Staff Directory

Ed is a cultural anthropologist who has served Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) since 2013. Before joining AAA’s staff, Ed had a long career with the non-profit Battelle Seattle Research Center, conducting research and public policy analysis on a variety of energy, public health, and social policy issues. He has been affiliated with the University of Washington since 1986, and he has been a visiting professor at Università Carlo Cattaneo Castellanza, VA, Italy, and a Senior Fellow of the Fulbright Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, and is also a member of the National Humanities Alliance board. He has served on the executive boards of the AAA, the Society for Applied Anthropology, the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Community, 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, MPPAC and Executive Board. She supports section presidents and works with the Section Assembly Executive Committee as part of the 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. Along with her colleague, Jeff Martin she co-staffs AAA’s newest committee MPAAC: Members Programmatic, Advisory and Advocacy Committee.

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.

Meagan supports the Executive Director, CFO, and Director of Development with various administrative duties in the AAA office. Her primary responsibilities in addition to supporting the Executive Director’s Office are handling the Annual Meeting Awards program, development research, and assisting with meetings.

Christian supervises the operation and maintenance of all accounting and financial systems, office administration, and system administration, such as network operations and telephones. Some of his specific responsibilities include coordinating and assisting with budget development and oversight, supervising mailroom and reception operations, administering benefits, and managing procurement and purchasing activities. He 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.

Rose is responsible in maintaining financial records and act as a backup to the controller.

 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.

Janice manages the day-to-day operations of the membership department including member acquisition, retention, and customer service. She also manages the ACE Job Board and supervises the Coordinator, Membership Services.

Ashley (she/her/hers) 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.

Naomi (she/her) assists with AAA inquiries, membership mailings and campaigns, membership database upkeep, and supports the Membership Department efforts to meet annual goals.

Nate (he/him/his) 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.

Nell (she/her/hers) 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.

Please use Nell's COVID-19 remote phone number at 703.239.4499 to call. 

Palmyra (she / her) oversees all of the program production aspects of the Annual Meeting, yearly Section meetings, and virtual education programs.

Chelsea (she/her, they/them) works closely with the Director of Publishing to provide administrative office support and works on Open Anthropology.

Natalie (she/her/hers) 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.

Sean (he/him/his) oversees the editing and publication of American Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the AAA, and manages the journal's website and social media.

Daniel (they/them, he/him) 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. They support the AAA’s fellowship and internship programs, public education initiatives (RACE: Are We So Different? and World on the Move: 250,000 Years of Human Migration), academic relations, and professional services for student members and members working in business, government, and nonprofit settings. Daniel is staff liaison to the Task Force on Anthropology in Practice Settings and to the Organizational Relations Committee of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA).

Caitlyn (she/her) is responsible for the design, development and delivery of education and professional development programs, as well as informational resources on careers for anthropologists.

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.