2026 National Convention Schedule

This year, FFRF will be offering Thursday workshops, which will begin in the early afternoon and conclude prior to the Early Bird Welcome Reception. The workshops will be located in the Baird Center. Please indicate on your convention registration form if you are interested in attending these workshops.

Convention registration will open during a complimentary Thursday Early Bird Welcome Reception from 4-6 p.m. in the Hilton Hotel’s Oak Room. This will be the only event occurring in the Hilton Hotel, and the reminder of the program will occur in the Baird Center. Registration will re-open the following morning at 8 a.m. in the Baird Center Ballroom Foyer. The convention programming will begin in the Baird Center Ballroom at 9 a.m. and will run through Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, the membership and state representatives meeting will take place in the same ballroom, ending by noon.

A tentative program schedule will be published in Spring 2026. To see the 2026 National Convention speakers list, please visit the speakers page. [Sheryl insert link to speakers page once created]

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2026 National Convention Transportation & Parking

To and from the airport: Rideshare such as Uber or Lyft is the preferred mother of travel to the Baird Center and Hilton Milwaukee. A shuttle is not available for either venue. 

Baird Center Parking: The Baird Center Garage offers indoor parking with easy access to all events at Baird Center. Abundant additional parking options can be found throughout the downtown area, from street spots to nearby garages, making Milwaukee a vibrant city that’s easy to navigate. For more information on parking options and prices, and to purchase, click here. 

Hilton Milwaukee Parking: FFRF offers a 55% discount on Hilton self-parking for individual staying at the Hilton Milwaukee: $22/day with in and out privileges. Valet parking is not available. Click here for more information.

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2026 National Convention T-Shirt

Preorder your commemorative 2026 Convention Logo T-Shirt within the online or print registration.
T-shirts will be available for pick up at the convention.

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2026 National Convention Hotel Reservations

FFRF offers a discounted room block at the Hilton Milwaukee. We encourage you to book your hotel room soon. Reservations must be made on or before Tuesday, September 22nd to receive FFRF’s discounted room rate of $229/night. If you need an ADA accessible room, state your needs when making the reservation. Check in time is 3 p.m. and check out time is Noon.

You can book your hotel room online or over the phone:

• Online

• Phone: (414)935-5940

No access codes are needed for members to book

Cancellation Policy: The card will be charged one night’s room rate plus tax for all no-shows and for all reservations canceled within (48) hours prior to arrival.

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2026 National Convention Optional Group Meals

Three ticketed meals will be offered this year: Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, and Saturday dinner. The complimentary Thursday reception will include light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. A complimentary Friday morning continental breakfast will also be available, along with a complimentary Friday evening dessert reception.

All ticketed meals are gluten-free and include vegetarian and vegan options. No programming will take place during group meals; meals are provided solely for convenience. FFRF does not profit from meal sales and charges only the hotel’s cost, which includes a 23% service charge.

Please specify any ADA needs and dietary requirements on the registration form.

Ticketed Meal Descriptions and Prices:

Friday Dinner

Chicken: Citrus & Herb Marinated Airline Chicken

With Oven Roasted Tomato and Onion Jam, Roasted

Garlic Confit Fingerling Potatoes and Seasonal Roasted

Vegetables with Rosemary Jus (GF) $65

Pork: Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Roasted Garlic and Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

with Door County Cherry Glaze, Brown Sugar Whipped

Sweet Potatoes and Charred Asparagus (GF) $65

Vegan/Veggie: Roasted Eggplant & Squash Ratatouille

With Tomato and Saffron Purée, Toasted Pine

Nuts and Aged Balsamic AVG, Contains Nuts, (GF) $65

Saturday Breakfast

Regular: Wisconsin Wake Up

Fluffy Scrambled Egg Bake with Bacon, Spinach

and Wild Mushrooms; served with Crispy

Fingerling Potato Hash and Thick Cut

Applewood Smoked Bacon (GF) $40

Vegan: Vegan Chickpea Tostada

Blackened Chickpea and Tofu Tinga Tostada

with Refried Beans, Avocado Pico de Gallo

and Micro Cilantro; served with Roasted

Breakfast Potatoes (GF, V) $40

Veggie: Egg White Frittata

Feta Cheese, Spinach and Oven-dried Tomatoes;

served with a side of Sweet Potato Hash

Avoiding Gluten, Vegetarian $40 (GF, VEG)

