Congratulations to WES Member Ross Wells for winning the Anna Garlin Award from the American Ethical Union!

The Board of Trustees of the Washington Ethical Society nominated Ross Wells as the recipient of the Anna Garlin Spencer Award. Ross’s work toward the mission of WES has been consistent and longstanding, and is especially noteworthy during the pandemic years. Ross’s contributions are most noticeable with his lay leadership in WES’s immigration justice projects. He is also part of the Global Connections team, maintaining a long-term partnership with WES’s sister village of El Rodeo in El Salvador. Finally, Ross has volunteered behind the scenes on key occasions for important WES building projects.

WES’s Statement of Purpose includes the aspiration that “we work for a world where love and justice cross all borders.” Ross has certainly been at the forefront of that part of WES’s mission. Together with the Immigration Justice Team, Ross has marshalled resources for a new local nonprofit that provides food aid and other practical support to undocumented neighbors who have been otherwise left out of COVID relief programs. At Ross’s urging, WES re-installed our immigration justice banner in front of our building along 16th Street, which led to a partnership with the Latin American Youth Center as well as being an important public witness. Currently, Ross is coordinating WES’s support of local efforts to provide immediate relief to immigrants who are being forcibly transported from Texas to Washington, D.C. Ross is always on top of the latest news and calls to action from our social justice partners working on advocacy and legislation, including the Congregation Action Network.

As part of the Global Connections Team, Ross is a longstanding ambassador with our sister village of El Rodeo. The partnership with El Rodeo is a project for the whole society, yet maintaining that partnership requires initiative, invitation, and organization from Global Connections Team members like Ross. Though it was not possible for WES members to visit El Rodeo in the most difficult parts of quarantine, the Global Connections team stayed in touch. Finally, a few members were able to visit as a mini-delegation last November. WES members are poised to return with a full, multigenerational delegation on June 20, bringing goodwill, practical support for community-led projects, and a dental care clinic along with them.

Fellow members of WES may not be as aware of the ways Ross contributes to WES’s internal operations as well as outreach and public partnerships. Ross is a steadfast WES supporter. He supplied expertise and many hours of work within a short period to help install two heavy, wide-screen computer monitors in the Main Hall. These new screens have made Platform more visually accessible for people in the room, and a better participatory experience for members who are participating in Platform remotely. He shows up with a welcoming smile to WES events, and helps members to stay focused on the great possibilities still ahead for WES.

Many WES members have worked hard to keep WES going over the past several years. There have been heroic contributions in every area of community life. Even among these, Ross’s contributions stand out as a supporter for WES’s internal and external work. We heartily endorse the nomination of Ross Wells for the Anna Garlin Spencer Award.