Keynote Speakers
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BRADLEY ONISHIDr. Bradley Onishi is faculty at the University of San Francisco, co-host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast, and author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism - And What Comes Next. His work has appeared at the NYT, NBC News, Huffpost, LA Review of Books, and many other outlets. He is on the editorial board of the Oxford Religion Encyclopedia and an affiliate of the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.
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KIERRA JOHNSONKierra Johnson joined the National LGBTQ Task Force in 2018 as Deputy Executive Director but was already engaged with the organization, previously serving on the National LGBTQ Task Force’s board of directors and its National Action Council. Johnson came to the Task Force after serving as (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity) URGE’s Executive Director with a wealth of experience in organizational leadership and management, program development, youth leadership and reproductive justice. As a bisexual Black woman, Johnson is one of few out queer-identified women of color at the helm of a national LGBTQ organization.
She is recognized as a national expert on queer and reproductive rights issues and has testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives and has appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, Fox News, Feministing.com and National Public Radio. Johnson also serves on the boards of directors of the General Service Foundation, Groundswell Fund, and Guttmacher Institute. 
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KATHERINE STEWARTKatherine Stewart writes about the religious and political right for a wide variety of publications including The New York Times op ed, The New Republic, and The Guardian. Her latest book is The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. Her previous book, The Good News Club, looked at efforts, by the religious right, to infiltrate and undermine public education.
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Workshop Presenters and Panelists
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RACHEL LASERAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Rachel Laser is the President and CEO at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Rachel Laser is a lawyer, advocate and strategist who has dedicated her career to making our country more inclusive. She has a proven track record of uniting both faith and secular leaders and advocacy organizations to make tangible progress on some of the most important issues of our time. And as a religious minority — she was raised as a Reform Jew — she understands personally how much it matters that our laws treat everyone fairly and equally. She is an advocate for racial justice and has led workshops, given speeches and worked with schools and universities to challenge racism and expose privilege. |
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REV. ALEX MCNEILLRev. Alex Patchin McNeill (he/him) is an ordained Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A, and a member of the Faith Advisory Council at Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. For more than 12 years, he has focused his ministry on leading initiatives of inclusion and equity as a nonprofit executive, coach, and consultant. Alex currently serves as a Partner at The Management Center, coaching clients in the progressive sector to articulate and act on their vision for a more just world. Prior to joining TMC, Alex served as the executive director of More Light Presbyterians (MLP) for over eight years. At MLP, Alex empowered and equipped hundreds of faith communities to visibly and tangibly expand inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people and implement antiracist practices for deeper equity.
As a non-profit leader and activist Alex has: worked to elect LGBTQIA+ leaders; advocated for reproductive justice; and won state, national, and denominational legislation affirming and protecting the rights and dignities of queer and trans people. Before earning a Master’s of Divinity from Harvard University, Alex got his start in LGBTQIA+ and reproductive rights activism as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Alex is a white, queer, transgender man, an ordained minister and certified coach through the International Coaching Federation. Alex lives in Asheville, NC, where he can be found kayaking with his dog Spike, hiking in the mountains, and planning adventures with his partner. |
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ALLYSON SHORTLEUniversity of Oklahoma
Dr. Allyson Shortle (she/her) is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she studies group identity in the context of American political behavior. She also serves as a faculty member for Latinx Studies and Women and Gender Studies. She runs OU’s Community Engagement + Experiments Laboratory (CEEL), Oklahoma City’s Community Poll (Exit Poll), and OU’s Democracy Survey of OU freshmen.
For fun, she lends research support to organizations seeking to increase civic engagement and improve physical and mental health of their communities. Dr. Shortle’s new co-authored Cambridge University Press book, The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics (2022 – w. Eric L. McDaniel and Irfan Nooruddin), examines the relationship between American religious exceptionalism and prejudicial and antidemocratic attitudes. |
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AMY COUCHAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Amy Couch (she/her) is the Director of Digital Communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Amy received a B.A. in Philosophy and Classics from the University of Tulsa and a M.A. in Political Science from Fordham University. An ex-evangelical and recovered conversion therapy recipient, Amy has spent her career advocating for church-state separation, disability rights and inclusion, and LGBTQIA+ equality. |
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ANDREW SEIDELAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Andrew L. Seidel (he/him) is Vice President of Strategic Communications for AU, an author, and an attorney who’s defended the First Amendment for more than a decade. Andrew is the author of two books: The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American (2019) and American Crusade: How the Supreme Court is Weaponizing Religious Freedom (2022). He’s also co-editor of an academic text, Law and Religion: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 2022) 5th Edition, with Prof. Leslie Griffin of UNLV law school.
