ATFS Network News Alert: Welcome New Staff
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) is
committed to investing in new innovations and resources to streamline
landowner enrollment, maximize forester time, and create more value for
landowners and foresters in the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) program. In
our 2018 survey, we heard from state leaders that ATFS certification is
important, but that that administering ATFS certification takes a lot of
time and effort, limiting the time you have to work directly with
landowners.
One way we are working to remove this barrier is by investing in dedicated
regional ATFS staff to work directly with states to streamline
certification and identify ways in which we can grow, strengthen and
increase the impact of ATFS based on the conditions, capabilities, and energy
in each state. We will work with each state program to identify how to best
position the program so that leaders will have more time to focus on
landowner outreach, education and recognition.
We are pleased to announce that Angela Wells of Montana and Kayti Brinkman
of Michigan will be joining the AFF team in April as the ATFS Regional
Managers for the West and Midwest, respectively. In these new roles, they
join Laura Bosworth, who stepped into the Southern ATFS Manager position
earlier this year.
We also are excited to welcome Leigh Peters of Alabama as the ATFS
Certification Manager, a position formerly held by Kristina Duff.
As Regional ATFS Managers, Angela and Kayti will work closely with staff
and state Tree Farm programs to assess and help implement the path each
state will take to strengthening, growing, and increasing the impact of the
ATFS program locally. This work is vital to our overall efforts to reach
and engage more landowners and help them accomplish priority activities on
the ground.
Starting April 4, Angela will be based in Missoula, MT and can be reached
at awells@forestfoundation.org.
Kayti will be based in Kalamazoo, MI and can be reached at kbrinkman@forestfoundation.org
starting April 8.
As ATFS Certification Manager, Leigh will be responsible for the ATFS
certification assessment and monitoring processes. She will serve as the primary liaison between state programs and
assessors; lead negotiations, develop and implement corrective action plans
in response to assessment findings; and enhance the credibility,
efficiency, and performance of ATFS certification with staff, partners and
volunteers.
Leigh will be based in Newville, AL and will officially join the team on
May 22. She will be available at lpeters@forestfoundation.org.
We look forward to updating you in the coming months about the Northeast
ATFS Manager. In addition, we will soon be seeking a new national ATFS
manager to fill the position recently vacated by Sara Anrrich after her
promotion to Senior Manager, Woodlands Programs.
We are very excited about our new team members. Please join us in welcoming
Angela, Kayti and Leigh to the AFF team!