Saturday Dinner

Chicken: Milwaukee Pretzel Crusted Chicken

Dijon Roasted Airline Chicken Breast with Pretzel Crust,

Whole Grain Mustard Cream Sauce, Pickled Mustard

Seed, Garlic Whipped Yukon Potatoes and Haricot Vert

Tossed in a Lemon Vinaigrette (GF) $65

Fish: Miso & Honey Glazed Salmon

With Lemon Grass Scented Basmati and Forbidden Rice,

Tamari Glazed Bok Choy and Stir Fry Vegetables (GF) $65

Vegan/Veggie: Pan Seared Roasted Cauliflower Steak

With Pecan and Caper Salsa over Housemade

Lemon Herb Roasted Garlic Hummus and

Single Estate Olive Oil (V, VG, GF) $65

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2026 National Convention General Information

Please note that apart from the Thursday Evening Reception, occurring in the Hilton Milwaukee hotel, the convention programming will occur in the Baird Center, located at 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203. These buildings are attached by an indoor, accessible skywalk. 

FFRF offers a discounted room rate at the Hilton Milwaukee hotel, where only the Thursday Evening Reception will be held.

See information from past conventions

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2026 Baird Convention Center

Please note that apart from the Thursday Evening Reception, occurring in the Hilton Milwaukee hotel, the convention programming will occur in the Baird Center, located at 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203. These buildings are attached by an indoor, accessible skywalk. 

Drive from airport: The Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is a short, 15-minute drive from downtown. Ride shares such as Uber or Lyft are recommended. There is not an airport shuttle.

Baird Center Parking: The Baird Center Garage offers indoor parking with easy access to all events at Baird Center. Abundant additional parking options can be found throughout the downtown area, from street spots to nearby garages, making Milwaukee a vibrant city that’s easy to navigate. See more information on parking options, prices and purchasing. 

Food & Drink: Apart from the convention meals, the Baird Center also features vending machines with snacks and drinks.

Accessibility & Inclusion: The Baird Center is an ADA accessible, inclusive building. The building features all-gender restrooms throughout the venue. Please see a member of the guest services team to locate the nearest all-gender restroom. Read in depth about accessibility features and navigation.

Free Wifi: FREE Wi-Fi is available at the Baird Center. When you arrive, find out the login information.

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2026 Hilton Hotel Amenities and Dining

FFRF’s discounted hotel room block will be at the Hilton Milwaukee, which is connected to the Baird Center via ADA accessible skywalk. 

Hotel Dining: The Hilton offers 5 in-house restaurants.

The Cafe, which serves breakfast 7 days a week from 6:30 a.m.–11 a.m.

Miller Time Pub and Grill, offering lunch, dinner, and drinks 7 days a week 11 a.m.–2 a.m.

The Milwaukee Chophouse featuring elevated steakhouse fare and drinks, open Tuesday-Sunday 5 p.m.–10 p.m., closed on Sunday and Monday.

The Monarch Lounge, offering wine, cocktails, and beer, open from 5 p.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday–Thursday, 4 p.m.–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed on Sunday and Monday. The Hilton also offers

Starbucks Coffee is also available in the lobby, open every day from 5:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

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The hotel also offers a free fitness center, free wifi, pet friendly rooms, and EV charging. See more information. 

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2026 National Convention Speaker Information

Gigi Cervantes

Gigi Cervantes, who’ll be receiving FFRF’s Civil Rights Heroine Award, was a high school theatre and acting teacher at a fine arts charter school, who left her position in protest of the Texas Ten Commandments Statute SB 10. Gigi is a professional actor who has performed for 40+ years in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as regionally at the Cleveland Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She also has over 20 years of experience as an acting teacher and has taught classes, camps and workshops at multiple DFW theatre companies. Gigi is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, avid Dallas Cowboys fan, and dog lover who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband Chris, who is a painter, musician, attorney and constitutional law professor, and their two dogs, Donny Osmond and Bill Murray (Donny & Murray).

