About Us

Kerry Troup has nearly 20 years of experience working on award-winning, national marketing campaigns. Ms. Troup currently serves as communications director for the 1st Amendment Partnership, a role that she began at the Ethics & Public Policy Center’s American Religious Freedom Program.

For 16 years, Ms. Troup was with Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, in their New York and Washington offices, where she led several high-profile campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, non-profit organizations and federal agencies.

Ms. Troup has extensive experience in national consumer marketing campaigns on behalf of Procter & Gamble, ExxonMobil, Whirlpool, Schwab Foundation, AARP and Hasbro. She successfully applied her private sector experience on behalf of the U.S. government, implementing public education campaigns for nearly a decade for the Federal Trade Commission, The Library of Congress and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Prior to Fleishman-Hillard, Ms. Troup worked in fashion PR at Ralph Lauren, Canali and Hart, Schaffner & Marx. She is an alumni of the University of New Hampshire and currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two young children.

Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. He is the author of The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going as well as 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America. He has published over two dozen peer-reviewed articles in a variety of outlets in the social sciences. In addition, he has written editorials for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. His work has appeared in a variety of additional outlets including the Washington Post, NPR, NBC News, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Vox, C-SPAN, Christianity Today, and Religion News Service. He is the cofounder and frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience.

Desair (pronounced Duh-zair) currently serves as Web Content Editor for Faith Counts, a program of the 1st Amendment Partnership. She works with Faith Counts’ multi-faith partners and team to help promote the value of faith.

Desair has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Boston University and the University of Maryland. She was hired right out of grad school to work at USA Today, where she spent 13 years working in various editorial capacities, digital operations, from programming the website to managing the main social media accounts to creating videos, quote cards and GIFs. While there, in addition to her online editorial work, Desair also served as Diversity Committee chair intern coordinator. Most recently, she was the Audience Editor for USA Today.

Desair is active in her church, where she runs the Multimedia Ministry. In her free time, she enjoys journaling, skiing, scuba diving and spending time with her husband and adorable toddlers.

Daniel Cerveny serves as the Digital Media Manager for Faith Counts, a program of the 1st Amendment Partnership. In his role, Mr. Cerveny is responsible for propelling social media marketing efforts forward to strengthen Faith Counts’ online presence and further its brand awareness, reach and followers across all of the social platforms. He also provides critical support in online grassroots efforts for 1AP.

Mr. Cerveny brings to 1AP and Faith Counts significant professional experience running digital media campaigns on behalf of other mission-based organizations such as CARE and International Rescue Coalition.

Along with those nonprofits, Mr. Cerveny spent several years working with Churches for Middle East Peace, an ecumenical organization advocating non-violence. While there he monitored and evaluated situations in the area then crafted advocacy and digital media responses.

Mr. Cerveny graduated from the Irish School of Ecumenic at Trinity College Dublin with a Masters in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, reading, serving in his congregation  and spending too much time nerding out.

Darah Gunn graduated with a B.F.A in Graphic Design from Salisbury University. She is inspired by the value and power of visual communication. Her creativity and passion lie in effectively communicating designs that are both aesthetically appealing and impactful. As a budding Graphic Designer she has hands-on experience designing social media content, brochures and infographics. This has enabled her to advance her skills in design strategies, analytical thinking and problem-solving while sharpening her visual eye.

As president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, Tim Schultz directs all aspects of the organization’s work, building faith alliances, guiding public policy and educating key influencers on religious freedom issues.

Prior to the 1st Amendment Partnership, he served as State Legislative Director for the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s American Religious Freedom Program (ARFP). In that role, Mr. Schultz directed all of ARFP’s state policy initiatives, including developing and guiding coalition efforts to establish bipartisan religious freedom caucuses in 30 state legislatures. Mr. Schultz is widely viewed as a leading expert on religious freedom issues, with a particular focus on state policy issues.

In his fifteen years of experience developing state and federal policy, Mr. Schultz has testified before Congress and more than fifteen state legislatures.

Mr. Schultz is a leading expert on religious freedom issues, with a particular focus on state policy. He is frequently featured in national media, including the Associated Press, NPR, Deseret News, The Hill, the Christian Broadcast Network, the Daily Beast, and The New York Times.

Mr. Schultz is a former instructor at George Mason University and was a staffer in the Washington, D.C., office of Senator Bob Dole’s presidential campaign. He is a graduate of Kansas State University and Georgetown University Law School.