Nick Fish
President
Nick Fish is a seasoned civil rights and civil liberties activist with more than a decade of political, organizing, and leadership experience with many of the nation’s most prominent political organizations and progressive non-profits. A native of Michigan, Nick studied political science at Albion College before working in Raleigh, North Carolina, managing a voter outreach office that registered more than 5,000 new voters and knocked on 25,000 doors in the two months leading up to the 2008 election. After the election, Nick worked in donor outreach, marketing, fundraising, and communications, including with the Secular Coalition for America. Before his appointment as president, Nick served as Development Director and National Program Director for American Atheists.
Since 2015, Nick has often represented American Atheists in the media, including appearances on the Fox News programs Spirited Debate, Hannity, and Fox and Friends, and on countless local media outlets. He has been quoted in The Washington Post, CNN, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and The Associated Press. He has created innovative advocacy and visibility campaigns, including AtheistVoter, and has developed messaging and strategy around American Atheists’ legal, public policy, and outreach campaigns.
Nick can be reached via email, on Twitter (@nicholasrfish), or at (908) 276-7300 x308.
Alison M. Gill
Vice President, Legal and Policy
Alison Gill manages American Atheists’ federal and state advocacy for religious equality and litigation activities to protect the separation of religion and government. Alison is a nationally recognized expert on civil rights law and state advocacy.
Prior to her work with American Atheists, Alison worked as a consultant to nonprofits focusing on advocacy strategy and systemic change and as Senior Legislative Counsel at the Human Rights Campaign, where she managed state-level advocacy on issues such as conversion therapy, bullying prevention, education discrimination, health and wellness, youth homelessness, and data collection.
Alison can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x309.
Debbie Goddard
Vice President, Programs
Debbie Goddard has over two decades of experience as an organizer and activist. She became involved with the secular movement as a college student in 2000 and attended atheist, freethinker, humanist, and skeptic group meetings in Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, and central Pennsylvania. Her involvement increased over time: she served on local advisory boards, started a student group, edited a monthly campus freethought email newsletter, and held a work-study position at the Center for Inquiry’s office in Rockefeller Center. In 2002, she was recognized in a Beliefnet “Godless Who’s Who” list as “The Student Activist” and in the Washington Blade as an “out” nonbeliever.
She began working in the Department of Campus & Community Programs at the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, NY, in 2006. After serving as a field organizer and as campus outreach coordinator, she became Outreach Director in 2012 and managed CFI’s U.S. branches and the international student outreach program. She also directed African Americans for Humanism. In 2012, she led a notable billboard and ad campaign featuring black atheists, and in 2009, she coordinated an international campaign highlighting blasphemy laws and free expression. Additionally, she was the lead organizer for the Women in Secularism 4 conference and the annual CFI Leadership Conference.
Debbie is also engaged in LGBTQ activism, civil rights work, and training new organizers in her community. She facilitates workshops and gives presentations on campaign-building, evidence-based activism, diversity and outreach, group organizing, humanism and politics, and other topics for community groups, campus groups, and national conferences across North America.
Debbie can be reached via email, on Twitter (@debgod), or at (908) 276-7300 x302.
Martina Fern
Senior Director of Development
Martina Fern is a seasoned development professional with more than 20 years of experience in fundraising for a wide range of groups, including human services, animal welfare, public media, and healthcare.
Known in the atheist community for building relationships and community, she approaches fundraising from a Humanistic Management perspective.
She is a native of Germany, where she studied languages and political science, and is engaged in civic groups including Rotary International and Zonta International.
She also advocates for such diverse topics as Holocaust remembrance, the rights of women in the caring professions, and organ donation.
Martina can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x313.
Sam McGuire
National Field Director
Sam McGuire has a varied background in counseling, education, event planning and volunteer management. As National Field Director, she works with local grassroots activists, volunteers and affiliates to help them engage on emerging local civil rights issues, advocate for state level legislation, and build thriving communities.
Sam became involved in secular organizing and activism following the 2012 Reason Rally, first becoming a founding member of the Southern Maryland Chapter of the Washington Area Secular Humanists (WASH) and later President of the regional organization. Sam has volunteered for the American Humanist Association, Camp Quest Chesapeake, and the Secular Coalition for America. In 2016, she was the volunteer coordinator for over 200 volunteers for Reason Rally, as well as helping coordinate on-site logistics. She was elected to the Board of Directors and as President of the Reason Rally Coalition. Sam previously served as a volunteer regional director overseeing the local activism in the Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland areas for American Atheists, earning her the Atheist Activist of the Year award in 2019.