A Senior Correspondent at Religion Dispatches, Andrew is a prolific author of opeds, has written several scholarly articles, has debated the utility of the Johnson Amendment, and organized and contributed to the groundbreaking report, “Christian Nationalism at the January 6, 2021, Insurrection,” which was published by the Baptist Joint Committee and the Freedom From Religion Foundation and aroused congressional interest. He’s appeared on Fox News to debate Bill O’Reilly, MSNBC, and hundreds of other media outlets. |
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BRITTANY WILLIAMSAmerican Atheists
Brittany serves as American Atheists' State Policy Counsel and is responsible for state legislative advocacy and engaging with local coalitions and organizations. Brittany leverages an extensive background in human rights and victim-centered advocacy; with experience in immigrant rights, reproductive justice, and criminal justice reform.
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CATHERINE FEUILLEAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Catherine (she/her) earned her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where she worked on Supreme Court litigation as a student in the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic. She also interned for Senator Cory Booker’s Senate Judiciary Committee staff and Civil Rights Corps.
Catherine also holds a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University and has experience working in health care delivery. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology Modified with Anthropology from Dartmouth College. |
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DAVE WARNOCKDying Out Loud
Dave Warnock (he/him) is dying out loud.
Dave was a charismatic evangelical Christian for over 35 years, serving in pastoral ministry for many of those years. A crisis of faith caused him to reevaluate his beliefs, and by 2011 had come to the conclusion that he could no longer identify as a Christian. In 2019, Dave was diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease—a terminal disease with no treatment and no cure. Following that, the Dying Out Loud organization was formed. The mission of Dying Out Loud is to enhance the experience of life for those diagnosed with a terminal disease, by removing unwanted religious influence in the process of healthcare, dying, and death, and by providing “bucket list” moments that highlight the joys of this one life we know we have. |
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DAVID CALLAWAYFreedom Forum
David Callaway (he/his) is the Religious Freedom Specialist for the Freedom Forum, a non-profit fostering First Amendment freedoms for all. David oversees the Freedom Forum’s religious freedom work acting as a resource for educators, journalists, and the general public on the role of religious freedom and religious literacy in a pluralistic democracy. David specializes in religion and public schools and has trained thousands of educators and administrators on how to teach about religion constitutionally and academically.
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DORI BERNSTEINDori (she/her) has over 25 years of experience in the appellate field as both a litigator and educator, most recently as the Director of the Supreme Court Institute. Dori recently retired from Georgetown University Law Center, where she ran a moot court program for Supreme Court advocates as Director of the Supreme Court Institute and taught experiential classes as an Adjunct Professor of Law.
Before joining Georgetown, Dori spent 18 years as an appellate litigator in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she briefed and argued employment discrimination cases. Dori previously worked as a law clerk to then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a staff attorney in the Office of the Chief Staff Counsel for the D.C. Circuit, and a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She graduated with honors from Wesleyan University and New York University Law School and earned an LLM in Appellate Advocacy as a supervising attorney in Georgetown Law’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. |
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REV. DOUG AVILESBERNALEvergreen Baptist Association of American Baptist Churches
Douglas S. Avilesbernal (he/him) is currently the executive minister of the Evergreen Baptist Association of American Baptist Churches. He is the son of missionaries, having been born in Guatemala, Central America. He is married to Anna Wiegner and they have two sons. His growth in Christian faith has spanned three decades, several continents, many countries, and the requisite number of schools, culminating in his ordination to pastoral ministry in 2010 at Calvary Baptist church in Norristown, Pennsylvania. His published works include, Welcoming Community: Diversity that works, Judson Press. 2016, Trouble the Water, Nurturing Faith inc. 2017. His TEDx talk: “Tolerance, the end of the beginning” can be found at the TED website.
