Kelly (Leather) Antonson ’11

Pioneer Service Award

Kelly Antonson has embodied the University’s core values from her time at SHU to her current role as associate minister of youth, family and children at the Congregational Church of New Canaan.

As a student, Antonson was deeply involved in service initiatives including Habitat for Humanity and the Sunshine Kids mentoring program and helped to organize one of SHU’s first post-Hurricane Katrina service trips. A respected campus leader, she served on the student senate before being elected student government president, earning admiration for her ability to connect with students, faculty, and staff.

Antonson became SHU’s first Fulbright Scholar, spending time in Albania through the prestigious international program. This experience helped shape her calling to a life of ministry and service. Reflecting on her journey, Antonson said, “I had been shaped to believe that vocation isn’t about chasing opportunity for prestige or future possibility but about responding faithfully to where God is leading in the present.”

She and her husband Steve, a 2010 SHU alum, first met through a student service trip, a fitting beginning to their family and a life rooted in faith, community, and service.