Eliza Blanchard is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton and Upton, Massachusetts. She began her ministry in 1996, as a part-time director of religious education at the Melrose Unitarian Universalist church. After attending several religious education conferences, she decided to explore ministry and entered divinity school. She was ordained in 2004. Before becoming a minister, Blanchard taught English at the high school and college level. She is a published poet and author of a children's story, The Paper Chain." She lives in Massachusetts with her husband Ralph.