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REV. ELISE SAULSBERRYSisterReach
Rev. Dr. Elise Saulsberry (she/her) is a writer, mother and activist who takes pride in advocating for the marginalized and disenfranchised. She is Director of Programming for SisterReach, Inc., a grassroots, 501c3, Reproductive Justice organization in the state of Tennessee. Dr. Saulsberry is co-trainer for the Faith & Advocacy Curriculum, Reproductive Justice trainer, organizer of the Interfaith Coalition for Human Rights; and manages day-to-day programming operations. Dr. Saulsberry is Pastor of Agape Ministries – a welcoming, inclusive and affirming ministry - and Bishop of Abundance United Fellowship also based in Memphis, TN. She has acquired a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology and Theology; and Master of Divinity in Theological Studies w/ emphasis in Evangelism and Church Planting. Dr. Saulsberry is also member of community advisory and clergy advocacy boards for various organizations. She boldly advocates for LGBT+ people including masculine of center womxn, gender non-conforming people and transgender men.
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ELIZABETH REINER PLATTColumbia Law School, The Law, Rights, and Religion Project
Liz Reiner Platt (she/her) is the director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at Columbia Law School, a law and policy think tank that advocates for religious liberty, pluralism, and social justice. She publishes widely on the intersection of religious freedom and other fundamental rights. Her recent work includes the Southern Hospitals Report, which examines religious restrictions on medical care at Protestant-affiliated hospitals; All Faiths and None, a roadmap for protecting religious freedom and pluralism; and Whose Faith Matters?, an exploration of religious freedom movements outside the Christian Right.
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GABI HYBELAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Gabi Hybel (she/her) is a Madison Legal Fellow at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Gabi earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a project manager for the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse and the Managing Editor of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. During law school, she also worked as a student attorney in the Criminal Appellate Practice Clinic and as an intern at the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
Before arriving at Americans United, Gabi clerked for the Honorable Neal E. Kravitz on the D.C. Superior Court and completed a legal fellowship at Farmworker Justice. Gabi earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Pomona College. She has previous experience as a communications director, a labor organizer, and an elementary school teacher. |
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HANNAH SANTOSFreedom Forum
Hannah Santos (she/her) is the Religious Freedom Program Coordinator at Freedom Forum. She holds a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelors in Religious Studies and History from Brown University. She is a former Youth Organizing Fellow for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
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IMANI GANDYRewire News Group
Imani (she/her) is Editor-at-Large for Rewire News Group, where she covers law and courts and co-hosts the RNG podcast Boom! Lawyered. Imani also began and continues to write the Angry Black Lady Chronicles.
Imani is a recovering attorney turned award-winning journalist and political blogger. Previously, Imani founded Angry Black Lady Chronicles, winner of the 2010 Black Weblog Award for Blog to Watch and the 2012 Black Weblog Award for Best Political Blog. She received her JD from University of Virginia School of Law in 2001, where she was a Hardy Cross Dillard scholar and an Editorial Board member of the University of Virginia Law Review. She has presented at several conferences and panels, including the 2013 Abortion Care Network as the Keynote Speaker; the 2014 Baffler Conference; the 2016 YBCA 100 Summit; the 2016 PPFA 100th Anniversary at the Brooklyn Historical Society; the 2018 SXSW Panel “If Roe Were to Go”; the 2018 plenary for National Abortion Federation’s annual meeting; and the 2018 Affect Conference as the Keynote Speaker. Boom! Lawyered won Podcast of the Year in 2017 from the Population Institute. |
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JEFF GRAHAMGeorgia Equality
Jeff Graham (he/him) is the executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization that works to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities throughout Georgia. Jeff began advocating on LGBT and AIDS related issues as a college student in the mid-1980s and has continued his advocacy on these issues since that time. He has been involved in a wide variety of grassroots and legislative advocacy campaigns and for nearly 30 years has served as either an executive director or board member to a number of local and national organizations working on issues related to gay and transgender rights, access to healthcare, community empowerment and HIV/AIDS. Jeff has received numerous awards and recognition for both his advocacy and nonprofit work from organizations such as the National Center for Human Rights Education, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Atlanta City Council, The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, ACLU of Georgia and several local publications and organizations within the LGBT and HIV communities. He is a founding board member of ProGeorgia, a membership organization of nonprofits focused on strategic civic engagement activities, and America Votes Georgia, an organization that supports coordinated and strategic engagement on policy issues and electoral progress across a variety of issues. He served as a Grand Marshal of the Atlanta Pride Parade and has been named to the most influential lists of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Business Chronicle and Georgia Trend.
