practices Vipassana (or "insight") meditation. She is a freelance editor and writer and a contributing editor for E/The Environmental Magazine, and credits Star Island and its stewards for attuning her early in life to issues of natural-resource management and conservation.

Nick Dembsey, Chair Emeritus 2011

Nick is a Professor of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

He first learned of Star Island and first attended IA 2002 based on an enthusiastic recommendation from Josh Spero, who was a conference speaker in 2001,  the conference Chairperson in  2006,  and has been a devoted conferee ever since.  Nick  has since attended IA each year, and enjoys walking the rocks and resting on the front porch of the Oceanic.  Nick has helped out with IA movies and softball.  He has provided informal and formal fire safety (Island Opened Late Committee) advice to the Star Island Corporation over the years.  He became a SIC member in 2008 and serves on the Strategic Facilities Planning Committee as well as the Safety Committee.