ROBERT BOSTON

Boston is the author of four books: Close Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics (Prometheus Books, 2000); The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition (Prometheus Books, 1996); Why the Religious Right Is Wrong About Separation of Church and State (Prometheus Books, 1993; second edition, 2003 and ​Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give The Right To Tell Other People What To Do ​(Prometheus Books, 2014).

VANESSA GOMEZ BRAKE (Board Member since 2021) is the Associate Dean of Religious & Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. She is the first humanist chaplain to serve in this capacity at any American university. In her role, she works to support and promote university religious and spiritual life broadly conceived, and helps oversee more than 90 student religious groups and 50 religious directors on campus. She also serves as an advisor to the USC Interfaith Council and the Secular Student Fellowship.

Previously, Vanessa worked at Stanford University’s Office for Religious Life, where she led campus programming and worked closely with student-led religious groups. At Stanford, she oversaw all programs at the historic Stanford Memorial Church and CIRCLE: Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning, and Experiences, and played a supporting role at the Windhover Contemplative Center.

As an accomplished Filipino folk dancer and multi-instrumentalist, Vanessa has performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall for Filipino American History Month celebrations. Her folk artistry is an extension of her interfaith work, as her performances showcase the diverse traditions, rituals, and beliefs of Muslim, Christian, and indigenous peoples of the Philippines.

CANDACE GORHAM (Board Member since 2021) is the Vice President of the American Humanist Association. Candace is a licensed mental health counselor and author of “The Ebony Exodus Project: Why Some Black Women are Walking Out on Religion–and Others Should too” and “On Death, Dying, and Disbelief.” She is a former ordained minister turned atheist activist, researcher, and writer on issues related to religion, secular social justice, and the African-American community. She is also a member of the Secular Therapist Project, The Clergy Project, and the Secular Student Alliance Speaker’s Bureau.

ABBY HAFER (Board Member since 2021) is the Secretary of the American Humanist Association. She is a biologist, educator, writer, public speaker, and professional debunker. Dr. Hafer has a doctorate in zoology from Oxford University and teaches human anatomy and physiology at Curry College. Her written works include the books The Not-So-Intelligent Designer, and Darwin’s Apostles; numerous book chapters, and articles. She debunks both the gender binary and Creationism/Intelligent Design using humor and bullet-proof science.

Dr. Hafer is also the co-author of Bill H.471, a bill in the Massachusetts legislature which requires that all science taught in public schools be based on peer-reviewed science. She hopes that someday, reality-based public science education will be thus protected all over the country.

JOHN HOOPER, Ph.D. is the Treasurer of the American Humanist Association. Dr. Hooper is a retired scientist and research director, having pursued a career in molecular imaging and spectroscopy. Hooper has held local and national leadership positions in organizations involving naturalism, Humanism, and Unitarian Universalist social action. He is treasurer of the American Humanist Association Board of Directors and chair of the board’s Budget and Strategic Planning Committees; a board member of The Institute for Humanist Studies; a trustee of the Humanist Foundation; and coordinator of the Chautauqua Humanism Initiative. He previously served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association (HUUmanists.org) and president of the Secular Coalition for America Education Fund. John is a founding member of both the Humanists and Freethinkers of Fairfield County (CT) and the Pittsburgh (PA) Freethought Community. He and his wife, Dr. Gail M. Pesyna, a retired foundation executive, now live in Pittsburgh, PA.

KRYSTAL JACKSON (Board Member since 2023) is a cybersecurity specialist at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency where she works to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure. Previously, she has worked on cybersecurity, AI, data ethics, and technology policy research for various think tanks, government agencies, advocacy groups, and universities.

Her humanist journey started in college, where she served on the executive team, including as president her senior year, of Carnegie Mellon University’s student group the Human League. In this role, she brought prominent humanist speakers to campus, engaged the secular student body, organized community service work, and led weekly discussion groups. During this time Krystal received a Secular Student Alliance scholarship for her activism and social justice efforts as a leader of this group. Krystal is passionate about interfaith work as well and was active in bringing the principles of Interfaith America (formerly Interfaith Youth Core) to her campus by working with administrators on interfaith strategic plans and additionally was involved with the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network. Krystal received the inaugural Americans United Youth Organizing Fellowship, enabling young people to advocate for the separation of church and state and promote inclusive religious freedoms. She also served on the board of directors of two of her city’s local secular groups, the Pittsburgh chapter of Sunday Assembly, and on the board chairing the activism committee of the Pittsburgh Freethought Community. In all her roles Krystal has been excited to promote humanist values, build community, and make secular spaces inclusive, vibrant, and welcoming for all people to be involved in.

JILL MARTINEZ (Board Member since 2023), as a humanist and in the rest of her life, has always lived outside the borders of “normal.” She was born and has since lived with Autism Spectrum Disorder, chronic pain, and chronic illness that wasn’t diagnosed until she was in her 40s. In her quest to fit in to our society she has delved deeply into as many world views as she could find, including religions and spiritual paths. None of them resonated with her, but she learned much from the exploration.

