President
Seanna was raised Reform (ie very liberal) Jewish, and started out as
a secularist and skeptic but at the age of 15 became an evangelical
Christian. She then spent the next 30 years returning to her senses.
Seanna joined the HAO board in 2006, and has been president since
2007.
Seanna is an electrical engineer working as a security architect for
Nortel (still). She is a model railroad hobbyist, and an amateur
biologist who enjoys the challenge of teaching creationists about
evolution (a pursuit she started while still a Christian).
As president, Seanna's goal for HAO is to help build a strong,
cohesive and vibrant community of humanists, visibly prominent on the
Ottawa landscape.
Tony joined the board in July of 2009 with the goal of improving communications within the organization as well as increasing visibility out into the community. He is a founder of the experience design studio called Teknision Inc, and brings a passion for clarity, design, and engagement to our organization.
Xander Miller is freethought and skepticism activist. He is regional coordinator for Centre for Inquiry Canada's campus outreach in North-Eastern Ontario, a founding member of the Ottawa Skeptics, and a board member of the Humanist Association of Ottawa which is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year.
Xander Miller originally graduated from Carleton in 2003 with a degree in Philosophy and a minor in Japanese. He then went on to spend the next four years teaching English in Japan. He was inspired to return to Canada and become an activist by the works of the "new atheists", particularly the works of the philosopher Daniel C. Dennett. Xander Miller also draws inspiration from the growing popularity of skeptical organizations like James Randi Educational Foundation and the New England Skeptical Society.
Xander Miller is currently finishing a second degree in Cognitive Science at Carleton and just completed his honours thesis on the necessity of naturalistic ethics in dealing with the problems of the 21st century. Xander Miller can be heard weekly on The Reality Check: Canada's premier skeptical podcast.
Mike Jan was a non-practising Agnostic/Believer who became an Atheist as a result of arguments for Atheism made by Bertrand Russell and then others such as Sigmund Freud. By the time Richard Dawkins et al. came along they were preaching to the choir with Mike. Mike has a diploma in Business Administration and a degree in Psychology. Mike was co-facilitator of a Secular Sobriety Support group in Ottawa and is currently facilitator of the Living Without Religion group hosted by the HAO. Mike is interested in the advancement of secularism in governance as the best way to achieve a truly equitable, prosperous, democratic, just, humane, sustainable and effective society.
Marlowe grew up in a religiously liberal household, leaning towards the Quaker persuasion. She was fascinated by religions from an early age and fondly remembers receiving Edith Hamilton's Mythology as a young tyke. She found God in her early twenties while studying Religion at Carleton, but her faith - once taken seriously and, therefore, seriously scrutinized - soon broke. She has been an Atheist ever since. She graduated from Carleton in 2007 with a BA in English, having minored in Religion and completed half a degree in Psychology. She is currently working in Administration for a not-for-profit organization.