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JENNIFER HAWKSBaptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Jennifer Hawks (she/her), originally from Germantown, Tennessee, is the associate general counsel at BJC. She provides legal analysis on church-state issues that arise before Congress, the courts and administrative agencies. Hawks also assists in education efforts and responds to pastors and other constituents who have questions about church-state matters.
Before coming to BJC, Hawks was the director of advocacy and outreach services for the Family Abuse Center in Waco, Texas, where she conducted a legal clinic and led educational programs. She previously worked for two judges in the state of Mississippi and served as a staff attorney for the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Hawks also served in both paid and volunteer ministry positions in Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas. She has published papers in the journal of the Texas Baptist Historical Society and Baptist History & Heritage Journal. A graduate of Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi School of Law, Hawks earned a Master of Divinity degree from George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. She is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, Texas and Mississippi bars, and she was ordained into the Gospel ministry by McLean Baptist Church in McLean, Virginia. |
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JESSICA PIEKLORewire News Group
Jessica Mason Pieklo (she/her) is a Senior Vice President and Executive Editor. She is also the co-host of the Rewire News Group podcast Boom! Lawyered.
Jessica has over a decade of experience as a former litigator, and taught law for four years before transitioning to journalism. She was part of the SCOTUSblog symposium on abortion rights following Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt and won the Excellence in Online Journalism award in 2018 from the Association of LGBTQ Journalists. She has participated in numerous panels including at NYU Law School; University of Arkansas; University of Colorado; University of Utah, among others. Boom! Lawyered won Podcast of the Year in 2017 from the Population Institute. |
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KALLI JOSLINAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Kalli Joslin (she/her) is a Steven Gey Constitutional Litigation Fellow at AU. Shereceived her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law and as a student-attorney in the Civil Rights Clinic. She also interned for Lambda Legal and the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
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KAREN LEVITAnti-Defamation League
Karen Levit (she/her) serves as National Civil Rights Counsel for the ADL (Anti-Defamation League). She advocates on a range of civil rights issues including voting rights, immigrant and refugee rights, and LGBTQ+ rights, and advises ADL's regional, state, and federal engagement on civil rights issues. Previously, she represented young people in Family Court proceedings as a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of New York. She has published work in Above the Law and the quarterly law journal of the National Association of Counsel for Children. Karen earned her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. She earned her B.A. from the City College of New York magna cum laude, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
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LIZ HAYESAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Liz Hayes (she/her) is the Associate Vice President of Communications at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Liz worked as a journalist in Pittsburgh for 15 years before joining AU’s Communications Department in 2016. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies from Penn State University.
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MAGGIE GARRETTAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Maggie Garrett (she/her) is the Vice President for Public Policy for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Maggie has been working on church-state separation issues for more than 20 years. Although she started her civil liberties work as a litigator, she now works in the public policy arena. She represents Americans United before Congress and the Biden Administration, and she oversees the state legislative program. Much of Maggie’s work focuses on ensuring that public funds are used for public schools. For the last eight years, she has served as the co-chair of the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE), a coalition of more than 50 national organizations that opposes private school vouchers. She is also the chair of the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination (CARD), which is the national coalition that fights against policies that allow religiously affiliated social service organizations to use taxpayer funds to discriminate. And Maggie leads Americans United’s work to protect the Johnson Amendment, which is the provision in the tax code that ensures tax-exempt nonprofits, including houses of worship, do not endorse or oppose political candidates. Maggie has spoken about church-state issues in television and radio appearances and has been quoted in numerous major newspapers. She has presented on church-state issues across the country, participated in Congressional briefings and testified numerous times before state legislative committees. Before Maggie joined AU’s Public Policy Department, she served as the Legislative Director/Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Georgia, where she litigated high-profile cases on issues including the separation of church and state, free speech, reproductive rights and voting rights. She also lobbied the Georgia General Assembly on issues such as private school vouchers, reproductive rights, free speech and religious freedom. She was also a Fellow at the ACLU of Alabama, where she participated in litigation to remove Judge Roy Moore’s Ten Commandments display from the Alabama Supreme Court building, and she was the first Madison Fellow at Americans United in 1999. Maggie graduated from Hamilton College, cum laude, and graduated with honors from The George Washington Law School, where she was the Production Editor of The George Washington Law Review. In 2016, she was awarded the Allen Thornell Political Advancement Award from Georgia Equality for being “the most responsive attorney in reviewing legislative language” they’ve ever worked with and for her diligence and dedication to the First Amendment. |
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MARGARET HAMMMargaret Hamm (she/her) is an independent scholar who researches and writes on the intersections of religion, gender, and law in 20th- and 21st- century America. She is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and Miami University, and has written for organizations including Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Catholics for Choice, and Freedom Forum. During summer 2022, she served as AU's Digital Communications Intern and assisted with the launch and growth of AU's TikTok account.
