We are proud to announce Secular Women Work, a conference by and for activists is returning this year. Do you want to build strong non-religious communities? Do you want to change our laws and our culture to be more accepting and accommodating of non-believers? Even if Secular Activism is not your primary, this is for you! Join us in Minneapolis in August 2018.

We live in a society in which unpaid work disproportionately falls to women. Unfortunately, this means that volunteer work, including activist work, is too often undervalued. We’re here to change that.

The Secular Women Work conference is a celebration of the work of female activists who create and run projects and communities in the secular movement. And there is no better way to honor their work than by using their expertise to help us all become better activists.

At Secular Women Work, you will find workshops: both hands-on exercises to develop your skills and facilitated group discussions where you can share challenges and solutions with other activists. You will find panels on specialist topics, with panelists who can help you broaden the horizons of your activism. And when you’re ready for a rest, you’ll find speakers who will entertain and inspire you with stories and lessons from their own work. In between it all, you’ll find a conference full of other activists who want to make a difference in the world.

All workshop leaders, all panelists, and all speakers will be experienced female or genderqueer activists with demonstrated accomplishments and skills to share. We are excited to announce accomplished activists appearing at Secular Women Work: Jessica Xiao, former program assistant at the American Humanist Association and current Prison Book Club Coordinator; Greta Christina, writer and cofounder of Godless Perverts; and Mandisa Thomas, founder and President of Black Nonbelievers. We are working now to add more speakers, so keep your eye on this space for announcements.

The Center for Inquiry is also offering Secular Celebrant training on Friday August 24 before the conference. This is a separate event from the conference, but this training isn’t typically available in Minnesota. You can find more information or register here. (Note that the state of Minnesota does not currently recognize Secular Celebrants as legal marriage officiants, but Minnesota Atheists and the Center for Inquiry are working to change that.)

The conference will be held in the historic Humphrey Conference Center on the University of Minnesota’s West Bank. The center is ADA compliant and situated on light rail.

So, come join us this August 24st through the 26th for the Secular Women Work conference, and help support the women who work to make these communities happen! Make your pledge now to secure your ticket to the conference, or pledge to build a better movement by helping us make more, and more effective, activists.