IAF Leadership
JASON BENELL - President
Jason Benell is a father, a combat veteran, a humanist, a community volunteer, and an atheist living in Des Moines, Iowa. He has been a community volunteer in central Iowa for more than a decade, serving as a member of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers as well as sitting on the board of multiple non-profits that provide cultural, economic, and educational enrichment for community members of all ages.
Jason lives with his wife and two children and enjoys trail cycling, video games, community volunteering, and discussing politics over a drink or two.
BOB COOK - Vice President
vice-president@iowaatheists.org
I was raised a good Presbyterian on a farm in Ottumwa, Iowa. I am a lifelong skeptic ever since ninth grade when I discovered that ancient aliens aren’t real and Erich von Däniken is a god damned liar.
I have been an atheist since my college days in the early eighties. I shed the last of my religious belief after taking a philosophy class from a professor who was really good at his job. (It turns out that atheism makes way more sense than an omnipotent, loving god who drowns the world in a fit of pique.)
I work in medical imaging at a local hospital. I enjoy science fiction conventions, growing my own tomatoes and peppers, and I make a mean salsa.
ROBERT HOFFMAN - Secretary
JENA LUKSETICH - Treasurer
I was born and raised in Iowa. I lived in San Francisco for ten years, and Chicago for two before making my way back to Iowa to raise my kids with the support of family.
I grew up Catholic and remember questioning many stories in catechism class as early as elementary school. I never had any personal negative experiences with religion, but it was easy for me to separate myself from a power structure that is too often used to manipulate and harm vulnerable people.
The value I have worked to instill in my kids is:
“Do good and be kind to other humans because it is the right thing to do, not because you think you will be rewarded or out of fear of punishment.”
ASHLEY HAGAR - Board Director At-Large
Former IAF President and long time activist. Proud mother and community volunteer!
REID WIGHTMAN - Board Director At-Large
My background as an atheist was a secular upbringing, a brief foray in religiosity, then finally coming around to understanding that we can't
answer some of the big questions that we ask in life. And that's okay.
With our limited number of trips around the sun, it's important to use
our time to make life a little better for future generations.
It's also important to have a little fun while we're here. In my free
time I enjoy long distance bicycling, sailing, canoeing, backpacking,
and reading any science fiction that explores humanity through zany
technological or cultural confrontations.