About Joan

Rev. Joan Javier-Duval has served as Minister of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier since August 2015. In this role, Joan acts as executive director and spiritual leader of this vibrant and growing liberal, religious community.

Before responding to her call to ministry, Rev. Joan followed a call to public service as a community and political organizer and nonprofit leader. Joan organized young voters in New Mexico, fought for workers’ rights in Boston, MA, and trained progressive political leaders in Washington, DC. She also volunteered her time serving the Asian-American community as an advocate for women’s rights and immigrant and worker justice. In these contexts and through her ministerial training, she developed her passion and dedication to social and economic justice, anti-racism and anti-oppression, and creating Beloved Community.

Rev. Joan was born and raised in Chicago, IL, the daughter of immigrants from the Philippines. She is a 2003 graduate of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA and earned her Master of Divinity degree in 2012 from Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT.