Our Hosts & Speakers

Kristine Chan

Filipino Freethinkers

Kristine Chan is a queer visual artist and designer from the Philippines, working on both digital and traditional mediums. They are the co-founder and President of Filipino Freethinkers (FF), a civil society organization that has been promoting reason, science, and secularism in the Philippines since 2009.

Filipino Freethinkers is at the forefront of the sociopolitical battle for human rights that have been blocked because of religious bigotry, including women’s rights (SRHR, abortion, divorce, feminism), LGBTQI+ rights, and freedom of expression. Their projects include working with both secular and religious organizations, including legislators and other government officials, to protect the secularism enshrined in our constitution. FF’s advocacy of secularism and human rights has received several notable awards and has been featured frequently in mainstream media, resulting in a significant following online.

Kristine is in charge of advocacy and campaigns for Filipino Freethinkers and has led several successful grants and projects. They work with various NGOs, international and local advocacy networks, and youth organizations to provide technical assistance, conceptualize and implement campaigns, facilitate workshops, build websites, and design publications and merchandise. Together with FF, they are an advocacy representative of civil society organizations in the National Implementation Team of the RPRH Law.

Filipino Freethinkers
Website: filipinofreethinkers.org
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freethinkers
Facebook forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffreethinkers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ffreethinkers

Red Tani

Filipino Freethinkers

Red Tani has advocated critical thinking, evidence-based legislation, religious freedom, and other human rights since 2009 when he founded Filipino Freethinkers. Their advocacy has been featured in Philippine and international media, receiving awards such as the Globe Tatt award and the Rappler Do More award.

His advocacy continues as a representative in the RH Law national implementation team, as a founding member of Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network, and as part of various organizations working on sexual and reproductive health and rights, feminism and gender equality, and freedom of speech and religion.

Passionate about the power of stories and storytelling for advocacy, he shares fiction-based techniques for writing, speaking, and presenting in lectures and workshops around the Philippines.

Filipino Freethinkers
Website: filipinofreethinkers.org
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freethinkers
Facebook forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffreethinkers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ffreethinkers

Danielle Hill

Filipino Freethinkers

Danielle Hill is an award-winning playwright and orator, an educator, and an aspiring feminist academic. She is currently taking up a Master’s degree in Women and Development Studies at the University of the Philippines – Diliman.

Dani has been involved in advocacy work since 2015, and is a former Chair of Young Humanists International’s Asian Regional Committee. This is her sixth Asian Humanism Conference, and her second time attending it as an organizer/co-host.

Filipino Freethinkers
Website: filipinofreethinkers.org
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freethinkers
Facebook forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ffreethinkers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ffreethinkers

Guy P. Harrison

Author

Guy P. Harrison is an award-winning author, journalist, and public
advocate for science and reason. He has more than 20 years’ experience in news media as a newspaper/magazine editor, editorial writer, columnist, feature writer, travel writer, environment correspondent, book reviewer, sports editor, and television news reporter.

Harrison’s book Race and Reality: What everyone should know about our biological diversity has been incorporated into an education program at the Holocaust Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life was selected by the San Diego Union Tribune as a top-five summer book. Think: Why You Should Question Everything was selected by Random House as recommended reading for all freshmen students in the United States.

For his work, Harrison was awarded the WHO (World Health Organization) National Award for Health Reporting, and the Commonwealth Media Award for Excellence in Journalism. His books have been translated into Japanese, Korean, Italian, Czech, Arabic, and Russian.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros [TBC]

Senate of the Philippines

Senator Risa Hontiveros is known for her tireless work in promoting public health, women’s rights, and the welfare of the Filipino family.

Since her election to the Senate in 2016, she has already championed 14 landmark laws, including the historic Expanded Maternity Leave Law, the Philippine Mental Health Law, and the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Law or the “Bawal Bastos Law.”

As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, she is currently working to expand the Solo Parents’ Act and to increase the monthly pension of senior citizens through the Lingap Para Kay Lolo at Lola Bill.

She has received many accolades even before becoming a legislator, including a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination for her work in the peace movement.

Despite her busy schedule, Senator Hontiveros is a loving and hands-on mother to 4 children – Kiko, Ianna, Issa, and Sinta.

Fraser Sutherland

Humanist Society Scotland

Fraser Sutherland is Chief Executive of Humanist Society Scotland a position he has held since May 2019, prior to this he ran the organisation’s communications and campaigns work. Fraser’s career has focussed on public affairs and campaigning work in the charity sector. Prior to Covid-19 restrictions Humanist Society Scotland celebrants provided over 6,500 humanist ceremonies attended by over one million people a year. Humanist Weddings are now more common in Scotland than Christian marriages of all denominations combined with humanist funerals and namings continuing to increase in popularity. In research half of the Scottish population reported knowing about humanism and the Society, with ceremonies the greatest driver of this awareness. Fraser lives in central Scotland with his wife, daughter and jack russell terrier.

