Who’s Running This Show, Anyway?

Secular Woman takes a snapshot of the gender makeup of the leaders of the organizations in the movement and discusses the changes since the last snapshot (2014) as well as the implications of the numbers.

6 p.m. – 7 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Monette Richards is the president of CFI-Northeast Ohio and of Secular Woman. She’s one of the co-founders of Secular Women Work. She describes herself as a “nobody” activist and gets a lot of work done from the cheap seats.

Sam Farooqui immigrated to Florida from Pakistan when she was 7 years old, and found herself to be an atheist by 14. She went on to have a B.S. in Psychology from Florida State University, where she organized the first ever Southeast Secular Student Regional Conference as one of the founding officers of the Secular Student Alliance at FSU. She is greatly interested in social institutions and systems, how they come to be, and how they affect people’s lives. Sam serves on the board of Secular Woman.

Valerie Aurora is a writer, programmer, and feminist activist. She is principal consultant at Frame Shift Consulting, a diversity and inclusion consultancy. She was a co-founder and former Executive Director of the Ada Initiative, a non-profit to promote women in open technology and culture, and also a co-founder of Double Union, a feminist makerspace in San Francisco (notice a trend?). She was a Linux kernel developer specializing in file systems for about a decade. Her Wikipedia bio is occasionally correct. She also writes, speaks, and generally makes trouble.

Who’s Running This Show, Anyway?
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The Trans Podcaster Visibility Initiative

Founded in 2017 by Marissa McCool and Callie Wright, the Trans Podcaster Visibility Initiative is a media network of transgender podcasters whose mission is to donate and platform equipment and visibility to new voices in the movement. In this panel discussion, find out how the initiative came to be, what it does, and why trans visibility is podcasting is so important.

5 p.m. – 6 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Callie Wright is an activist, speaker, and host of The Gaytheist Manifesto, which explores the intersection of the atheist movement and the LGBTQ rights movement. Callie came out as a transgender woman in the summer of 2013, and her mission is to be a voice for the LGBTQ community in the atheist movement, and a voice for secularism in the LGBTQ community.

Marissa Alexa McCool is a podcaster, author, performer, speaker, ​and an LGBT rights/atheist activist. She’s a trans woman, married, partnered, and a parent. She’s the author of five books, including most recently Passing Cars: The Internal Monologue of a Neurodivergent Trans Girl. In February 2016, before she came out, she started the Inciting Incident Podcast. She also started a podcast with co-host of The Gaytheist Manifesto, Ari Stillman, called The Cis Are Getting Out of Hand, which is a trans-specific show using humor and skits to talk about issues that the trans community faces specifically for a trans audience, as opposed to having to do 101 and define and explain everything.

Trav Mamone is a bisexual genderqueer (they/them) writer based in Maryland who focuses on the intersections of social justice and secular humanism. They blog at Bi Any Means and also host the “Bi Any Means” podcast and co-host the “Biskeptical” podcast.

The Trans Podcaster Visibility Initiative

Activist Burnout: Prevention and Treatment

One of the most important keys to the success of the atheist movement is keeping activists engaged for the long haul. But the most inspired and motivated activists are often the ones most likely to eventually burn out. What are some practical strategies for preventing burnout — and for managing it when it happens? And how can activists support each other in not burning out?

4 p.m. – 5 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Greta Christina has been writing professionally since 1989, and has been writing about atheism since 2005. She is author of several books, including “The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life,” “Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God,” “Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, and “Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless.” She blogs at Greta Christina’s Blog, at The Orbit, and is on both Facebook and Twitter.

In 2011, Bridgett Crutchfield founded Minority Atheists of MI, and founded Detroit affiliate of Black Nonbelievers in 2013. In 2016, she spearheaded a GoFundMe campaign which raised $7,000 for Flint, MI residents. Bridgett and collaborators then delivered water and baby wipes to Planned Parenthood of Flint, in addition to donating remaining minutes to Genesee County Flint Water Fund. Bridgett has a heart for newly identified Atheists, those who’ve been hurt within the secular community, and assisting those who are interested in forming alliances with the African American community.

Activist Burnout: Prevention and Treatment

Ace/Aro Atheists

This is an open-ended panel discussion with asexual and/or aromantic spectrum individuals who will discuss their personal experiences and how they intersect with their atheism/secularism. We’ll explore issues facing aces and aros today, including the question of how to move beyond just awareness, and what it means to be have an identity that is commonly defined by a negative.

2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Siggy blogs at A Trivial Knot on FTB, and The Asexual Agenda.

Emily Karp blogs at From Fandom to Family and is on twitter at @luvtheheaven.

Sennkestra is an (a)sexuality nerd, local ace community organizer and blogger at nextstepcake.wordpress.com.

Ace/Aro Atheists

Trauma and Mental Illness 101 for Non-Mental Health Professionals

This talk will teach lay people about trauma and mental illness in a very basic way so they are capable of providing “mental health first aid” when a situation arises.

1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this talk, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Heatherly Hodges is the current vice president of Washington Area Secular Humanists, the parent organization of Southern Maryland Area Secular Humanists. She has been an atheist activist for nearly a decade. She is a trained social worker and has worked in the field since 1998, though she is currently taking a hiatus from work for health reasons. Her previous experience includes work with emotionally disturbed children and adolescents, mental illness, substance abuse, rape/sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, crisis response and community organizing. Her most recent employment was as a foster care worker and running a supervised visitation center for non-custodial parents.

Trauma and Mental Illness 101 for Non-Mental Health Professionals

Secular Women Work Conference

Meet the organizers of the Secular Women Work conference coming to Minneapolis this August. Find out what an activist training conference looks like and why you want to attend.