Johnny Cotton

Percival Everett

Percival Everett, distinguished professor of English at USC, will receive FFRF’s Emperor Has No Clothes Award, reserved for public figures who make known their dissent from religion. His latest novel, “James,” was published in March 2024 to great critical acclaim, winning both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His other titles include “Dr. No” (finalist for the NBCC Award for Fiction and winner of the PEN/ Jean Stein Book Award”), “The Trees” (finalist for the Booker Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction), “Telephone” (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), “So Much Blue,” “Erasure” and “I Am Not Sidney Poitier.” He has received the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award and The Windham Campbell Prize from Yale University. American Fiction, the feature film based on his novel “Erasure,” was released in 2023 and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Peter Isley

Peter Isely, who is receiving FFRF’s Clarence Darrow Award and statuette, is a survivor of childhood sexual assault and abuse by a Roman Catholic priest. He is a co-founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and has spent decades working with survivors, journalists, prosecutors, and human rights advocates to expose clerical abuse and institutional cover-ups, and to press for permanent removal of abusers and the officials who protected them. He lives in Milwaukee.

Drew McCoy

Drew McCoy is the creator of the Genetically Modified Skeptic YouTube channel, with over 850,000 subscribers. On his channel, you can learn “How to Go to Hell in Every Religion,” why the religious right benefits from debating atheists regardless of who “wins,” and much more. Drew was raised as an Independent Fundamental Baptist, but left religion in 2016 and has been a full-time atheist content creator and activist for the past 8 years.

Jim Obergefell 

FFRF’s 2026 Forward Award and statuette will go to Jim Obergell, of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that resulted in victory for marriage equality. With Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Debbie Cenziper, Jim co-authored the book “Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality.” He’s an executive producer on the multi-media “JustMarried” project to save and share the stories of couples, activists, and allies who helped make marriage equality a reality legally, legislatively, and culturally over the span of seven decades and a dedicated civil rights activist.

Jennifer Welch

FFRF’s Emperor Has No Clothes Awardee will be Jennifer Welch, open atheist and co-creator and co-host of the hit podcast “I’ve Had It,” a podcast now reaching over 3 million listeners a month. Its YouTube channel generates 150 million+ monthly views. Since launching the show in 2022 with Angie “Pumps” Sullivan, Welch has helped build a franchise that consistently ranks among Apple’s top Society & Culture podcasts. Welch has interviewed guests ranging from President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris to comedians Nikki Glaser and Billy Eichner and drag icons Trixie Mattel and Katya. Journalist Mehdi Hasan recently described her as “perhaps the most influential woman in the Democratic Party right now.” Welch also co-hosts the daily news series IHIP News and is the co-author of “Life Is a Lazy Susan of Sh*t Sandwiches.”

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FFRF to Sarasota Schools: bench the baseball team chaplain

The Sarasota County Schools (Fla.) system must immediately stop an outside adult from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes from serving as a religious chaplain to a public school baseball team, asserts the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF has learned that North Port High School is permitting an adult representative from the fellowship to minister to the baseball team. A Feb. 8 post from the official Sarasota County Fellowship of Christian Athletes Facebook account tagged the high school’s team, writing that they “are praying over each coach and player by name.” 

Allowing an outside religious adult to serve as a chaplain in connection with a public school athletic program violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and exposes students to unconstitutional religious coercion, FFRF warns in a letter to the district’s legal counsel.

“A public high school allowing an outside adult to act as a religious adviser to other people’s children is unconstitutional and particularly troubling for those parents and students who are not Christians or do not subscribe to any religion,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence writes to the legal counsel for the school district. 

Student-athletes are especially susceptible to unconstitutional coercion. Students know their coaches control their playing time and positions, directly affecting their opportunities for scholarships and recruitment. When coaches and the school allow a Fellowship of Christian Athletes representative to serve as team  chaplain as part of official baseball team activities, student-athletes will undoubtedly feel that going along with religious activities, interacting with the chaplain, or at least appearing to agree with the chaplain’s religious beliefs is essential to pleasing coaches and being viewed as a team player. Making such coercion even more untenable is the fact that  nearly half of Americans born after 1996 have no religious affiliation. Nearly a third of Florida adults have no religious affiliation, at 27 percent of the population far surpassing any specific religious denomination, and 7 percent belong to non-Christian religions. .

FFRF is urging the district to stop violating students’ First Amendment rights and dismiss the chaplain.

“Public school sports are spaces for student-athletes to grow and learn the values of dedication and teamwork. There should be no ‘pray to play’ operating in our public school athletic programs,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “The district must end the chaplaincy at once — and stop privileging Christianity over nonreligion and all other religions.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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