Catherine Carney — President

Catherine works as a community based family therapist in two rural counties in east central Ohio. In her practice with high risk youth and her family she attempts to not only use evidence based therapy modalities, but to embody Humanist ideals of reason, compassion, responsibility, and social justice. She is also currently undergoing training to become certified in the Neurosequential Model of Therapy along with her existing family therapy and social work licensure.

In her free time, Catherine serves on the board for the Humanist Community of Central Ohio, raises and shows poultry, runs a small flock of Shetland sheep, and grows heritage vegetables and native plants. She is also a hand spinner and knitter, grows orchids, and hikes and canoes around Ohio when the weather cooperates.

 Carl Tracy — Vice President

Carl likes making things on computers and building things in his free time which is useful because he lives on a horse farm and there’s always something to build or fix on a farm. He studied physics but his day job is in finance, which he doesn’t talk about much because people seem to find physics more interesting than finance. He was raised in an evangelical church, but became a Humanist in his 20s – even though he didn’t know the word for it until much later. He has run the Skeptics at the Pub meetup since 2010 and plans to do so for the foreseeable future. Carl joined the board because he wanted to be more involved with the Humanist community and give back to the people in central Ohio who have made him feel so welcome here.

Bob Leonhard — Treasurer

I grew up in Grove City and graduated from GCHS in 1975. I earned my BA in History and Archaeology in 1987 and my Master of Public Administration in 1992 both from OSU. I entered the fire service in 1995 and was hired full time for Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District, from which I retired in December, 2018 with 23 years service. I did public sector consulting for 20 years, primarily with local fire departments. I fell in love with investing in 1987 and have remained fascinated with the financial world ever since. I started my financial planning/tax preparation and tax planning firm, Vital Signs Financial Services in January, 2010. I was raised Methodist, but realized early in my academic career that there is no validity in religion and so I have followed a secular path since about age 18. I have been married to my lovely wife, Mary, for over 37 years and we have no children. I volunteer with the Ohio History Connection, Honor Flights, the Humanist Community of Central Ohio, Foxfire Golf Course and soon, The Nature Conservancy. Among my too many hobbies are golf, custom pen making, woodworking, photography, Spanish language study and I love to read and own too many books, but I’m not bored.

Ben Iten - Secretary

Ben is now an endorsed Humanist Chaplain, but he was raised in the evangelical church. Over time his academic studies in Judaism (at The Ohio State University) and Bible Interpretation (at the University of Oxford) challenged him to rethink how he understood religion and spirituality. Eventually this rethinking led him to Humanism and its progressive outlook on life. Humanist values continue to inspire Ben’s work as a Chaplain for OhioHealth where he helps people find their inherent worth and dignity. When he’s not out visiting patients, he’s teaching new chaplains and advocating for Humanism at the national level. He is the first openly Humanist Chaplain to seek certification from the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education as a Certified Educator. Ben is excited to bring his skills and training to HCCO where he can continue the work of building a supportive and engaging community.

Ben Withman

Ben is a long-term member who decided to step up and help organize HCCO

Paul Ventling

Paul is a life-long atheist. He loves music and animals.