Humanist Society Scotland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HumanistSocietyScotland/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HumanistSocietyScotlandCeremonies
Twitter: https://twitter.com/humanistsociety
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hss_ceremonies/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7LJDpLrSZU1XhUeUmOKGyQ

Tale Pleym

Norwegian Humanist Association

Tale is a member of the Commission of European Humanist Professionals, and the Head of the Ceremonial Department at the Norwegian Humanist Association. The Ceremonial Department consists of six full-time staff working nationally with the organization’s four ceremonies: naming, confirmation, wedding and funeral. The Norwegian Humanist Association has the legal right to wed, and has local offices all over Norway, with trained volunteers conducting ceremonies locally/regionally.

Tale conducts Humanist weddings. Before becoming Head of the department, she worked six years as wedding advisor for the team.

Tale received her Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication from Cardiff University, and her Master of Arts in Media and Political Communications from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is married to a Welsh man, has two sons (aged 12 and 7), and is politically active in her hometown, Oslo.
Norwegian Humanist Association
Website: www.human.no

Giovanni Gaetani

Humanists International

Giovanni Gaetani is the Membership Engagement Management of Humanists International and started working for the organization in 2017. He has a PhD in Philosophy from Rome Tor Vergata University and has published two books: “Atheism and Philosophy without Gibberish” (Nessun Dogma); “Against nihilism. The atheist and humanist wager of Sisyphus” (Diogene Multimedia).

Before joining the Humanists International, Giovanni worked as a volunteer for the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR). In 2013 he won the UAAR best thesis prize with his work on “Nihilism and Responsibility at the age of God’s death in Nietzsche and Camus”. He is the author of “Good without a God: an illustrated guide to humanism”, published in 2021 by UAAR Giovani in collaboration with Young Humanists International.

Humanists International
Website: https://humanists.international
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/humanistsinternational

Anya Overmann

Young Humanists International

Anya Overmann is President of Young Humanists International and has held multiple roles in the American Ethical Union, specifically in the youth section. She was raised in the Ethical Culture movement and attended the Ethical Society of St. Louis since she was a young child.

Anya received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Truman State University and is a freelancing writer currently living as a digital nomad. Her passion lies in advocating vigorously for humanist and progressive values both within and beyond the United States.

Young Humanists International
Website: https://humanists.international/about/young-humanists-international/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/YoungHumanistsInternational
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YoungHumanIntl
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/younghumanistsinternational/

Ambraham Mandac

Proactive Philippine Humanists (ProPH)

Abe is the chosen spokeperson for the Council of Philippine Secular Organizations (COPSO), a loose coalition of secular groups in the Philippines. He decided to abandon religion in 2014 after having been an evangelical Christian for over 25 years. His exit journey began with one simple question: Why do I believe the things that I believe? “The more I read, the more strongly I became convinced of the poverty of the case for Christianity, especially evangelicalism and other fundamentalist variants. But I’ve also since come to realize that for the most part, our enemy are atrocious ideas – not people.” He hopes to serve the Philippine secular community by helping foster an environment where people can question and deconvert gracefully, positively, and compassionately.

Abe has worked for the media, the government, the development sector, and an evangelical Christian organization. He is currently employed in a private firm, but hopes to be increasingly involved in the secular community’s activities as Filipino society reemerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

DJ Tan

HumanistSG

Ding Jie is the Young Humanists International Regional Coordinator for Asia, and Vice President of Humanist Society Singapore. His exposure to humanism began when he started studying in the UK and volunteered with the student humanist society at UCL.

Now that he is back in Singapore, he sees that there is a need for a humanist, non-religious community to defend secular spaces, promote inter-ethnic and inter-religious understanding, and encourage active citizenry.

Humanist Society Singapore
Website: https://humanist.org.sg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humanist.org.sg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humanistsg/

L

Malaysia Atheists and Secular Humanists

L is the current president of Malaysian Atheists and Secular Humanists (MASH). Due to security reasons, their identity has to be concealed.

Javan Poblador

Young Humanists International

Javan joined Humanists International as Young Humanists International Coordinator and Social Media Consultant in February 2021. He works with young humanists worldwide, focusing on their development and growth as humanists. He also manages the social media platforms of Humanists International and assists in creating materials to promote humanism.