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MARILYN MAYOAnti-Defamation League
Marilyn Mayo (she/her) is a Senior Research Fellow at ADL’s Center on Extremism. She has been with the ADL for over 25 years, having previously served as the Co-Director of ADL’s Center on Extremism and the Associate Director of Investigative Research at ADL. Ms. Mayo is an expert on right-wing extremists in the United States, ranging from white supremacists to academic racists to anti-immigrant groups. She often speaks to the media, community groups and law enforcement about the activities of hate groups and movements across the country. She has worked on numerous reports for ADL and writes regularly for the organization’s blog.
Ms. Mayo received her B.A. from Barnard College in New York and her M.A. from the City University of New York Graduate Center. |
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REV. NAOMI WASHINGTON-LEAPHEARTVillanova University and Harvard Divinity School
Naomi Washington-Leapheart (she/her), a daughter of Detroit, is an adjunct faculty member in the Theology and Religious Studies department at Villanova University and a Fellow / Instructor at Harvard Divinity School. Since 2019 she was appointed Director, Faith-based and Interfaith Affairs for the City of Philadelphia.
Naomi previously served as the Faith Outreach Director at the National LGBTQ Task Force and the suburban community organizer for POWER, a multi-faith, multi-racial network of congregations in Metro Philadelphia. She also served as Co-Pastor and Minister of Music at the Wisdom’s Table at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ. She is affiliated with the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries and the United Church of Christ, and earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary in 2016. Naomi delights in singing with the Philly Threshold Choir, a group whose mission is to bring audible comfort and kindness to people in hospice care. She is a board member of Roots of Justice, a collective of anti-racism trainers and organizers. |
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NIK NARTOWICZAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Nik Nartowicz (he/him) is the State Policy Counsel at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Nik joined Americans United in 2017. As State Policy Counsel, Nik tracks and analyzes state legislation that would affect church-state separation and religious liberty. He drafts letters to state legislators and works with allies to defeat bills that would undermine religious freedom. He joined AU after working for 2 years for Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in the Office of Federal and Regional Affairs. As Policy Counsel, he worked with Congress and federal agencies to advance D.C.’s priorities in judiciary, legal, public safety, LGBTQ, and technology issues. He also helped lead D.C.’s successful 2016 Statehood referendum. |
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RANEN MIAORanen Miao (he/him) is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis studying political science, sociology, and women, gender, and sexuality studies. A former AU Student Organizer and a two-term student body president, Ranen is passionate about LGBTQIA+ rights, racial equity, and social justice. On campus, he worked to institutionalize pronouns in student government, push for diversified faculty and staff, expanded information and access to condoms and PrEP, and secured a menstrual products program in university restrooms. In Missouri, he worked on the campaign to decriminalize HIV as an intern with the ACLU and Pro-Choice Missouri and staffed Mayor Tishaura Jones' campaign. Nationally, he worked to lobby for the Do No Harm Act and Equality Act. He is thrilled to be joining SRF!
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REBEKAH KOHLHEPPAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Rebekah Kohlhepp (she/her) is the Design Associate at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She has been blogging about religion, atheism, science, and social issues on her blog since 2016. She has also written for OnlySky Media and The Friendly Atheist Blog. She is the former Marketing Committee Chair for the Pittsburgh Freethought Community. Rebekah currently lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their two cats.
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ROB BOSTONAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Rob Boston (he/him) is Senior Adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Editor of Church & State, AU’s monthly membership magazine.
