Speaker Information
Mubarak Bala
Mubarak Bala is a human rights activist and president of the Humanists of Nigeria, who was arrested in 2020 for posting comments on Facebook deemed insulting to Muhammad. Mubarak Bala spent a year in detention before being sentenced to 40 years in prison. An appeals court later reduced his sentence to five years. He was released last year, but is still under sanction in Nigeria. Mubarak Bala’s case drew international attention by many groups, including FFRF, calling for his release and for the repeal of blasphemy laws. Mubarak Bala will be receiving FFRF’s Avijit Roy Courage Award, accepting remotely.
Jamelle Bouie
Jamelle Bouie, who will receive FFRF’s Clarence Darrow Award, is a columnist for the New York Times, where he covers history and politics. In addition, he co-hosts the Unclear and Present Danger podcast on the political and military thrillers of the 1990s. Jamelle was formerly the chief political correspondent for Slate magazine. He began his career at The American Prospect magazine and also spent time as a writer for The Daily Beast. Jamelle has also contributed essays to volumes such as “Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019” and “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.” In 2021, he received the Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism, and in 2024, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Jamelle attended the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 2009 with degrees in political and social thought and government.
Maggie Carpenter, M.D.
Dr. Carpenter will be receiving FFRF’s “Forward Award,” reserved for individuals who are moving society forward. A family doctor with over 20 years of experience, Maggie got her B.A. in Russian studies from Brown University before graduating summa cum laude from SUNY-Downstate Medical School. She has lived and practiced medicine in a variety of locations, from Lawrence, Kan., to Wairoa, New Zealand. She specializes in reproductive health as well as palliative care. Her passion for global health led her to start Go Doc Go in 2013, a not-for-profit focused on preventing cervical cancer around the world. Maggie has worked in reproductive health since her undergraduate days, volunteering at Planned Parenthood and providing medical and surgical abortions since 1999. She started working with Aid Access in 2020 and helped launch Hey Jane in December 2020. In 2023, Maggie co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine with Dr. Linda Prine and lawyer Julie F. Kay to support clinicians who serve patients across the U.S. with safe, timely and affordable telemedicine abortion care. In December 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fined her more than $100,000 and ordered her to stop prescribing and mailing medication abortion to Texas. A Texas state district judge in late February ordered her to pay $100,000 plus attorneys’ fees for allegedly breaking Texas law. As of spring 2025, she is under indictment for prescribing abortion pills to a Louisiana individual, where nearly all abortions are illegal, even in cases of rape. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s request to extradite Carpenter, saying she would sign the order “not now, not ever.” In February, the New York Legislature acted to strengthen its shield law to protect physicians from such extraditions by printing their practice’s name on the label rather than the physician’s name.
Mickey Dollens
Mickey Dollens is the regional government affairs manager at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, where he fights to uphold state/church separation and protect religious freedom for all. Based in Oklahoma City, Mickey continues to push back against religious extremism in government, efforts to weaken direct democracy, and policies that deepen economic inequality. At FFRF, he works to ensure that lawmakers prioritize reason over religion and that public policy is shaped by constitutional principles—not religious doctrine. He is the author of The Citizen’s Guide to Political Change: How to Win with Ballot Initiatives and Defend Direct Democracy.
Eli Frost
Eli Frost, who will be 18 at the time of the FFRF convention, will be receiving the Beverly and Richard Hermsen Student Activist Award of $5,000. Eli is a passionate graduating senior at Chaska High School who is in the National Honor Society and Key Club. He will be attending Minnesota State University in Mankato in the fall, where he’s planning to major in political science and potentially attend law school to become a politician. His ultimate aim is to use his political influence to bring positive change, particularly by standing up to Christian nationalist politicians and promoting respect and kindness for all people—not for religious rewards, but because it’s simply the right thing to do. For several years, he’s worked tirelessly to move his school district’s graduation ceremonies away from a discriminatory megachurch. Through petitions, school board meetings, and engaging with local media and advocacy organizations like FFRF, Eli successfully pushed the district to change the graduation venue to a more inclusive, secular location.
John Fugelsang
He’s been murdered on CSI, interviewed 2 Beatles on separate continents in the same week, and famously once got Mitt Romney’s advisor to call Governor Romney an ‘etch a sketch’ on CNN. Actor, comedian & broadcaster John Fugelsang hosts ‘Tell Me Everything” weekdays on SiriusXM Insight #121, and has interviewed everyone from Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Yoko Ono to Stanley Tucci, Rita Moreno and Carl Reiner. He recently performed in “The Bill of Rights Concert” alongside Lewis Black & Dick Gregory, which aired on AXS. He’s also appeared at Montreal’s “Just for Laughs” Festival, HBO’s U.S Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos for ABC and Bill Maher called him “one of my favorite comedians.” He recently performed in “The Bill of Rights Concert” alongside Lewis Black & Dick Gregory which aired on AXS. He’s also hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos for ABC and Bill Maher called him ‘one of my favorite comedians’. His new film “Dream On,” examining the American Dream, features 200 interviews in 55 cities, including 17 states. His new book, just out, is “Separate Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds.”
