AHA Announces Election Results for Board Members

Pursuant to its charter, the American Humanist Association (AHA) held an election for eight positions on the AHA Board of Directors. All AHA members in good standing received and were notified of a ballot via email via eBallot, a third-party voting site theHumanist.com and email. Voting began on September 30thTh and closed on October 14thTh.

The board elections represent two things that are unique about the AHA: First, we put our democratic values ​​into action and give members the opportunity to help shape the direction of our organization. Second, all of our successes are possible because leaders are committed and volunteer their time to build our movement in roles like those of this election.

The term of office of the new board members begins on January 1, 2025.

The following candidates were newly elected to the board:

Evan Clark Is a humanist entrepreneur, speaker and award-winning community organizer with over 16 years of experience working with secular communities. He is currently executive director of Atheists United in Los Angeles, North American coordinator for Young Humanists International, and director for American Atheists in the state of Southern California. Evan previously served as chair of the board of the Secular Student Alliance, co-founder of the Humanist Community of Ventura County, co-host of the Humanist Experience podcast, outreach director for the James Woods for Congress campaign, and founder of Spectrum Experience LLC. As a student leader, Evan was the founder and president of the Secular Student Alliance at California Lutheran University and was also elected as the university’s first openly atheist student body president.

Ellie Haylund is an enthusiastic humanitarian and has been involved in her local chapter, HumanistsMN, for almost a decade. Since 2016, she has been a member of the board of HumanistsMN, its current president and co-chair of the marketing committee. She is passionate about making humanism widely visible, training the next generation of humanists and advocating for the separation of religion and government. Professionally, Ellie manages customer experience in the financial services industry. She enjoys live music, crafts, reading and video games. Ellie lives in Minneapolis, MN with her husband and fellow humanist Nick and their two rescue dogs, Wally and Tater Tot.

Christian Loyo is a doctoral student in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on understanding how bacteria defend themselves against predation by bacteriophages or bacterial viruses. He is passionate about making science accessible to a diverse audience, from elementary school students to his academic colleagues. Previously, Christian served as Vice President of the Secular Society of MIT (SSOMIT), where he promoted secular values ​​at MIT through invited speaker events, increased the visibility of humanism, and organized community meetings.

Luciano Joshua Gonzalez-Vega is an author and social media strategist living in Greensboro, North Carolina. They were born in Fort Liberty, raised in Latin America by a veteran and her soldier husband, and lived throughout South and Central America and the American Bible Belt. They attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and earned a bachelor’s degree in history before earning a master’s degree in peace and conflict studies from the same institution during the height of COVID-19. In their professional careers they have worked as journalists and written for magazines and publications LatinoRebels, The Humanist, The Carolinian, Patheos, OnlySky, The News and Recordand has presented at various conferences and edited a publication in American English for expatriates in Honduras known as The Honduras Report from 2013-2018. They are also professional social media strategists and have worked for various nonprofit organizations such as the American Atheist Association and the American Humanist Association. Her goal is to help publications and organizations implement smart social media strategies and help people discuss various topics related to humanism with precision, wit, and compassion.

David Orenstein is department head and full professor of anthropology at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York. He has been affiliated with the AHA for more than a decade. He has taught human evolution, primatology, history of science, and science advocacy for two decades. He is the author of three books, two of which were published by AHA’s Freethought Press. He also served as the AHA representative to the United Nations for five years and is an ordained humanist minister. He is a happy freethinker who believes that life is best lived with reason and joy for human nature.

The incumbent candidates re-elected to the Board of Directors are: Abby Hafer, Krystal Jackson and Jason Wiles.

Returning board members include: Vanessa Gomez Brake, Candace Gorham (current President), John Hooper (current Vice President) and Darin Stewart.

The AHA thanks the members of the Nominating Committee – Anthony Cruz-Pantojas (Chair), Nancy Bolt, Gayle Jordan and David Williamson – for volunteering their time to identify and vet candidates. The AHA would like to recognize Jim Palmquist and David Breeden, who also stood for election.

Thank you to everyone who voted in this election, continuing the AHA’s tradition of being the largest, national, democratic humanist organization in the United States.

Congratulations to the new and returning board members!