Skye Perryman will keynote a breakfast meeting at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly sponsored by Baptist News Global, Good Faith Media and Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.
Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, is a leading national voice in defense of democracy and against the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. Her team has filed hundreds of lawsuits against the administration on behalf of federal workers, religious groups, immigration advocates and others targeted for exclusion by the administration.
TIME magazine named her one of its 2025 Most Influential People in the World. Since taking the helm in 2021, she has led Democracy Forward to become a nationally recognized institution taking on cases from defending civil rights and fair wages to seeking to expand access to reproductive health care to confronting attacks on education to addressing the climate crisis and more. Through its Democracy 2025 initiative, the group has organized the largest and most successful affirmative litigation effort against executive branch excesses in U.S. history.
She will speak during a 7 a.m. breakfast gathering at the Hyatt Regency Waterfront in Jacksonville, Fla., Friday, June 19, Juneteenth. Registration is available through the CBF website. Breakfast tickets are $47 per seat or $500 per table of 10.
Tony McNeill
Music at the breakfast will be provided by Tony McNeill, affiliate professor of worship and seminary musician at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. He previously was director of choral activities and chairman of the Department of Performing Arts at Clinton College in Rock Hill, S.C, and also served four and a half years as director of worship and the arts at Atlanta’s Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Last year, AWAB joined BNG for its traditional meal event at General Assembly. This year, GFM joins as a co-sponsor of the breakfast.
“We are delighted to partner with both AWAB and Good Faith Media for this important event during General Assembly,” said Mark Wingfield, BNG executive director. “Our organizations share values in truth-telling and advocacy. And Skye Perryman is the perfect speaker to embody our shared values.”
Mitch Randall of Good Faith Media said: “The collaborative spirit among our three organizations demonstrates a strong sense of collegiality that defines our movement. With democracy and the Christian witness at the brink, organizations committed to social justice must work together for a better today and tomorrow. The breakfast at CBF will demonstrate our partnership and a path forward leading to inclusion, freedom and justice for all people.”
Brian Henderson of AWAB said: “AWAB is deeply grateful for BNG and GFM and their ongoing commitment to sharing the stories and lived experiences of our LGBTQ siblings within Baptist life. Gathering together in Jacksonville reflects our shared capacity to inspire and uplift LGBTQ individuals and allies alike. At a time when division is so prevalent, it is both meaningful and refreshing to come together around our common values.”
Perryman is a native of Waco, Texas, who completed an undergraduate degree in economics and philosophy at Baylor University before earning a law degree from Georgetown University.
She previously served as chief legal officer and general counsel for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She also was part of the founding legal team of Democracy Forward and was a litigator with WilmerHale and Covington & Burling.
She has testified before the U.S. Congress and her legal work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as state supreme courts. She appears frequently on TV news shows and her commentary is routinely covered in national media outlets.
She serves on the boards of Interfaith Alliance, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Texas Observer, Baylor Line Foundation, and Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network.