Bailey Harris
Bailey Harris, 19, a second-year college student, will be receiving the “Out of God’s Closet” Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial Student Activist Scholarship of $5,000. Bailey is the author of the Stardust series of science books for young readers, which she began at age 8. The series includes beautifully illustrated children’s books that present sound science in a manner accessible to young readers and pre-readers. “My Name Is Stardust” was released in 2017 and has sold thousands of copies worldwide. Follow-ups “Stardust Explores the Solar System” (2018) and “Stardust Explores Earth’s Wonders” (2019) present concepts of astronomy, geology, biology, and principles such as the Big Bang and evolution. Just released is “Stardust & Friends: Darwin’s Journey.” Bailey has appeared on iHeartRadio’s “The Public Library Podcast,” where she spoke to host Helen Little about the importance of books and learning in her life. She won a previous 2018 FFRF convention award.
Nancy Northup
Nancy Northup is president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global human rights organization whose game-changing litigation and advocacy work have transformed how reproductive rights are understood by courts, governments and human rights bodies. The Center has played a key role in securing legal victories in the U.S., Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe and at the U.N. on issues including access to life-saving obstetrics care, maternal health, contraception and safe abortion services, as well as the prevention of forced sterilization and child marriage. With offices in Colombia, Kenya, Switzerland and the U.S., the Center has built the legal capacity of women’s rights advocates in over 60 countries. Nancy graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Brown University, recognizing her achievements as an attorney and global reproductive rights leader. She has held adjunct appointments at NYU Law School and Columbia Law School and taught courses in constitutional and human rights law. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Nancy was previously the founding director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, where she litigated voting rights, campaign finance reform, and ballot access cases. From 1989 to 1996, she served as a prosecutor and Deputy Chief of Appeals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Prior to that, she was a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.
Secular Legislative Panelists
Rep. Heather Meyer
Heather Meyer represents District 29, Overland Park, in the Kansas State House of Representatives. She was appointed in 2021 and re-elected in 2024 to a two-year term. She is also a social worker, mom of two, Kansas’ first openly bisexual legislator, and is agnostic. She began her second full term in 2025, after being appointed in 2021, re-elected in 2022, and running unopposed in 2024. She previously served on the Water Committee, as well as ranking minority member on the House Welfare Reform Committee, the Special Committee on Homelessness, and she also served on the Special Committee for Medical Marijuana. She now serves on the House Health & Human Services, House Insurance, House Elections, and House Federal & State Affairs committees, respectively. She is an outspoken advocate for the separation of church and state, a fighter for the working class and historically marginalized communities, and a fierce activist for the LGBTQ community. Her values are rooted in doing what is right because that is how we should care for our fellow humans, not because of what may or may not happen in some sort of afterlife, or to please a higher power.
Rep. Monique Priestley
Monique Priestley is serving her second term as a Vermont State Representative (Orange-2), focusing on consumer protection, particularly in data privacy, artificial intelligence and right-to-repair legislation, as well as issues related to the future of work. She was appointed to key committees, including the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development, the Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee, the NCSL Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity & Privacy, and the NCSL Committees on Technology & Communications and Labor & Economic Development. She has received recognition for her impactful legislative leadership, including the Council of State Governments’ Top 20 Under 40 Award and EPIC’s National Champion of Freedom Award in 2024. Additionally, she was selected for the 2023 NCSL Emerging Leaders Program, the 2024 Future Caucus Policy Innovation Lab Fellowship, and the 2024 CSG Eastern Leadership Academy. She identifies as an atheist and humanist.
Rep. Andy Smith
Andy’s bio is coming soon.
Herb Silverman
Herb Silverman, who will give a welcoming address, is president emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America. He served as president of the Secular Coalition through December of 2012 and again from December 2014 to June 2017. Born in Philadelphia, Herb received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Syracuse University and is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston. After an eight-year battle, Herb won a unanimous decision in the South Carolina Supreme Court, which struck down South Carolina’s religious test requirement. He founded the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, S.C., and is the founder and first faculty advisor to the College of Charleston student Atheist/Humanist Alliance. He has written “Candidate Without a Prayer, An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt” as well as “An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land.” Herb is a recipient of the American Humanist Association Lifetime Achievement Award and SCA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Katherine Stewart
Katherine Stewart, who received FFRF’s 2024 “Freethought Heroine” Award, has been covering religious nationalism and the assault on American democracy for more than 15 years. Her most recent book, Money, Lies and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy (February 2025), joins her earlier powerful investigations: The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism and The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. She writes for The New York Times Opinion, The New Republic, and many other periodicals. The Power Worshippers was acquired by producers Rob and Michele Reiner, who subsequently based their documentary feature film, “God & Country” (2004), on the book.
Mary L. Trump
Mary L. Trump will receive FFRF’s “Emperor Has No Clothes Award,” reserved for individuals who “tell it like it is” about religion. She’s a trained clinical psychologist and has authored two books, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” and a new memoir, “Nobody Will Ever Love You.” She holds a PhD from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and taught graduate courses in trauma, psychopathology, and developmental psychology. She lives with her daughter in New York.