Rob, who has worked at Americans United since 1987, 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, most recently, Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn't Give You The Right To Tell Other People What To Do (Prometheus Books, 2014). |
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SAMANTHA SOKOLAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
Sam Sokol (she/her) is the Policy Advocate at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Before joining Americans United, Sam was a Litigation Paralegal at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. She also previously interned at the ACLU of New Jersey and the Office of Public Interest Advising at Harvard Law School. She graduated from Tufts University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, summa cum laude. Sam is originally from East Brunswick, N.J. |
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SARAH COHENAmerican Federation of Teachers
Sarah Cohen (she/her) is an Associate Director in the Government Relations Department at the American Federation of Teachers, where she has been a federal lobbyist on education issues since 2011. At AFT Sarah works on a range of policy issues, including issues related to private school vouchers, higher education, and appropriations. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the National Coalition for Public Education, and past board member of the Committee for Education Funding. Prior to working at AFT, Sarah worked as a Congressional staffer, at an education advocacy organization, and in a second-grade classroom. Sarah graduated from Tufts University with a BA in History in 2003.
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SHANNON RUSSELLCatholics for Choice
Shannon Russell (she/her) serves as Director of Policy at Catholics for Choice, working collaboratively with the organization’s domestic and international teams to provide strategic thought leadership and articulate policy change strategies impacting reproductive health, rights, and justice at the state, national, and international level. She fosters relationships and interacts regularly with elected officials, governmental representatives, and coalition partners to represent pro-choice Catholics who support reproductive freedom because of our faith, not in spite of it.
Before joining CFC, Ms. Russell led federal advocacy efforts to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice at the National Council of Jewish Women and worked with policy staff at the Center for Reproductive Rights, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. She graduated from Gettysburg College with degrees in History and Political Science and from George Mason University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in May 2018. During law school, Ms. Russell served as a health law research assistant to Dr. Y Tony Yang and Senior Research Editor for the George Mason Law Review, publishing pieces in this journal and The Green Bag. |
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SMRITI KRISHNANNational Council of Jewish Women
Smriti Krishnan (she/her) currently serves as Manager of Government Relations and Advocacy at National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). At NCJW, her portfolio focuses on reproductive justice, and she leads NCJW’s litigation strategy. Prior to her current role, she served as a staffer in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.
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SUNU CHANDYNational Women's Law Center
Sunu P. Chandy (she/her) is a social justice activist through her work as a civil rights attorney and a poet. Sunu started as the legal director at the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) in August 2017, and in this role she provides strategies to create better outcomes for women and girls including in schools, workplaces, and the healthcare sector. She also supports the NWLC's Workplace Justice policy work and LGBTQI+ rights related work. Sunu has provided Congressional testimony in support of the Equality Act, and serves on the board of the Transgender Law Center.
Before joining NWLC, Sunu was the Deputy Director for the Civil Rights Division with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and before that, Sunu was the General Counsel of the DC Office of Human Rights (OHR). Previously, Sunu was a federal attorney with the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for 15 years in the New York District Office. At EEOC, in addition to litigating civil rights cases, Sunu led several outreach initiatives including as a member of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAPPI) Regional Working Group. Sunu began her legal career as a law firm associate representing unions and individual workers in New York City. Sunu earned her B.A. in Peace and Global Studies/Women’s Studies from Earlham College, her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law and later, her MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Queens College/The City University of New York. Sunu was honored as one of the 2021 Queer Women of Washington and one of Go Magazine’s 100 Women We Love: Class Of 2019. Sunu’s collection of poems, My Dear Comrades, was selected for the 2021 Terry J. Cox Prize, and published by Regal House in March 2023. Photo Credit Fid Thompson. |
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REV. TRACI BLACKMONUnited Church of Christ
Rev. Traci Blackmon (she/her) is the named plaintiff in the case Rev. Blackmon v. Missouri lawsuit challenging that state’s total ban on abortion as a violation of church state separation and religious freedom. Initially ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Blackmon served in various ministry capacities for nine years prior to becoming ordained in the United Church of Christ and installed as the first woman and 18th pastor in the 159-year history of Christ the King United Church of Christ. A registered nurse with more than 25 years of healthcare experience, Rev. Blackmon’s clinical focus was cardiac care. In later years, her focus shifted to mobile healthcare in underserved communities, with the greatest health disparities being in her region. As pastor, Rev. Blackmon leads towards an expanded understanding of church as a sacred launching pad of community engagement and change.
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VICTORIA WILLIAMSVictoria Williams (she/her) is a recent graduate from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL with a double major in Political Science and History and plans to pursue her JD in the future. She is also a 2021-2022 AU Youth Organizing Fellowship alumni and in her time, she focused on the Equality Act and the issue of vouchers in public education. She continues to be passionate about social justice, church state separation, and education.
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© Americans United for Separation of Church and State 2023