12 p.m. – 1 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Monette Richards is the president of CFI-Northeast Ohio and of Secular Woman. She’s one of the co-founders of Secular Women Work. She describes herself as a “nobody” activist and gets a lot of work done from the cheap seats.

Brother Jed once called Chelsea Du Fresne devil spawn, so she has been involved in atheist community organizing ever since. Her biggest not-big project was Skeptech, a progressive student-run conference about critical thinking and technology at the University of Minnesota. Now she mostly plays Skyrim and makes tradigrade jokes.

Mandisa Thomas is the founder and President of Black Nonbelievers, Inc. Mandisa currently serves on the Boards for American Atheists and the Reason Rally Coalition, and previously for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Coalition for America. She also is an active speaker, and has presented at conferences/conventions for the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Secular Student Alliance, and many others.

Stephanie Zvan is the associate president of Minnesota Atheists, on the board of Secular Woman, and one of the organizers of Secular Women Work conferences and workshops. She writes at Almost Diamonds on The Orbit network, and she’s not afraid to tackle the occasional taboo.

Secular Women Work Conference

How to Incorporate a Secular Values Message into your Advocacy

Learn how to articulate secular values as a tool for discussing issues of separation of church and state in a way that will appeal to and inspire a broader audience.

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this talk, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Sarah Levin is the Director of Grassroots and Community Programs at Secular Coalition for America. She’s an atheist Jew born on Christmas Day.

 

How to Incorporate a Secular Values Message into your Advocacy

Support the Ones Who Are Doing the WORK!!!

There’s a lot to improve in the secular community, however there are lots of organizers and speakers who provide great content and programming. If you are tired of what is considered mainstream in the movement, please support the ones who don’t get the recognition they deserve. Mandisa will explain how you can do this, as well as point out some activists, organizers and speakers you can support!

10 a.m. – 11 a.m. CDT, Saturday April 14

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Mandisa Thomas is the founder and President of Black Nonbelievers, Inc. Mandisa currently serves on the Boards for American Atheists and the Reason Rally Coalition, and previously for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Coalition for America. She also is an active speaker, and has presented at conferences/conventions for the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Secular Student Alliance, and many others.

In 2011, Bridgett Crutchfield founded Minority Atheists of MI, and founded Detroit affiliate of Black Nonbelievers in 2013. In 2016, she spearheaded a GoFundMe campaign which raised $7,000 for Flint, MI residents. Bridgett and collaborators then delivered water and baby wipes to Planned Parenthood of Flint, in addition to donating remaining minutes to Genesee County Flint Water Fund. Bridgett has a heart for newly identified Atheists, those who’ve been hurt within the secular community, and assisting those who are interested in forming alliances with the African American community.

Support the Ones Who Are Doing the WORK!!!

So You Want to Run a Conference

A conference is a great time. It’s a good way to bring people together and create visibility for your group. It’s also a lot of work, with moving parts that aren’t obvious until you’re in the middle of planning. Hear from several conference organizers about the surprises they’ve encountered and the mistakes they’ve made so you can make brand new mistakes of your own.

8 p.m. – 9 p.m. CDT, Friday April 13

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Lauren Lane is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Skepticon, a national conference located annually in Springfield, MO that promotes skepticism, science education and community building. During her tenure as an undergraduate, Lauren held various leadership positions in the Missouri State University Chapter of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a secular student group that revolutionized student activism. She has been a contributor to The Friendly Atheist, MadArtLabs, and has previously spoken at conventions such as Secular Women Work, Secular Student Alliance Convention, FTBCon, and Reason in the Rock.

Jessica Xiao is a Washington, DC-based writer, interested in activist culture, radical vulnerability, feminism, race and identity, mass incarceration, and climate injustice. She is the former Projects Assistant at the American Humanist Association, Operations Manager at Humanist Press, and Assistant Editor at TheHumanist.com. She is Co-Chair of the Feminist Humanist Alliance.

Brian Fields is the president of Pennsylvania Nonbeliever Inc. He co-founded PASTAH Con and is a major champion of volunteer charity work at secular conferences.

Brother Jed once called Chelsea Du Fresne devil spawn, so she has been involved in atheist community organizing ever since. Her biggest not-big project was Skeptech, a progressive student-run conference about critical thinking and technology at the University of Minnesota. Now she mostly plays Skyrim and makes tradigrade jokes.

Stephanie Zvan is the associate president of Minnesota Atheists, on the board of Secular Woman, and one of the organizers of Secular Women Work conferences and workshops. She writes at Almost Diamonds on The Orbit network, and she’s not afraid to tackle the occasional taboo.

So You Want to Run a Conference

Atheism in the Diaspora

For people from cultures tightly intertwined with a specific religion, becoming an atheist can mean a crisis of identity. How do you maintain your connection to such a culture as an atheist? How do you decide what’s worth keeping and what to leave behind? How do distance and alienation affect those decisions? Do you even want to? What do you build in the spaces left behind by what you lost? What does community really mean, with all of the above in play?

7 p.m. – 8 p.m. CDT, Friday April 13

To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.

Speakers

Alyssa Gonzalez writes on transgender, Hispanic, atheist, autistic, and immigrant issues. She lives in Ottawa with several pets and her Pokemon fanfiction.

Faye is a trans woman estranged from her bio family due to a combination of abuse and violence. As an adult, while investigating her family history through various means, she discovered she was Irish Romani, and has since been (largely unsuccessfully) trying to connect with this part of her past.

Ashley is a two-spirit trans woman actively involved in the Ottawa area community and holds a B.A. in Human Rights

Heina Dadabhoy a writer, speaker, and presenter interested in sharing knowledge, research, and personal experiences on topics including but not limited to Islam, atheism, feminism, deconversion, and theodicy.

Atheism in the Diaspora