In early adulthood, Martinez focused on her family including homeschooling her children until they both started college at 13 years old. The next phase of her life was spent in higher education when she obtained a double BA in Human Development and Environmental Studies, MA in Sustainable Communities, MEd in Career and Technical Education, and Graduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Disability Policy and Practice. She served as a professor teaching primarily social sciences and environmental studies for 2 years before starting a Job/Career Development practice contracting with the State of New Mexico’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and Commission for the Blind. At this time she also became a Humanist Celebrant and integrated trauma-informed care and peer support work into her practices.

JIM PALMQUIST (Board Member since 2023) has had a domestic/international management career in four industries. He also served as an Adjunct Professor in Marketing at Temple University Graduate School of Business and the University of West Florida, as an Instructor at Penn State University and as Executive-in-Residence at the University of Tennessee twice. His other teaching experience includes culture change educating in the quality improvement movement, spreading facilitation skills to advance corporate profitability and dozens of adult programs in the community. Jim served on the Board of Directors of a Health Maintenance Organization for 11 years. He holds a Commercial Pilots License and Instrument Rating in fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, and flew off Navy aircraft carriers as a rescue helicopter pilot. He was the State President of AARP Pennsylvania for five years and has been recognized for his leadership work by American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. Jim is a Board member of Lehigh Valley Humanists. Jim was arrested for civil disobedience in Cleveland, protesting the United Methodist Church stand against marriage equality and gay ordination and serves on a nonprofit board in that cause, Affirmation United Methodist. Jim has done 84 lobbing sessions with Congressional and legislative office holders and continues to lobby often. Jim has traveled to 29 countries on six continents and enjoys international travel. He has been a Humanist since 2013. He lives with his wife in the Lehigh Valley, has three adult children and five grandchildren.

SUNIL PANIKKATH (Board Member since 2017) is the President of the American Humanist Association. He is a financial economist by background and has worked at the intersection of financial services and technology for more than twenty years in leadership roles managing teams and being responsible for achieving critical goals.

Sunil has been a nonbeliever his entire adult life and his humanism stems from the idea that a society that is best for individuals and for humanity operates within a strong ethical framework, but without that framework being based on supernatural beliefs. He has been a member and supporter of the AHA since the last millennium. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Humanist Foundation, the endowment fund for the AHA. He has been on the AHA Board since 2017 and President since 2019.

Sunil holds a Ph.D. in finance from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Technology in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Sunil is a New Yorker who has lived in the city for more than twenty years.

DARIN STEWART (Board Member since 2023) is a research analyst, writer and lecturer studying online environments, knowledge sharing, and disinformation. He advises a wide range of public and private institutions on knowledge and information management. Throughout his career, Stewart has served in leadership roles for a variety of organizations ranging from internet startups to major universities. He holds a doctorate in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and has taught applied information management for the University of Oregon for many years.

Dr. Stewart is a Humanist Celebrant endorsed by the Humanist Society and serves humanists throughout the Pacific Northwest. Stewart is also the founder of Parents Defending Schools and Libraries, an advocacy group organizing parents and students to push back against book bans and educational gag orders. He lives with his family near Portland, Oregon.

Born to atheist parents, VALERIE WHITE (Board Member since 2023) never had a belief in a deity to lose. She discovered the Unitarian Universalists in the early sixties. She was the plaintiff in a church-state separation case in 1987 and was accordingly named the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s Freethinker of the Year for 1988 and served on their board. Her mother introduced her to the American Humanist Association, and Valerie previously served on the AHA board under Edd Doerr in the nineties and was also president of the Humanist Society. The Vermont chapter of the ACLU made her their president for three terms. She wrote a regular column for the Secular Organizations for Sobriety newsletter. She has served on a number of boards for various UU organizations and is now in her fourth term as president of her local UU congregation. She practiced law in Vermont before her retirement.

DR. JASON WILES (Board Member since 2021) is a biology professor at Syracuse University. He also has courtesy appointments in the Department of Science Teaching and the Department of Earth Sciences. His research focuses on student understanding of and attitudes toward evolution and climate change, as well as on expanding equity for and diversity among students pursuing careers in biology and other STEM disciplines. Wiles holds graduate degrees and certificates in Biology, Earth Sciences, Science Education, and Religion. He is endorsed as a Humanist Celebrant and Chaplain by the Humanist Society, and he served as principal author of the Humanist Clergy Letter in support of the teaching of evolution in public schools. An elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Wiles has earned numerous awards for university-level science education and research including the Evolution Education Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers. Wiles currently serves as president of the Association of College and University Biology Educators. Jason lives in Syracuse, New York with his spouse Sarah Hall, who is an epigenetic scientist, and daughter Chloe who will begin kindergarten in Fall, 2020.