Posted by Hemant Mehta in Margaret Downey’s term has ended as President of Atheist Alliance International and the new officers are in place.
The new president is Stuart Bechman, president of the group Atheists United in Los Angeles, California.
Stuart was active in the initial efforts to form the Coalition for the Community of Reason, which ultimately led to the creation of the Secular Coalition for America. In 2007, Stuart became vice-president of Atheist Alliance International and led a number of initiatives and projects for the organization.
Stuart has been a prominent activist for church-state separation in his community and elsewhere and has served on the boards of the local ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State chapters in his area. In 2004, Stuart ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives. He has also participated in several church-state rallies in Washington, DC as representative for several west coast organizations and groups.
The new Vice President is August Berkshire, president of Minnesota Atheists.
August has frequently contributed his terrific list of Unconvincing Arguments for God to this site.
No doubt from me that both Stuart and August will make excellent leaders for AAI.
They are among the batch of new leaders all over the world of organized atheism this year — including Ed Buckner at American Atheists and Ron Lindsay at the Center for Inquiry.
Wow, I didn’t even know there was an alliance. It’s good to know that they’re fighting for separation of church and state.