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).

KELLY DAMEROW (Board Member since January 1, 2023) is a professional and passionate advocate with a lifetime commitment to children, volunteering, and leadership. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education, as well as her Juris Doctorate with Family Law and Pro Bono Certifications, all from the University of Florida. She volunteered thousands of hours in high school, college, and law school. She served in leadership roles as Treasurer of the Young Democrats, President of the Family Law Society, Board President of Grad Cup, and Student Ambassador of Levin College of Law.

After passing the Florida Bar exam she relocated to Washington, DC where she took on a Legal Fellowship in the Appignani Humanist Legal Center at the American Humanist Society. She then worked at Secular Coalition for America, ultimately serving as Interim Executive Director for over a year. She served as a board member of the Reason Rally Coalition, and as President during the 2016 Reason Rally.

She returned to Florida where she continued her volunteerism and advocacy. Professionally, she consulted for nonprofits, until she joined the respected law firm Mario, Gunde, Peters, Rhoden, & Kelley, L.L.C. She recently opened her own firm where she provides a wide range of legal services related to family, adoption, dependency (child abuse or neglect), and domestic violence. In 2022 she will celebrate 14 years with her husband and her daughter Molly starting kindergarten.

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.

DR. ERIK M. GREGORY (Board Member since January 1, 2023) received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He completed his clinical work at the Tavistock Clinic in London, where he treated refugee children suffering from trauma. His post-doctoral studies took place at Harvard Medical School (McLean Hospital). He also received master’s degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Human Development and Psychology and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Public Leadership as a Littaeur Fellow. At the Kennedy School, he examined 21st Century models of leadership and followership and their intersections with psychology.

Dr. Gregory has served as a Fellow with the National Cancer Institute in Hawaii, a Spencer Fellow with the Spencer Foundation, and Visiting Scholar at the University of Chicago. He most recently completed an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Dr. Gregory is a leading proponent of positive psychology. In addition to being a leadership consultant and a psychotherapist in private practice, he has advised clients in government, the non-profit sector, and the world of children’s educational television.

As part of his support for the LGBTQ community, he has advised the Human Rights Campaign, Fenway Health, and the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus. Dr. Gregory is a Humanist Minister.

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 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.

JILL MARTINEZ (Board Member since January 1, 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 my 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.

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 January 1, 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.

MANDISA THOMAS (Board member since 2019, currently on a leave of absence) is a native of New York City 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 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.