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 November 1, 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 November 1, 2021) 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 January 1, 2021) is a biologist, educator, writer, public speaker, and professional debunker. She 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 Committee; a board member of The Institute for Humanist Studies, and a trustee of the UU Church of the Larger Fellowship. 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, where he is chair of the development committee. He and his wife, Dr. Gail M. Pesyna, a retired foundation executive, now live in Pittsburgh, PA.

JENNIFER KALMANSON (Board Member since 2011) is the President of the Institute for Humanist Studies. She serves as the AHA Board Liaison to the Humanist Foundation. After 16 years of providing space system engineering support to the Hubble Space Telescope servicing Mission 4, the Dawn mission to the asteroid belt, and solar sail designs, she decided that the sailing life suited her better, so she sold her home and moved aboard her sailboat. Now she writes science fiction and has taken up gem cutting, metalworking, and jewelry making.

HOWARD KATZ (Board Member since 2011) has been a Humanist Celebrant for over seven years. Howard has been active with the Americans Civil Liberties Union and was awarded the ACLU of Illinois’ Volunteer of the Year award. He’s a former officer of Illinois National Organization for Women (NOW), board member of the local Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and board member of the Humanists of West Suburban Chicagoland. He’s held multiple public offices and is currently parliamentarian of his County Democratic organization and holds the elected office of Township Clerk. He’s been a member of the AHA for over 30 years after being introduced to humanism in his 20s.

DR. JUHEM NAVARRO-RIVERA (Board Member since 2019) is one of the leading scholars at the intersection of race, religion, and politics in the United States. Born in Puerto Rico, Navarro-Rivera holds degrees in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico (B.A.) and the University of Connecticut (M.A., Ph.D.).

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.

CHRISTINE SHELLSKA (Board Member since 2015) is the Secretary of the American Humanist Association. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Communication, Media, and Film, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Calgary, Canada. Her research involves studying the strategies employed by the Intelligent Design Creationism movement, and her areas of focus include history, philosophy and sociology of science, Actor Network Theory, and rhetoric. Christine is past President and current Director for Atheist Alliance International, and a regular co-host on the Calgary-based Legion of Reason podcast. She has delivered presentations at local venues (including guest lectures and debates), as well as at prominent conferences in Canada and the US, on various topics of interest to humanists and secularists.

MANDISA THOMAS (Board Member since 2019) a native of New York City, is the Vice President of the American Humanist Association and the founder and President of Black Nonbelievers, Inc. Although never formally indoctrinated into belief, Mandisa was heavily exposed to Christianity, Black Nationalism, and Islam. As a child she loved reading, and enjoyed various tales of Gods from different cultures, including Greek and Ghanaian. “Through reading these stories and being taught about other cultures at an early age, I quickly noticed that there were similarities and differences between those deities and the God of the Christian Bible. I couldn’t help but wonder what made this God so special that he warrants such prevalence today.” she recalls.

Mandisa has many media appearances to her credit, including CBS Sunday Morning, CNN.com, and Playboy, The Humanist, and JET magazines. She has been a guest on podcasts such as The Humanist Hour and Ask an Atheist, as well as the documentaries Contradiction and My Week in Atheism. Mandisa currently serves on the Board for American Atheists and previously for Foundation Beyond Belief, the 2016 Reason Rally Coalition, and the Secular Coalition for America. She is also an active speaker and has presented at conferences/conventions for the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Secular Student Alliance, and many others.

Mandisa was the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association’s 2018 Person of the Year, the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Freethought Heroine for 2019, and the Secular Student Alliance’s 2019 Backbone Award winner.

As the president of Black Nonbelievers, Inc., Mandisa works to encourage more Blacks to come out and stand strong with their nonbelief in the face of such strong religious overtones.

“The more we make our presence known, the better our chances of working together to turn around some of the disparities we face. We are NOT alone.”

DR. JASON WILES (Board Member since January 1, 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.