About 1AP

The 1st Amendment Partnership (1AP) was established in 2014 and is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting religious freedom for Americans of all faiths. Based in Washington, DC, our focus is in state legislatures, the Congress, and on public education about religion’s value to the common good. 1AP grew out of the American Religious Freedom Program, an initiative begun in 2011 at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. 1AP works alongside and receives funding from a diverse array of religious organizations and foundations, and complies with all federal and state laws concerning donor disclosure.

The mission of the 1st Amendment Partnership is to promote and protect religious freedom for people of all faiths. We represent the common voice of our partnering faith communities that encompass millions of Americans. We focus on public policies and education that recognize the profound contribution of faith and religious freedom to the common good.

Board of Directors

Rev. Dr. George P. Wood is executive editor of Influence magazine and an ordained Assemblies of God minister. He lives in Springfield, Missouri, with his wife and three children. Wood holds a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, a Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary.

 

Mr. Hardy is a partner at Venable LLP in Washington, DC. He has served on a number of boards of directors and boards of trustees for both for-profit and nonprofit entities. He is currently a partner in Venable’s Corporate Group. While in private practice, he has spent many years as an officer and director of First Media Corporation, a privately-owned investment holding and broadcasting company he co-founded with the Marriott family. Mr. Hardy is also the founding chairman of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, a fifteen-thousand-member, twenty-five-year-old worldwide association of attorneys, members of the judiciary and law students. He is a member of the National Advisory Council of the University of Utah.

Mr. Ventimiglia is Chairman of the Leavitt Partners Board of Managers and Vice Chairman of Leavitt Partners Board of Directors. He also leads the Leavitt Partners D.C. office, including the firm’s alliances and federal advocacy work. In previous roles, Vince was the assistant secretary for legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Prior to his time at HHS, he served on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee as Health Policy Director of the Chairman´s Health Policy Team. In 2005, he moved with Chairman Judd Gregg to serve as Policy Director for the Senate Budget Committee, where he also worked on entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and welfare. From 1998 to 2001, he served as director of the Government Affairs Office for Medtronic, Inc., one of the world´s leading medical technology companies. Mr. Ventimiglia graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and holds a juris doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Rev. Dr. Jo Anne Lyon is the Vice President of Wesley Seminary in Marion, Indiana. Lyon was previously the General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church. Lyon was elected as the first woman General Superintendent at the June 2008 General Conference. In 2012 she was elected as the only General Superintendent of the denomination and in 2016 she was honored with the title of General Superintendent Emerita. Lyon was ordained as a minister in the Wesleyan Church in 1996 the same year that she founded World Hope International, an organization desiring to alleviate suffering and injustice through education, enterprise, and community health. She serves on the National Association of Evangelicals Board of Directors, holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Cincinnati, a Masters in Counseling from The University of Missouri-Kansas City and completed further graduate work at St. Louis University in Historical Theology.

Dr. Shirley A. Mullen currently serves as President Emeritus of Houghton College.  Born and raised in eastern Canada, Shirley graduated summa cum laude from Houghton College in 1976 and went on to earn a M.A. in history from the University of Toronto. In 1985, she completed a Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota, and in 2000 a second doctorate in philosophy from the University of Wales. Dr. Mullen spent the first twenty-three years of her academic career teaching European history at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Her special areas of interest are the Enlightenment tradition, the Victorian period in England, and David Hume. After serving as Provost at Westmont for four years, in June of 2006, Shirley accepted an invitation to return to her alma mater as its fifth president. Dr. Mullen serves as a Fuller Theological Seminary Trustee, on the Advisory Group for Books and Culture, and on the boards of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

Leadership

© 2024 1st Amendment Partnership