Staff
Bruce F. Knotts, Director
Bruce Knotts was born and raised in California. He got his Bachelor’s Degree in History from Pepperdine University and his Master’s Degree in International Education from the Monterey Institute of International Studies; both in California. Bruce was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia. He worked for Raytheon in Saudi Arabia and on a World Bank contract in Somalia, before he joined the Department of State as a U.S. diplomat in 1984. Bruce had diplomatic assignments in Greece, Zambia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire and The Gambia, where he was Deputy Chief of Mission. While in Cote d’Ivoire, Bruce served as the Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa coving all 16 nations of West Africa from Mauritania to Nigeria, but focusing on the refugees from the conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and later in Cote d’Ivoire itself. In 2004, Bruce was elected to the Board of GLIFAA (Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies). Bruce retired from the Foreign Service in 2007 and joined the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office as its Executive Director at the beginning of 2008.
Holly Sarkissian, Envoy Outreach Coordinator
Holly, a lifelong UU, is our Envoy Outreach Coordinator. Since a young age Holly has taken on leadership roles within the UU community serving as a leader of her Youth Group and founding a UU Campus Ministry at her alma mater, Brandeis University. She also studied at the School for International Training in Cameroon and conducted research on domestic violence and the role of women in the household. A skilled community organizer with proven abilities, she has worked at the International Action Network on Small Arms at the UN, the Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, and as an organizer for the Oxfam Collegiate Click Drive.
Kamila Jacob, Youth Envoy Coordinator
Kamila Jacob graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA with a B.A. in Sociology and double minored in Spanish and African American Studies. She was born in Manhattan and raised Unitarian Universalist spending at least 1 week each summer at UU camps such as SUUSI, Sophia Fahs, and UUMAC. Kamila attended Sunday school at Community Church until joining the Coming of Age group at All Souls. As a youth she always enjoyed participating in UU activities, especially when she got to stand up and take action!
Finance and Operations
Celestine Cox, Office Manager
William Klein, Accountant
Interns
Anunay Swaroop, Human Rights, Sustainable Development, Social Media Campaign
Jacqueline Sinclair, UN programs, Human Rights
Shannon Smith, Every Child is Our Child
Waheeda Sohan, FEINICC, Climate Change, LGBT, and Social Media Guru
Cristina Velez, Women’s Initiative for Security and Peace
Hao Wang, Immigration and Race
