Tony Hileman

From Philosopedia

Hileman, Tony (15 April 1943 - )

A writer and speaker, Hileman was the Executive Director of the American Humanist Association (AHA) from 1999 to 2005. He coordinated the AHA's move to Washington, D.C., and worked to stimulate the AHA's growth by promoting the Humanist outlook at conferences, forums, and chapter events across the country.

Hileman began his first career in business renovating large homes into multiple-unit residences in his native Indianapolis, then developed a chain of small retail shops in central Indiana.

He and his wife, Betty, spent a number of years living in Europe where he began his second career in wire service journalism working in Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa for United Press International. His thriving journalism career led the two of them back to the United States and eventually to Washington, DC, where he continued to travel extensively around the globe as an executive for Agence France Presse (AFP).

Disenchanted with corporate life, Hileman left AFP and began his next career as an independent consultant, first in the field of journalism and then more broadly. He eventually specialized as an executive coach helping individuals achieve personal as well as professional success while simultaneously discovering the vast numbers of people who support a Humanist lifestance similar to his own.

In 2005 upon becoming senior leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, he said,

• The path that brought me to Ethical Culture is a familiar one. While the timing may differ for each of us, we likely share a common experience. Most of us were born into one religious or ideological life stance or another, separated from it, and then spent a period actively or passively searching for something that resonated with us. For me, the quest began early. I was questioning the tradition of my birth and its basic beliefs by the time I was eight, rejected them by age ten, fell inactive by 12, and was disassociated by 15. After openly separating from any practice at all, I drifted for the better part of three decades while shaping my own humanistic outlook before happening on Humanism and Ethical Culture. The unexpected and almost accidental discovery that there was a developed body of thought and action that fit my own thinking perfectly was a validating relief. It not only affirmed my sense of self but it encouraged me to bring that same sense to others.