Staff Directory

Ed is a cultural anthropologist who has served Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) since 2013. The AAA is world’s largest academic and professional society for the discipline. Under his leadership, the Association supports the global exchange of scholarship through a robust publication portfolio and meetings, promotes professional development for a diverse range of careers in the academy and beyond, and increases the public’s awareness of anthropological contributions to understanding the human condition.

Prior to joining AAA’s staff, Ed had a long career with the Battelle Seattle Research Center, conducting research and public policy analysis on a variety of energy, public health, and social policy issues concerning disadvantaged communities. He has been affiliated with the University of Washington since 1986, and he has been a visiting professor of Applied Anthropology and Comparative Economics at Università Carlo Cattaneo Castellanza, VA, Italy, a Senior Fellow of the Fulbright Commission, and has served on the faculty of the CDC-sponsored Summer Evaluation Institute. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, and is also a member of the Board of the National Humanities Alliance. He has served on the executive boards of the AAA, the Society for Applied Anthropology, the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference, and the Jack Straw Media Arts Foundation. He earned his PhD and MA from Arizona State University and his BA from Carleton College.

Kim manages elections and balloting for AAA and sections, and staffs the Nominations Committee, Section Assembly and Executive Board. She supports section presidents and works with the Section Assembly Executive Committee as part of the new AAA governance structure. Kim also oversees the official governance records of the association, including Executive Board meeting minutes, business meeting minutes, resolutions and section files, such as past bylaws, creation documents and officer lists.

Mahsa oversees the growth of AAA’s fundraising program, encompassing the annual fund, major gifts from individual and institutional donors, planned giving, philanthropic events, and communications in support of these programs. She is responsible for the implementation of fundraising best practices across the organization.

Katie is responsible for managing the Executive Director and Finance and Operations team’s schedule, including scheduling travel and conferences, making appointments, and coordinating events. Katie supports the organization through fundraising efforts, AAA’s fellowship and internship programs, as well as assisting with finances and publishing details

Elaine's primary responsibilities are to support the Executive Director as deputy, serve as AAA's chief financial officer, and provide direction and oversight for membership, development, IT/web, accounting and administrative functions. She is staff liaison to the Finance Committee, Association Operations Committee and the Resource Development Committee. She also serves as the Human Resource administrator and on the AAA homepage content team.

Kathy supervises the operation and maintenance of all accounting and financial systems, office administration, and system administration, such as network operations and telephones. Some of her specific responsibilities include coordinating and assisting with budget development and oversight, supervising mailroom and reception operations, administering benefits, and managing procurement and purchasing activities. She provides support to the deputy executive director with other functions as requested, and also serves as liaison to the section treasurers' group, AAA Audit Committee and Committee on Gender Equity in Anthropology.

Haleema manages member acquisition, retention, and customer service. She also manages the ACE Job Board and supervises the Coordinator, Membership Services.

Ashley assists with maintaining the administrative process of the membership department while providing exceptional customer service to all current and potential members. She assists in managing member email and membership data in general.

 Scott is responsible for the association membership database and web site. Internally he assists with technical troubleshooting.

Shawn is responsible for the AAA website, content management system, section websites, listservs and web development and programming, and the Anthropology News website. He serves on the AAA homepage content team and assists with technical troubleshooting, and is backup to the manager, Web & Database for issues relating to the membership systems.

Nate is responsible for the strategic planning, fiscal management, and direction of the Association’s meetings, conferences, and related products. He provides guidance to AAA leadership and committees on matters related to the Annual Meeting and relevant conference initiatives including: budget and policy directives, organization, and operations. He manages AAA staff and vendors who produce AAA’s meetings and conferences and is staff liaison to the Annual Meeting Executive Program Committee.

Debra oversees all programming aspects of AAA's annual meeting and section meetings. Her responsibilities include building and managing the abstract management software, overseeing the recruitment and selection of reviewers, serving as the direct point of contact with program participants, and creating programmatic content for all the association’s meetings. She also is responsible for the creation and management of the printed and online programs for the annual meeting. In her spare time she volunteers at her local fire department.

Nell is responsible for the development and direction of the Association’s accessibility and accommodation initiatives within the Association’s meetings, conferences, and communications. Nell liaises with staff; AAA leaders; and the Society for Medical Anthropology’s Disability Research Interest Group (DRIG) to research and implement successful access practices and organize accommodations; secure vendors for implementation; and promote disability and accessibility culture to members and attendees. Nell supports the logistics for the AAA Annual Meeting, section spring meetings, and the call for papers process for both the Annual Meeting and section meetings.

Liz coordinates the production of the AnthroGuide, a print and online database of anthropologists, anthropology degree programs, and anthropology-related non-profit organizations and government agencies. She also works with outside vendors and advertisers regarding ad sales for AAA publications and supports the organization’s overall marketing efforts.

Janine is responsible for oversight and overall management of AAA's peer-reviewed journals (such as American Anthropologist, plus 21 other titles), the AnthroGuide, AnthroSource (online collection of the publications of the AAA), Anthropology News and eNews. She conducts staff reviews, team-building, and is responsible for the retention and hire of positions in her department. She oversees print manufacture of products; manages finances, budgeting and long-term planning for AAA publishing programs; seeks and administers grant funding for the program; and is staff liaison to the Committee on Scientific Communication and the Committee for the Future of Print and Electronic Publishing.

Natalie oversees all content for Anthropology News (AN), the AAA’s award-winning member magazine. We publish bimonthly in print and online 24/7. The magazine includes feature articles, opinion columns, visual essays, AAA news, in memoriam notices, member profiles, section news, and more.

The assistant works closely with the Director of Publishing to provide administrative office support and works on Open Anthropology.

Daniel manages the AAA’s institutional research program, which studies anthropologists’ careers in and out of academia, as well as anthropology education at the graduate, undergraduate, and pre-college levels. He supports the AAA’s fellowship and internship programs, public education initiatives, and professional services for members working in business, government, nonprofit, and academic settings.

Palmyra is responsible for compiling and analyzing data for Anthropology Information Central, the AAA’s institutional research clearinghouse on the discipline and profession of anthropology. Her primary areas of focus are employment trends for people trained in anthropology and anthropology curriculum at the pre-collegiate level.

Jeff leads AAA’s communications, engagement, and outreach activities to the media, general public, universities, prospective employers, and policy makers. He supports the Association’s responses to public policy issues of concern to the membership and advises AAA on strategic priorities for long-term engagement on public policy issues at the state, federal, and international levels, including the UN. 

Gabrielle assists in developing and implementing the Associations communications and marketing strategies. She supports member engagement and public outreach initiatives for AAA publications, meetings/conferences and other products and services.