Meet the Team
Andrew Skegg
Acting President
Andrew has been involved in the atheist community since starting a largely ignored and now closed Youtube channel. He went on to host the Godless Business podcast, founded the Stop the National School Chaplaincy Program Facebook group, was involved in the Census No Religion campaign, and organised the Unholy Trinity Downunder tour.
Karen Joyce
Secretary
I first learned the word “philosophy” by way of religious indoctrination at primary school.
The subject seemed fascinating but it worked against those who misused the word.
The more I learned about it, the less I liked dogma and indoctrination.
Steve Marton
Treasurer
Steve was an optometrist who helped people see in the literal sense, but latterly has sought to help people see in the religious sense. He wrote “The Man who created God” to show that the foundations of the Abrahamic religions were built on sand, that the Bible and Koran are based on fiction. Steve has been on the committee of, or served as President of Sydney Atheists for many years. In that time he has hosted over 80 talks. Sydney Atheists have partnered with the AFA in the 2014 “Have you escaped religion? We have!” billboard campaign as well as the 2016 and 2021 Census campaigns
Stephen Wale
Vice President
Russell Hanna
Communications Manager
Leonie Moore
Assistant Secretary
Leonie grew up in a church-going family, her father being a farmer and an Anglican priest, and “gave her life to Christ” as a teenager. However in her early twenties she began to question that faith, and finally decided to take the step towards Atheism. As an atheist, Leonie feels free to be able to better accept other people as they are, and life makes much more sense. She still maintains relationships with people of Faith, and fortunately she was able to retain a good relationship with her liberal-minded father, who famously declared that “If evolution isn’t true, then I wasted my time all those years trying to breed better sheep!”
Neil Raine
Committee Member
Neil is a lifetime atheist who’s been a member of the Perth atheist community for over 10 years. He is particularly interested in issues around separation of church and state and passionately believes that the church has no role in the functioning of government. He has previously worked in the mining and chemical industries in Western Australia and in the US since his graduation.
Adam Reakes
Committee Member
Adam has previously worked with the AFA on the 2016 Census No Religion campaign and the 2015 Unholy Trinity Down Under tour, which brought Mat Dillahunty, Seth Andrews, and Aron Ra to the three eastern capitals. He has hosted the Herd Mentality podcast for several years and interviewed many high profile communicators such as Ricky Gervais, Brian Dunning, and Dr Karl. The show also raised money for a sexual assault survivor to take her attacker to court, a war veteran to get back on his feet, and provided dozens of microloans to women in developing countries to further their education. Adam would like to remind you that you are all individuals.
Josh Pomykala
Committee Member
Marino Juric
Committee Member
Marino has been a AFA member since 2010 and joined management in mid 2018 and enjoying helping where he can , currently learning acoustic guitar and reading “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins.
Michael Beecham
Committee Member
Mike became actively engaged in the atheist community shortly after moving to Australia in 2006 when he was shocked by the overt use of religion in public life, politics and the workplace. He took over the role of Treasurer in mid 2018 after joining the committee a year earlier for that purpose.