McGuire has a Bachelor’s of Science in Neuropsychology from the University of Massachusetts and a Master’s of Science in Counseling from Johns Hopkins. She is a National Certified Counselor and a Certified Humanist Celebrant.
Sam can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x312.
Melina Cohen
Communications Director
A country kid from the start (and still at heart), Melina Cohen grew up in rural Iowa and was an outspoken advocate for the separation of church and state from an early age. Prior to joining American Atheists, Melina spent six years fighting harmful school privatization legislation in Nebraska, developing a deep understanding of education policy, a highly effective style of advocacy communications, and a strong aversion to the outsized influence of the religious lobby on government. In 2020, Melina co-founded the Abolish Slavery National Network and guided a constitutional amendment ballot measure to a landmark and landslide victory, making Nebraska one of the first states to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude without exception.
Melina holds a Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies in Criminal Justice, History, and English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. When she isn’t advocating for evidence-based policies that promote the common good, Melina is an avid pun-maker, piano-player, and photo-taker.
Melina can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x305.
Rob Hofmann
State Policy Manager
Rob Hofmann has been an activist and organizer for civil liberties and climate justice since 2016, fighting on issues from the campus to the federal level. Previously, Rob served as the Policy and Advocacy Director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a youth-led organization fighting to the end the War on Drugs, providing guidance to campaigns to administer the life saving opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone (Narcan) on college campuses and working to legalize cannabis at the federal level. Rob has also held several leadership roles with the DC ‘Hub’ of the Sunrise Movement, working to establish a carbon-neutral public housing office in the District to expand affordable housing and promote a Green New Deal.
Rob also currently serves as a Steering Committee Member of DC’s Police Out of Transportation Coalition, seeking to develop a traffic enforcement alternative to police for most traffic stops. From Upstate New York with a few years in Providence, Rob has been based in DC since 2019.
Rob can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x314.
Geoffrey Blackwell
Litigation Counsel
Geoffrey Blackwell joined American Atheists in September 2016. As litigation counsel, he responds to reports of possible violations of the separation between religion and government, works with government officials to find mutually acceptable solutions to potential issues, and manages litigation if issues cannot be resolved amicably.
Prior to joining the staff of American Atheists, Geoffrey served as Associate Counsel in a New Jersey civil litigation firm. Every year, he volunteers as a judge for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, in which law students from 87 countries compete in a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Humanist Network.
While earning his JD from Rutgers School of Law, he participated in the school’s Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation Clinic, served as the President of the Rutgers-Camden International Law Society, and independently researched religious discrimination in employment. Prior to law school, he received a Bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia College.
Geoffrey can be reached via email, on Twitter (@BlackwellEsq), or at (908) 276-7300 x310.
Anthony J. Crincoli
Program Manager
Anthony J. Crincoli is a program manager for American Atheists. They are a proud New Jersey native and Rutgers University graduate with a degree in Psychology and Evolutionary Anthropology. As program manager, Anthony supports American Atheists’ programs and projects by filling a variety of production, administrative, and creative roles. Having worked previously as a professional archaeologist, they feel right at home surrounded by the material culture contained within the Charles E. Stevens American Atheist Library and Archives.
Anthony can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x306.
Emily Stinson
Membership Services Coordinator
Emily Stinson has happily served as the Membership Services Coordinator for American Atheists since early 2024. She is excited about advocating for secular values, fostering a sense of belonging within the organization’s diverse membership base, connecting with like-minded individuals, and supporting the nonreligious community in various ways.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Emily is deeply passionate about animal rights and LGBTQ+ activism as a firm believer that all living beings are deserving of equal rights. She loves horror movies (the worse they are, the better!) and enjoys spending time in her kitchen, creating unique and delicious cocktails, and outdoors, hiking and taking in everything nature has to offer with her loving pitbull mix, Jasper.
Emily can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x307.
Sonia Fisher
Finance Manager
Sonia Fisher has worked with American Atheists since 2015. She oversees the fulfillment of orders from the American Atheists store, handles accounts receivable and payable, and serves as the primary point of contact for vendors and contractors who work with American Atheists. Sonia manages American Atheists’ state registrations, auditing, and inventory. Before joining American Atheists, Sonia worked with Operating Engineers Local 825.
Sonia can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x303.