Debbie Allen
February 5, 2017
Note: The annual vote by members of the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley for candidates for the Board of Directors will occur immediately before the Forum. Please arrive a few minutes early if you intend to vote in the Board Election.
During the Forum, Debbie Allen, the Executive Director of the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley, will discuss her recent attendance at the annual Secular Leaders Summit. This year’s Summit included representatives from 28 organizations, and was hosted by the Center For Inquiry in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Secular Leaders Summit meetings, which include two leaders from each organization, are an opportunity to overcome differences, make allies, and bring together the key decision makers who can commit to collaborations.
From innovative start-ups to the few groups with multi-million dollar budgets, it’s clear that the humanist/atheist/skeptic movement is coming into its own, even if they are still dwarfed by the wealth and power of ultra-conservative opponents.
“Working together we can accomplish much more than we can independently. As a burgeoning movement we can ill afford destructive infighting that can catalyze disunity, especially when our ideological opponents are so well-funded. By respecting the unique role each organization plays in advocating for nontheist interests and finding common ground wherever possible, we can hope to achieve our shared convictions.”
~ Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director, American Humanist Association
Debbie Allen is currently serving as a board member with several organizations including the American Humanist Association, the Humanist Society, the Reason Rally Coalition, Inc., and the Freethought Equality Fund PAC.
