The AAFCS Nominating Committee announces the following candidates for President-Elect and Directors at Large of the 2025 AAFCS Board of Directors.
Ballot Deadline: January 31 at 5pm EST.
Note: A link to submit your ballot was sent to Leadership Council members on 01/17/2025. Check your email and submit your ballot today!
President Elect
- Landon Calderwood, CFCS-HDFS
- Gayla Randel, CFCS
Directors at Large
- Angela Gott
- Carol Erwin, CFCS
- Gayla Randel, CFCS
- Valerie Giddings
Ballot Deadline: January 31, 2025 at 5:00 pm EST.
Landon Calderwood, CFCS-HDFS:
Born and raised on the family heritage corn and pig farm in rural Iowa, Landon grew up with the understanding of the importance of a hard work ethic, family connection, and developing essential life skills. As a student member of AAFCS, Landon served three terms on the National Student Unit Leadership Team as Chair Elect, Chair, and Immediate Past Chair and Counselor to the Student Unit. Landon earned a B.S. degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and Studies (FCEDS) with a concentration in Professional Studies from Iowa State University. He is currently pursuing a Master of Community Development degree with the goal to work with community and program development in the human services and non-profit industries. As a professional member, Landon has served as the AAFCS Awards Committee Chair, and currently serves on the AAFCS Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large. Landon currently serves as the Assistant Director for Undergraduate Recruitment with the Iowa State University College of Health and Human Sciences in Ames, Iowa where he coordinates all campus visit experiences within the college, meets with prospective students, and advises the college student ambassador program. In his free time, Landon enjoys helping out on the family farm, volunteering any way he can, baking (all of the best baking happens after 10 pm), playing the pipe organ, and playing with his dog, Tarlo.
Gayla Randel, CFCS:
Gayla Randel, CFCS has 20 years as a classroom Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at the middle and secondary levels, as well as 8 years as an adjunct instructor at the 2- and 4-year institutions in various content areas of the discipline. She was previously the FCS Education Consultant at the Kansas State Department of Education where her work focused on creating strong partnerships for the Human Services, Hospitality and Tourism, Education and Training and Visual Arts—Fashion, Apparel, and Interior Design career clusters at the local, state, and national levels. This work also supported FCS Education which directly addresses the social-emotional wellness of our adolescent populations through prevention education and people centered careers.
She holds two degrees from Kansas State University—Vocational Home Economics Education and Adult, Continuing and Occupational Education and is certified by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. She is presently the FCS Specialist for the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
Angela Gott:
Angela Gott brings 32 years of dedication to the Family and Consumer Sciences profession, starting her career in middle and high school classrooms and now serving as the FCS Teacher Educator at Western Kentucky University. A passionate advocate for leadership development and member support, Angela is deeply committed to advancing the FCS profession and mentoring our next generation. Currently, Angela serves as the President of the Kentucky Association of Family & Consumer Sciences and on the AAFCS Annual Conference Local Advisory Committee (ACLAC). She is a 2021 graduate of the AAFCS Leadership Academy and served as a Leadership Academy Mentor in 2023. As part of her affiliate leadership project, Angela established the Kentucky FCS Huddle, a weekend workshop connecting FCS education students with state-level professionals and classroom teachers. This initiative aims to retain students in the profession while fostering AAFCS membership and engagement. She also advises the AAFCS Student Unit at WKU, where one of her students currently serves as the National AAFCS Student Unit President.
Angela’s contributions extend to national and local leadership roles, including her tenure as a former FCCLA National Board of Director, currently the LEAD FCS President, her current role as the President-Elect of Kentucky ACTE, and through her involvement in the Say YES to FCS initiatives. She actively supports programs and projects designed to strengthen, promote, and sustain FCS practitioners and educators. Angela is committed to advancing the AAFCS strategic action plan and is dedicated to serving AAFCS members, promoting excellence, and elevating the Family and Consumer Sciences profession.
Carol Erwin, CFCS:
Carol Erwin, EdD, CFCS, is currently a Professor at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska, teaching Foods and Nutrition and Family and Consumer Sciences classes. She has been in this position working with future Family and Consumer Sciences teachers for the past 13 years after teaching in the 7-12 FCS classroom and advising FCCLA for 12 years. Carol has worked extensively in expanding opportunities for Family and Consumer Sciences students at her college and across Nebraska. Her passion in preparing future FCS teachers to work with students in their classroom, labs, and as FCCLA advisers, has driven her to take on leadership opportunities and collaborate with others. She also loves to support FCS teachers in the classroom by providing professional development opportunities, presenting at conferences, and teaching grad classes to expand their knowledge and curriculum offerings. She claims that her students and teachers have the fire, and she just fans the flame. Carol is a lifelong learner with a deep curiosity for all things Family and Consumer Sciences. As she challenges her students to keep learning, she models her own commitment to taking on new challenges and roles. Carol is deeply committed to the FCS profession and wants to share the message that FCS is critically important in helping individuals, families, and communities make effective and efficient decisions for the future. As a member of the AAFCS Board of Directors, she hopes to balance tradition with innovation and support our members in their own quest for “better.”
Valerie Giddings:
Dr. Valerie L. Giddings is Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at North Carolina A&T State University. Prior to this appointment, she served as Chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University for 12 years. Dr. Giddings has over 30 years of teaching and administrative experience in higher education including the positions of interim Associate Dean for Research at N.C. A&T, Associate Vice Chancellor for Lifelong Learning at Winston-Salem State University and Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Outreach and External Relations in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. She has held faculty positions at Virginia Tech, North Carolina Central University and Hampton University. Dr. Giddings received her doctorate and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech in Clothing and Textiles and her bachelor’s degree from Bennett College in Home Economics. She is a long-time, active member of AAFCS and FCS affiliated organizations serving as the current president of the North Carolina Association of Family and Consumer Sciences; former chair of the Council for Accreditation of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS); current chair of the Collegiate Assembly (AAFCS); past president of the Council of Administrators of Family and Consumer Sciences (CAFCS); past chair and past secretary of the 1890 Council of Administrators of Family and Consumer Sciences; secretary/treasurer of the 1890 Distance Instructional Alliance; chair of the Awards Committee for the North Carolina Association of Family and Consumer Sciences; former president, former secretary, former advisor and current parliamentarian of the National Coalition for Black Development in Family and Consumer Sciences; and former Vice Chair of Programs for the Board on Human Sciences (BoHS, now BHHS). In 2019, she received the AAFCS Distinguished Service Award, the most prestigious award in the profession. She is a member of Cohort 10 of the Food Systems Leadership Institute (FSLI) an executive leadership development program for academia, industry, and government and a member of Cohort 3 of the UNC Executive Leadership Institute.