Staff Directory

Ed is responsible for the successful leadership and management of the AAA according to the articles of incorporation, bylaws and strategic direction set by the Executive Board, and for the consistent achievement of AAA's mission, purposes, goals and financial objectives. He serves as non-voting ex-officio on all association boards and committees, and is responsible for the oversight of the association's annual budget and investment funds. He assesses member needs and interests, and proposes programs and services to meet those needs with the overall goal of attracting and continually supporting AAA members, and encouraging member leadership and engagement. He determines staffing requirements for AAA's management and program delivery, and executes written contracts and agreements as needed.

He has come to the position of Executive Director for the American Anthropological Association in 2013 after a long career with the Battelle Memorial Institute, the world’s largest not-for-profit research and development organization. Ed first joined Battelle in 1986, the year he received his PhD in cultural anthropology from Arizona State University. He has conducted research and public policy analysis on a variety of energy, public health, and social policy issues concerning disadvantaged communities. While at Battelle, he rose from the rank of research scientist to project leader to director of research operations in the Seattle office. He maintains a position as affiliate associate professor of anthropology and interdisciplinary studies at the University of Washington. 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 have served on the faculty of the CDC-sponsored Summer Evaluation Institute. He has also 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.

Dexter provides senior-level administrative support to the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director/CFO.

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.

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.

Resat assists the controller in day-to-day operations of the accounting office, with primary responsibility for accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash receipts and payroll. He maintains financial records and resolves any discrepancies that may arise. He is also staff liaison for the AAA Awards Committee.

Haleema manages the membership department including acquisition, retention, and customer services.  Haleema also manages the AAA Career Center and supervises the Membership Services Coordinator.

Tonieh is one of the friendly voices on the phone as she serves as the primary contact for member inquiries and maintains the membership database. She assists with new and renewing member applications, section requests and membership reports. Additionally, she ensures the integrity of the membership webpages and assists with the ACE job listing services. 

 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.

Alana is responsible for managing the logistics for the AAA Annual Meeting and the AAA’s section spring meetings. She provides guidance to the section program editors/reviewers and oversees the abstract submission process for the Annual Meeting. Alana assists in providing content for communications about the Annual Meeting with relevant staff and leaders within AAA. Alana also manages the print and web content for the Annual Meeting.

Lukwesa is responsible for overseeing special events and projects related to AAA’s Annual Meeting and new conference initiatives. She assists with planning and coordination for workshops and special events at the annual meeting. Additionally, Lukwesa is the key point of contact to assist members and attendees with access and accommodation requests. She updates the meetings website, assists with managing the call for papers and responds to queries from members about the annual meeting.

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), AAA's official news source. AN publishes member-generated essays, columns, news, reports and more continually on the publicly available www.anthropology-news.org. AN's bimonthly print issues combine selected anthropological essays from anthropology-news.org with traditional newsletter content to share with members and subscribers. 

Alexandra works closely with the Managing Editor and Director of Publishing to serve the publishing needs of all AAA members. She works on Anthropology News and provides administrative support to the editorial offices of the 22 AAA journals, and liaises with AAA publishing partner Wiley-Blackwell. She also fields questions about permission requests.

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.

Mr. Walker is responsible for managing AAA’s public education initiative that showcases anthropology’s distinctive and encompassing perspective on human migration and displacement, as viewed through the lenses of science, history, and lived experience.

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. 

Anne provides direct support in implementing comprehensive media, marketing and overall communications strategies that advance the mission of AAA and its goal of promoting anthropology. Anne oversees content publication for the AAA website and manages the AAA blog and social media channels. 

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.