The Incomplete "Disclosure" of Atheist Alliance International


by Preston Jensen

I am currently an individual member of Atheist Alliance International.

Since 2018, a number of people and organisations have been asking questions about what really happened around the time of the meeting on 20 May 2018 that the current "board" of Atheist Alliance International (AAI) calls their 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM). For example, two articles containing questions for AAI have been published by others on this blog:

In fairness to the people who call themselves the current board of AAI, they have now attempted to answer some of these earlier questions in what they call a "Disclosure Document".

In a members-only section of the AAI website that introduces the Disclosure Document, the AAI "board" states:

"The board has prepared a disclosure document that sets out to openly acknowledge everything the organization has done that could be called into question. Nothing is held back. Honesty is the best policy."

In the opening pages of the Disclosure Document, it says that:

"... it is intended to present a complete list of these things [that have not been done properly] in the spirit of full disclosure–it is only in the knowledge of what was not done properly that informed decisions can be made about how to put things right. This document is not about avoiding criticisms, it is about openly facing up to them.

If members wish to understand why some things were not done properly, they are free to send questions to the AAI Secretary or to raise questions at the upcoming EGM (see below). The board will tell you what they know or have discovered without spin or deception."

and:

"The board has called an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) for January 15, 2023, and encourages all members to attend. It is vital that AAI members decide the future of their organization. The board is putting these matters entirely into the hands of members to resolve."

Members of AAI may propose motions that will be voted on at the EGM. According to the current AAI bylaws, motions must be proposed for the upcoming EGM no later than Sunday 18 December 2022. In a letter to affiliate members released by a whistleblower today, AAI Acting President Brian Kernick tells affiliate members that he is extending this deadline (in contravention of the bylaws) to Wednesday 28 December.

Unfortunately, the investigation on which the Disclosure Document reports was not carried out by an independent investigator, and there is a lot of relevant evidence that appears not to have been considered by the investigators. So while the Disclosure Document answers some questions, many more questions remain unanswered.

As a current member of AAI, I accepted the offer to ask questions of the AAI board. I asked some questions in the members-only section of the AAI website, and I sent more questions to the AAI "board" by email on 12 December 2022. A link to my full set of questions is at the end of this article.

At the time of writing, I have received no reply to the questions that I sent by email. I have not even received an acknowledgement from the AAI "board" that they received either my email on 12 December, or my follow-up emails on 15 and 17 December.

The reason I am publishing this article now is because, at the moment, AAI members only have the information in the original Disclosure Document to inform any motions that they wish to propose at the EGM. We already know for certain that there is some incorrect information in the Disclosure Document, but the corrections have not yet been communicated to members. In addition, some of the questions I asked relate to critical corporate governance issues that were not mentioned at all in the Disclosure Document.

In the notice of the EGM sent to voting members, Brian Kernick (Acting President) says:

"Our intention is to clear the air and allow AAI to make a new start so we can continue promoting secularism, supporting atheist organisations, saving the lives of atheists and making a difference for people worldwide. Please be a part of this process."

Unless AAI answers all outstanding questions fully and honestly before the deadline on 28 December, it will be impossible for members to propose informed motions for that EGM, and it will therefore be impossible for the EGM to fulfil its intended purpose. The Disclosure Document, and the EGM, will have achieved nothing.

Link: Email to the AAI "board"

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