National Staff

Operations and Governance

Karin Athanas

Executive Director

Email Karin

Ext. 4614

Karin leads the strategic development and day-to-day operations. She also serves as Board member to the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) and the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).

Karin AAFCS: 2023

Favorite AAFCS Moment: Working with members at the leadership summit to identify ways to promote FCS.

Courtney Manno

Office Manager

Email Courtney

Ext. 4616

Courtney comes to AAFCS with ten plus years of customer success experience in varying industries. She enjoys being able to create relationships with people by understanding what makes them excited in their day-to-day lives and then building on that. Courtney is finishing a bachelor's in politics and philosophy. When Courtney isn’t in school or working, you can find her spending time either traveling to national parks with a goal to visit every park in the country or participating in trail running.

Joined AAFCS: 2024

Core Competency

Lori Myers, CFCS

Chief of Staff, Acting CFO, & Sr. Director, Core Competency 

Email Lori 

Ext. 4602

Lori has 16 years of teaching experience as a FCS teacher at the secondary level and as a FCS Teacher Educator at a four year university. She holds a BS and MS in FCS Education from Louisiana Tech University and PhD in FCS Education from Iowa State University. Throughout her career, she has made numerous presentations on the state, regional, national, and international levels, served in various leadership capacities for FCS related professional organizations, published scholarly articles in FCS related journals, and received teaching and professional awards on the local, state, regional, and national levels. Lori enjoys spending time with her husband, sons and daughters-in-law, and grandchildren!

Joined AAFCS: 2009 

Favorite AAFCS Moment: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the organization in 2009 in Knoxville, TN. 

Helen Fuqua 

Associate Director, Credentialing Programs

Email Helen

Ext. 4604

Helen's career experience in education and management includes serving as Virginia's State FCS Program Specialist. She oversaw the Family and Consumer Sciences program with approximately 1,000 teachers and 130,000 students. Helen holds a B.S. in Home Economics Education and a M.S. in Educational Leadership from Longwood University. She values the opportunities that she had as Virginia's State FCS Specialist to develop teacher and student leaders through professional and student organizations. 

Joined AAFCS: 2006

Favorite AAFCS Moment: Adventures after the Knoxville annual conference (2009) exploring Cades Cove with a colleague.

Nina Garcia

Credentialing Program Associate 

Email Nina

Ext. 4607

Nina comes to the AAFCS with more than ten years of experience in customer service. She enjoys solving problems and facing challenges that seem impossible. She graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a BA in English Creative Writing in 2015 and enjoys putting her degree to use to tell bedtime stories to her young daughter Beatrice. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, zoos, and museums with her partner and their kids.

She joined AAFCS in 2024 and is excited to join the AAFCS team! 

Kristi Wilson

Credentialing Program Associate 

Email Kristi

Ext. 4605

Kristi comes to AAFCS with 30 years of experience in elementary education. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, and dog mom. Kristi is an avid camper and traveler, having visited 22 national parks and 32 states.

She joined AAFCS in 2024 and is excited to join the AAFCS team! 

Membership and Marketing

Toni Wiese

Director, Membership 
and Marketing

Email Toni

Ext. 4606

Toni graduated from Wayne State College in Wayne Nebraska in December of 2019 with a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences. After graduation, she worked for Iowa State University as a 4-H County Youth Coordinator before joining the AAFCS National Staff in January 2022 as the Associate Director of Communications and Membership and recently transitioned to her role as the Director of Membership and Marketing. Although on staff, Toni has been a member of AAFCS since 2017. She was and still is an active member of the Nebraska Affiliate. In 2020 she was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Award from Wayne State College, graduated from the AAFCS Leadership Academy in 2021, and the New Achiever Award from NAFCS in 2022. In Toni's free time, she loves to bake, make charcuterie boards, spend time with friends and family, work on her "Fixer Upper" and spend time with her Golden Retriever Cleo.

Joined AAFCS: 2017

Favorite AAFCS Moment: Elevating FCS by connecting, collaborating, and educating others about FCS through AAFCS everyday!

Maya Herr

Marketing Associate 

Email Maya

Ext. 4608

Maya graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in May 2022 with degrees in Marketing and Political Science. Soon after college she moved to northern Spain where she spent a year teaching English in a public school and exploring Europe. In January 2024 Maya started at AAFCS as the Marketing Associate. When she is not at work, she loves to take and teach yoga, read, travel, and spend time with her family and friends.

Joined AAFCS: 2024

Favorite AAFCS Moment: Meeting Roma Ransom at the 2024 Annual Conference!

Dawn Schulz

Membership Associate

Email Dawn

Ext. 4609

Joined AAFCS: 2024 

Dawn is excited to engage with our membership!

Current Job Opening
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Note

All AAFCS staff are currently working remotely. Feel free to contact the staff by phone and email. 

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