The American Advertising Federation of Baltimore (AAFB) convened this week for its first Board meeting of the year and announced its new Board of Directors and Officers for 2021-2022:

• Courtney Black, Senior Account Executive at GKV (President)
• Kathe Flynn, Design Director at Havas Helia (1st VP)
• Liz Norton, Agency Producer at Planit (2nd VP)
• Jeremy Martin, Creative Director at Novak Birch, Inc. (Treasurer)
• Cynthia Sanders, Of Counsel at Baker Donelson (Secretary)
• Ebenezer Ariori, CEO at Magic Stone Marketing
• Rachel Claire, Accounts Director at Novak Birch
• Krystal Cotriss, Visual Designer at Barcoding
• Geoffrey Gill, Lead UX UI Product Design Architect at Leap
• Bob Gillespie, Owner at Propr Design
• Rahbia Lighty, AAF Student Chapter Secretary at Morgan State University
• JoAnne Meredith, Director of Annual Giving at University of Maryland
• Tayler Person, AAF Student Chapter President at Towson University
• Brian Schneider, Co-founder & CEO at Unconquered
• Ahmed Tarik, Senior Account Executive at idfive
• Amara Waters, Senior Copywriter at R2integrated

Matt McDermott, AVP of Creative Strategy at idfive moves to the position of Past President for 2021-2022 and will serve in an advisory capacity to the Board. Ashlene Larson, Director of PR & Social Media at Planit will step down from the position of 2nd VP but will continue to serve as an at-large Board member, along with Stephanie Bronfein, Tamar Burns, Lia James, Danielle Koch, Morgan Lambert, Kate MacNichol, Billy Twigg, Kara Ullman and Sabrina Viscomi.

“I’m looking forward to welcoming the most diverse board of directors in the club’s 100 year history and putting together a robust pipeline of educational, professional development and networking events both virtually and hopefully in person in the near future, too,” said Courtney Black, Senior Account Executive at GKV and the president of AAFB. 

The AAFB has also announced the formation of its new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee, co-chaired by Board members Stephanie Bronfein and Lia James. The DEIB Committee will introduce the Board and its members to more inclusive practices, creating a space for more seats at the table and voices reflective of the Baltimore community that the AAFB Board represents and serves. The DEIB Committee’s programming this year will include offering a DEIB immersive training program in early 2021 for executives, in partnership with Unsiloed, an organization known for inspiring and engineering DEIB in the workplace. 

The AAFB Board of Directors was elected as part of its annual general meeting, held on November 19, 2020. The AAFB connects, educates and advocates for thousands of communications professionals in advertising, marketing, business, tech, education and law. To learn more, visit www.baltimoreadvertising.com.

About the American Advertising Federation of Baltimore 

Founded in 1920, the American Advertising Federation of Baltimore (AAFB) connects, educates, and advocates for thousands of communications professionals in advertising, marketing, business, tech, education, and law. It is a 501(c)(6) non-profit and a chapter of the American Advertising Federation which includes 200 local clubs across the U.S. representing nearly 40,000 advertising professionals. Visit Baltimoreadvertising.com to learn more.