The Executive Director of AHA, Tony Hileman, told the board of directors one of his primary projects for the coming year is to improve the association's relations with local chapters and individual members. Hileman said the transfer of membership records and chapter records from the Amherst, NY office to the new Washington DC office will soon be completed. A program to make members and chapters more aware of the value of belonging to the American Humanist Association will be evident in the near future. The success of this project is vital to fulfilling the new AHA Mission Statement approved by the board and members attending the June conference in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. The adopted mission statement defines AHA as a democratic voice for humanism whose aim is to increase public awareness and understanding of humanism and to serve the needs of its members in their pursuit of living meaningful lives.

As Hileman begins his second year as Executive Director his predecessor, Fred Edwords, will devote his time and energy as Executive Editor to revising and modernizing The Humanist magazine with the goal of making it more relevant to humanism.

The board also adopted a resolution calling for the United States of America to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; a resolution opposing Capital Punishment; a resolution Opposing the Use of Corporal Punishment and a resolution calling upon the U.S. Congress and all political leaders to make protecting children from gun violence a top priority.

The following is the mission statement adopted by the board of directors:

The MISSION of the American Humanist Association is to be a clear, democratic voice for humanism in the United States, to increase public awareness and acceptance of humanism, to establish, protect and promote the position of humanists in our society, and to develop and advance humanist thought and action. Guided by reason and our rapidly growing knowledge of the world, by ethics and by compassion, the American Humanist Association is dedicated to serving the needs of its members in their pursuit of fuller, more meaningful lives that add to the greater good of our society and all humanity.

--Flo Wineriter
President, Humanists of Utah
Member AHA Board of Directors