Leaders and Staff

Susan Rose, Ethical Culture Leader

Susan Rose was raised in the Ethical Movement attending the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture's Children's Sunday Assembly from the age of three. After graduation from Sunday School Susan remained involved with the Ethical Society. She was part of the first mother/daughter team to serve on the Board of Trustees, was an active participant in the Good Coffee House Committee, and an advisor to the youth group.

Susan was active in the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, serving as president from 1988-1990. She served on the National Board of the American Ethical Union for five years and the National Membership Committee for over ten years. Susan was certified as an Ethical Culture Leader in 1999 and has served the Ethical Movement in various capacities, including Dean of the Leadership Training Program.

Susan's training to be an Ethical Culture Leader included extensive training in Interfaith Chaplaincy and education on Advance Planning for End-of-Life issues. She is passionate about helping people think about and take action on planning for medical decision making and thinking about the end of one's life. She sees this as having a strong impact in helping people think about how they want to live their lives.

Susan is the mother of two and lives in Cambridge, MA. Susan is also the Dean of the American Ethical Union Leadership Training Program and is Leader of the Ethical Society Without Walls.

Susan also works for the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is pleased to be able to work for two organizations which actively work to make the world better.

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Bob Bhaerman, ESWoW Offline Administrator

Bob has been involved in the Ethical Movement since the early 1950s. When he was a freshman at Wilkes College in Pennsylvania, he came across a copy of Algernon Black’s monograph on religious education. Shortly after, when Bob heard Al speak at the New York society, Bob felt that he had finally found a religious home, a place where he could breathe.

Bob attended the Encampment For Citizenship at the Fieldstone School in 1955 and served for two years as an alumni representative on the EFC board. When he taught in Bloomfield, NJ, Bob was a member of the Essex County society and when he taught at Hunter College, he was a member of the New York society. Bob also taught curriculum courses and educational philosophy at the University of Delaware and the State University of New York at Oneonta.

Bob also has served in several positions in research and development. He was director of educational research for the American Federation of Teachers, a research specialist in career education at The Ohio State University, and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Before “retiring” (a term Bob detests), he served for over five years as Coordinator School-based Service-Learning in Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service. Over the years, Bob has published over 100 items: research syntheses, journal articles, book chapters, curriculum guides, position papers, and the like. Bob’s Master degree in Elementary Education is from Penn State and his Doctor of Education degree in Teacher Education is from Rutgers University.

He now lives (very near his two grandsons) in Pickerington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, where he also serves on the board of the Humanist Community of Central Ohio. In addition to working with the ESWoW, Bob also works as a consultant in service-learning research and development for a number of national and state organizations.

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Billy Dechand, ESWoW On-Line Administrator

Billy has been involved in Ethical Culture since about 2000, when he was living in Chapel Hill. There he was a member of the North Carolina Society for Ethical Culture Ad Hoc Chorus. In 2003 he moved to the Bronx, and became the Musical Director of the Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture. In 2005, he moved to St. Louis, where he is a member now.

Billy Dechand is a singer-songwriter-composer who has released several CDs, and also performs with various music ensembles.

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