Let’s Engage and Grow Humanist Communities

This speaker participated in our 2018 Conference. Learn more about our 2023 conference speakers here.

Thursday, May 17 | 4:00pm-5:00pm

AHA local groups provide wonderful opportunities for humanists to come together to do good in our communities, connect with one another, and grow as individuals. Like any relationship or organization, these groups require effort to keep people engaged in their activities and invested in their future. Come learn with other chapter and affiliate leaders how your group can attract a diverse membership, encourage members to take on leadership and/or activist roles, retain active members and visitors, and manage information for all participants.

Kristin Wintermute, Director of Education, and Emily Newman, Education Assistant, will review some recommendations on how to welcome, engage, and keep members. They will also facilitate discussion so group members can share their best practices and questions.

Emily Newman

Emily Newman is the Education Assistant at the American Humanist Association Center for Education. She holds a BS in psychology and creative writing as well as a MA in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Emily grew up in Ethical Culture and has been active with the Future of Ethical Societies, the National Ethical Service, and the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization. For over eight years, she has assisted local non-profits with social media, design, website development, and marketing.

Kristin Wintermute

Kristin Wintermute is the Director of Education for the American Humanist Association Center for Education. She has BA degrees in Psychology and Art Studio from the University of Montana and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maine, Orono. Wintermute has done post-graduate course work in Business Administration at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management; Web Design at Minneapolis College of Art and Design; and Accounting Certification at North Hennepin Community College. She worked for over seven years as a family therapist in a variety of settings, including private practice, a non-profit clinic for women and a for-profit health maintenance organization.

She is a life-long humanist who attended the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis (FUS) throughout her childhood and teen years. At first she was enrolled in FUS’s “Humanist Education Program” and in high school became a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate at the University of Montana, she used FUS’s “Humanist Education Program” curriculum at the Unitarian Fellowship of Missoula, Montana to form their first Humanist-oriented Sunday School. In 1998, she was hired by the North American Committee for Humanism (NACH) as Membership Director. In 1999, NACH and its subsidiary, The Humanist Institute, became one organization and she became its business manager and later executive director.