Before joining Humanists International, Javan has been active in community work zeroing on environmental conservation, climate justice, human rights, and civic engagement advocacies since 2012. He is currently the Chief Executive of Humanists Alliance Philippines International, a government-registered and progressive humanist organization in the Philippines that stands for human rights, secular education and strives for a world free from violence and division.

Javan is the co-founder and former pioneer president of the Association of Young Environmental Journalists, a youth-led environmental media organization. He is also the former Director for Design and Creatives of ATO-ClimatEducate Project, scholar alumni of Temasek Foundation International – Specialists Community Action and Leadership Exchange program in Singapore, and represented the Philippines during the ASEAN Plus Three Youth Environment Forum 2019 in Thailand.

Young Humanists International
Website: https://humanists.international/about/young-humanists-international/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/YoungHumanistsInternational
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YoungHumanIntl
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/younghumanistsinternational/

Nazhath Faheema

hash.peace

Nazhath Faheema is a social harmony activist. She is the Founder and President of hash.peace. She is engaged in conducting inter-ethnic and inter-belief interactions and raising awareness about religiously motivated extremist and exclusive ideologies since 2015.

She is currently a postgraduate student at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies pursuing MSc Asian Studies.

Faheema is also the Chairperson for Jamiyah Singapore Youth Group that is focused on the active citizenry and youth leadership development. She is also actively engaged in other volunteer work.

hash.peace
Website: www.hashpeace.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hashpeacesg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hashpeace_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hashpeace_/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hash-peace/

Ramdeo Vishwabandhu

Ambedkar Social Institute

Ramdeo Vishwabandhu serves as Secretary for the Ambedkar Social Institute. He has a post-graduate degree in Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies, and is a trainer in social motivation. He works among Dalit, tribal and minority communities of Indian society, seeking to develop a scientific temperament, advocate Humanist values, and promote composite culture and heritage in Indian society.

Ambedkar Social Institute
Website: www.ambedkarsocial.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ambedkarsoocialinstitute

Rishvin Ismath

Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka

Rishvin Ismath is the Co-founder and present Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka. He is also a referee for the Sri Lankan Rugby Union.

Rishvin was an Islamist actively involved with Jama’athe Islami at the beginning and then worked with Thawheed and Salafi movements in Sri Lanka before becoming an ex-Muslim in 2013. From 2014 onward he presented constructive criticism about Islam and questioned the faith. He is the only openly ex-Muslim Tamil activist to present criticism in the Tamil language.

He made statements before the Parliamentary Select Committee and Presidential Commission of Inquiry regarding Islamist extremism in Sri Lanka, and exposed the extremist materials from Sri Lankan school textbooks. For his activism, ISIS attempted to kill him months before the Easter Sunday suicide attacks. He also actively participates in activities for the rights of children, women, laborers, and war victims (disappearances), and fought for justice in the Darun Nusra Children’s Home sexual abuse case together with his Muslim friend Fayaz A. Razack.
Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka
Website: www.cemsl.org
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cemsl.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cemslorg

Sudesh Ghoderao

Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations

Dr. Sudesh Ghoderao is the National General Secretary of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) and the Secretary for International Cooperation at Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS). He is an Associate Professor of Chemistry in RNC Arts, JDB Commerce and NSC Science College in Maharashtra, India, with 29 years of teaching experience. In 2019, he coordinated the International Conference on Rationalism for Humanity at Mumbai, in celebration of MANS’ 30th anniversary. His fields of interest are superstition eradication, development of scientific temper, science communication, and chemistry. In his 31 years of activism with MANS, Dr. Ghoderao has delivered more than 1000 lectures on the eradication of superstitions and development of scientific temper, debunking and exposing “miracles” performed by “Godmen” in India. He also guided the Ugandan Parliamentary Forum for Children (UPFC) in enacting the ‘Uganda Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Act 2020’. In 2020, his contributions to organized humanism were recognized when Humanists International awarded him the Distinguished Service to Humanism Award.

Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA)
Website: https://fira.org.in/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FIRAsocial

Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS)
Website: https://mans.org.in/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/MaharashtraANiS/

Uttam Niraula

Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal

Uttam Niraula is a board member of Humanists International, a founding member of the YHI Asian Regional Committee, and founded the Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal, the only registered Humanist organization in Nepal. He is a journalist and social worker by profession, and is currently working for WHO and the Ministry for Health (Nepal) and Population to organize information about COVID-19. Niraula has written 6 books in Nepali, and several articles to promote Humanism. He has an MA in Sociology, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Conflict, Peace and Development studies.

Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal
Website: www.sochnepal.org
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sochnepa