A Letter to the SSA Community from Elena Howells, Acting Executive Director

Dear SSA Community,

In case we haven’t met, my name is Elena Howells, and I am delighted to introduce myself as the acting Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance. Last week was tremendous; I enter this role at a time when I feel such hope for our collective future. Citizens across the country rejected a society driven by Christian Nationalism, fear, and political tribalism and instead reached toward a future that embraces our inherent value as humans, regardless of our individual beliefs, and makes space for progress toward universal human and environmental flourishing. 

Thank you for your commitment to our mission and our students. We cannot do this work alone. Your support makes it possible for SSA to provide resources for students who are atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, advocates for state-church separation, and any others who identify as holding secular values, and to help those same students grow into the leaders of tomorrow.

The act of advocating for a better world is fundamental to the work of SSA. Our students across the United States are active and intentional about creating spaces where everyone is welcome but nothing is sacred. Student chapters are engaged in everything from building communities for secular and nonreligious students, executing food and clothing drives, running voter registration campaigns, and engaging in intellectual debate and discovery. Secular students show up every day for their fellow human beings, and I am so proud to be at an organization that centers student actions, student interests, and student leadership in everything we do.

A little bit about me: I’ve spent my career working in higher education, most recently as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Registration at University of Western States. My role there focused on creating broad systems and policies to serve students, individualized resources for students that need support, and opportunities for connection between students. Students are the heart of SSA, and I’m looking forward to applying these areas of expertise to further our mission. 

On a personal level, I was drawn to working at SSA because of a strong personal alignment with the mission. We cannot have a functional democracy in our nation until we reject religious supremacy and fully unwind our public institutions from its influence. A strong separation of institutions protects our fundamental right to freedom of and from religion, and it creates fertile ground for all people, regardless of their beliefs, to thrive. This is our work, and it must be done. 

Now that you know a bit about me and why the work of SSA matters to me, I want to hear about you. What is most important to you about our mission? What’s the number one thing on your mind as we work toward building a secular future? What can SSA do better? How can we create meaningful structures for connection and growth for our community? 

These are the questions that I’m pondering as I step into the role of acting Executive Director, and I welcome your thoughts. Please email me at elena.howells@secularstudents.org. I’m excited to get to know our community better, and I look forward to hearing your answer to “Why SSA?”

With gratitude,

Elena