Outreach Staff
Jennifer Beahan is Assistant Director of CFI-Michigan. Her interests include volunteer management, program development and evaluation, secular activism, and women's rights. She holds a Bachelor's of Music Education (K-12), and in addition to her work for CFI she teaches music lessons and is a member of WaZoBia, an Afro-Cuban drum ensemble. Prior to being hired as the Assistant Director, Jennifer volunteered at CFI-Michigan for 4 years and was the editor of a quarterly newsletter, assisted in Long-Term planning and founded several ongoing programs at CFI–Michigan.
Debbie Goddard is the Director of Outreach and the Director of African Americans for Humanism. She has years of experience in volunteering and campus and community organizing. Before coming to work for CFI as a field organizer, she volunteered for CFI On Campus with local groups and on the international level as Student Publications Director and Student President. She has been involved with church-state separation and secular activism, as well as with LGBTQ and progressive issues, for over a decade.
Melody Hensley is the Executive Director of CFI-Washington DC. Ms. Hensley has a background in volunteering and community organizing. She has been involved with church-state separation and secular activism, as well as reproductive rights and progressive issues, in the DC area for over a decade. Prior to her latest role, she served as the CFI–DC event and volunteer coordinator.
Sarah Kaiser is a campus organizer for CFI On Campus. Previous to her work at CFI, she got her start in the freethought movement as the co-founder and president of the Secular Alliance at Indiana University, where she helped organize a nationally recognized atheist bus ad campaign and large campus speaking events. As an atheist, a feminist, and a small part of the universe's way of understanding itself, she is thrilled at the chance to help advance CFI's mission.
Syd LeRoy is executive director of CFI-New York City. Syd completed a bachelor's degree in studio art at CUNY-Hunter College. During their undergraduate years, Syd founded four student groups in New York dedicated to free inquiry and secular humanism. Syd also spent two years interning for CFI-NYC, assisting with campus group support, event organizing, and design. Syd became assistant director in 2011 before eventually being promoted to executive director in 2012. Syd is proud to be a part of CFI and applying their passion and creativity to support the movement.
Jefferson Seaver is a co-founder of CFI-Michigan and has served as its Executive Director for 14 years. He is a partner in a local marketing and design firm where he has been occupied for the past 18 years, and he has served on the ACLU of Western Michigan board for 10 years. Jeff was a committed, born again Christian of the fundamentalist Baptist variety for 20 years — even releasing an album as part of a Christian rock band. His deeply held religious beliefs led him to study the Bible, philosophy, apologetics, and comparative religion — which were ultimately their undoing. He reads voraciously especially about neuroscience and psychology, and has never let schooling interfere with his education.
Reba Boyd Wooden is Executive Director of CFI-Indiana as well as the director of CFI's Secular Celebrant Program. She started Humanist Friendship Group of Central Indiana in 1999, which became CFI Community of Indiana in 2005. On April 1, 2007, CFI-Indiana opened on the Indianapolis downtown canal walk at 350 Canal Walk, Suite A. Reba has a B.A from the University of Indianapolis with a major in Social Studies Education and a minor in Business Education, an M.S. from Butler University in History/Education, and an M.S. in Counseling and Counselor Education from Indiana University. She retired after 37 years in public education in 2005. She spent her last 13 years as a high school guidance counselor and the previous years in the classroom teaching mostly psychology and United States history. She is the mother of two and the grandmother of seven. She has been a member of ACLU of Indiana Board of Directors for several years and is currently serving as the board's Vice President for Education.
