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 or at (908) 276-7300 x308.
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 or at (908) 276-7300 x302.
Martina Fern
Senior Director of Development
For more than 25 years, Martina has raised funds for a wide range of causes, including human services, animal welfare, public media, and healthcare. As Senior Director of Development for American Atheists, Martina coordinates the organization’s comprehensive fundraising effort and helps donors find the best way to support their favorite causes.
Known for building long-term relationships, she approaches fundraising from a collaborative and straightforward perspective. She’s likely to surprise you by telling you how “the sausage is made” in the fundraising world, and by pointing you to another organization if their values more closely align with yours.
Martina is a native of Germany, where she studied languages and political science before immigrating to the United States in 1989. She works from her home office in Lewiston, NY, where she lives with husband Paul, dog Scotty, and bird Digby. Her happy place is a nearby horse sanctuary, where she joyfully gets dirty and smelly every week.
Martina can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x313.
Sam McGuire
Director of Grassroots Organizing & Advocacy
Sam McGuire has a diverse background in counseling, education, event planning, and volunteer management. As Director of Grassroots Organizing & Advocacy she works to expand the organization’s grassroots network, shapes state-level advocacy initiatives, and builds strong coalitions with allied organizations. In this role, she oversees volunteer organizers, community leaders, and field staff to mobilize supporters, influence policy, promote secular values, and foster 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. She joined American Atheists’ staff that same year as National Field Director.
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
Director of Strategic Communications & Policy Engagement
Melina Cohen joined American Atheists in 2023 with a wealth of experience in nonprofit communications, policy advocacy, and grassroots organizing. As Director of Strategic Communications & Policy Engagement and Editor-in-Chief of American Atheist magazine, Melina crafts compelling, evidence-based, and mission-driven messaging that’s both responsive to the moment and reflective of American Atheists’ history as one of the nation’s leading religious equality watchdogs and nonreligious civil rights organizations.
Proud to hail from the rural Midwest, Melina previously spent six years fighting harmful school privatization legislation in Nebraska, where she developed a deep appreciation for public schools and grew increasingly troubled by the outsized influence of the religious lobby on government.
Melina holds a Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies in Criminal Justice, History, and English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is a co-founder of the Abolish Slavery National Network, and her writing has been featured in Newsweek.
Melina can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x305.
Geoffrey Blackwell
Legal Director
Geoffrey Blackwell joined American Atheists in 2016. As Legal Director, Geoffrey oversees American Atheists’ efforts to repair officials’ and judges’ understanding of the First Amendment and the separation between religion and government. He takes point in crafting American Atheists’ litigation strategy, monitors federal legislation and policy developments, weighs in on relevant court cases through amicus briefs, and works to educate the legal community through outreach and scholarly writing.
Geoffrey also has a passion for international human rights law and volunteers each year as a judge for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. While earning his JD from Rutgers School of Law, he participated in the school’s Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation Clinic and served as the president of the International Law Society at Rutgers University School of Law (Camden).
Geoffrey can be reached via email 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.
Victoria Anderson
State Policy Specialist
Victoria Anderson joined American Atheists in January 2025. As State Policy Specialist, Victoria manages American Atheists’ state-level advocacy efforts, including tracking legislation, coordinating with local advocates and partner organizations, communicating with state lawmakers, developing advocacy materials, and fostering grassroots engagement.
While attending law school at St. John’s University School of Law, Victoria researched church-state separation and racial equity, with a special emphasis on how those issues affect public education. She served as the president of her law school’s chapter and later as a board member of the Secular Student Alliance.
Prior to her current role, Victoria worked for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and as a law clerk for American Atheists. Victoria also holds a degree in computer science from Marshall University.
Victoria can be reached via email or at (908) 276-7300 x314.
