The governing Executive Board of Directors, elected by the large advisory body of State Representatives, serve 3-year terms.
On the FFRF Executive Board are (back row, left to right):
Director-at-Large David Tamayo, Chair Stephen Hirtle, Director Todd Peissig, Secretary Cheryl Kolbe, Director Mike Cermak Jr., Treasurer Steve Salemson, and Director Jeremiah Camara.
(Front row, left to right):
Director Sue Kocher, Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker (Annie Laurie and Dan share a seat and a vote), and Director Granada Higgins (Jeremiah and Granada share a seat and a vote.)
DAN BARKER and ANNIE LAURIE GAYLOR are the Freedom From Religion Foundation co-presidents and co-hosts of Freethought Radio and Freethought Matters (TV). A former minister and evangelist, Dan became a freethinker in 1983. His books, Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children and Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher To Atheist (1992), are published by FFRF. Other books include Godless (Ulysses Press, 2008), The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God (Pitchstone Publishing, 2011), Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning, Pitchstone Press (2015), GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction (Sterling Publications, 2016), and Free Will Explained: How Science and Philosophy Converge to Create a Beautiful Illusion. A graduate of Azusa Pacific University with a degree in religion, Dan now puts his knowledge of Christianity to effective freethought use. A professional pianist and composer, Dan performs freethought concerts and is featured in FFRF’s musical CDs, “Friendly Neighborhood Atheist,” “Beware of Dogma,” and “Adrift on a Star.” He joined FFRF’s staff in 1987, serving as public relations director. He was first elected co-president in November 2004, speaks widely and has engaged in more than 100 debates about religion.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, a third-generation freethinker, co-founded FFRF with her mother, Anne Gaylor, as a college student in 1976. She was editor of Freethought Today, FFRF’s newspaper, from 1985 to 2009. Her book, Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So, first published by FFRF in 1981, is in its 4th printing. In 1988, FFRF published Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children, the first book documenting widespread sexual abuse by clergy. Her 1997 anthology, Women Without Superstition: ‘No Gods, No Masters,’ is the first collection of the writings of historical and contemporary women freethinkers. A 1980 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Journalism School, she was an award-winning student reporter and recipient of the Ken Purdy scholarship. After graduation, she founded, edited, and published the Feminist Connection, a monthly advocacy newspaper, from 1980–1985. She first joined the FFRF staff in 1985. She has been co-president since 2004. In the late 1970s, her student protest ended commencement prayers at the UW-Madison. She has been the plaintiff in or overseen many state/church lawsuits and actions by FFRF. Dan and Annie Laurie have appeared on a variety of TV news shows, including “Oprah,” “O’Reilly,” “Good Morning America,” Univision, CNN and FOX news segments, CBS Evening News, and ABC World News Tonight.
Photo: Ingrid Laas
FFRF held its annual State Representatives meeting on Nov. 21 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.
Here is the 2021 list of the State Reps, although not all were in attendance at the meeting.
Daniel Barker (Wis.), Darrell Barker (Wash.), Charles and Sheri Bender (Ind.), Lance Bredvold (Mont.), Robin Buckallew (Neb.), Chris Calvey (Ill.), Jeremiah Camara (Ga.), Tom Cara (Ill.), John Cavin (Kan.), Dianne Centa (Ohio), Michael Cermak (Pa.), Sheridan Chapin (N.Y.), Dianne Cooper (Iowa), Margaret Downey (Pa.), Mike Dubik (Va.), Zenos Frudakis (Pa.), Annie Laurie Gaylor (Wis.), Kevin Gough (Conn.), Ken Gould (Ariz.), Ed and Mikel Hensley (Ky.), Granada Higgins (Ga.), Stephen Hirtle (Pa.), Cheryl and Ken Hofbauer (Ill.), Linda Hollar (Texas), George and Julie Iddon (Wash.), Linda Josheff (Wis.), Sue Kocher (N.C.), Cheryl Kolbe (Ore.), Marc-Andre Lachance (Ontario), Aleta Ledendecker (Tenn.), Philip Lentz (Ariz.), Steven Lowe (D.C.), Douglas Marshall (Mich.), Rob Moore (Wis.), Stefanie Moritz (Wis.), Paul Novak (Iowa), Todd Peissig (Wis.), Randy Pelton (Ohio), Judy Saint (Calif.), Betsy Salemson (N.H.), Steve Salemson (Wis.), Tom Schottmiller (Pa.), Sue Schuetz (Wis.), Nick Sheridan (Md.), Steve Solomon (Mo.), Claudette St.Pierre (Colo.), Bonnie and Gary Stormo (S.D.), David Tamayo (Va.), Wayne Thurston (N.Y.), Steve Trunk (Calif.), Tom Waddell (Maine), David Williamson and Jocelyn Williamson (Fla.), James Zerwick (Wis.) and Rob Zweibach (Calif.).
Anne Nicol Gaylor, the principal founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and president from 1978-2004, was given a surprise Emperor Has No Clothes Award on October 29, 2004, at the end of a tribute the year she formally stepped down as president. In her years of outspoken feminist and freethought activism, where her common-sense pronouncements on the harm of religion turned her into a media lightning rod, nobody better embodies the child in the fairy tale who “tells it like it is.” Read on for tributes:
Anne Gaylor–Mentor and Friend, by Anne Treseder
Tributes to Anne Nicol Gaylor by Ken Taubert & Catherine Fahringer
Tribute from Prof. Michael Hakeem
Tributes from Marjorie & Philip Appleman, & from Alice Cleveland Shiver
Two Toasts to Anne Gaylor, by Constance Fuller Threinen
Photo by Brent Nicastro.
