Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, announced that Anna Bernfeld, CAE, Lesley Witter, CAE, and Gail Marquardt have been appointed to key roles that will help position the association for future growth.
“Anna, Lesley, and Gail have been valuable members of the NFDA staff,” said NFDA CEO Christine Pepper, CAE. “I look forward to watching them lead on initiatives that help us continue exceeding the expectations of our valued members.”
Bernfeld was named NFDA’s senior vice president of member relations. She was hired as NFDA’s call center manager in 1997 and was promoted to vice president of membership in 2002. Additionally, Bernfeld served as executive director of the Funeral and Memorial Information Council. As senior vice president of member relations, Bernfeld will oversee recruitment and retention of NFDA members in the United States and around the world; she will also direct the development of relationships with endorsed providers and other efforts intended to build positive relationships with association members. Bernfeld has been a Certified Association Executive since 2009; she earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
Witter was named senior vice president of Advocacy. She began her career with NFDA in 2007 as the director of political affairs. She was promoted to vice president of advocacy in 2012. In her new role she will oversee all government relations efforts; political action committee activities; regulatory compliance programs; and the work performed by law firms and lobbyists on behalf of the association and its members. Witter is a Certified Association Executive; she has a bachelor’s degree in government and international relations and a masters degree in public administration from George Mason University. Witter works out of NFDA’s Washington, D.C., office.
Marquardt, who joined NFDA as the director of communications in 2011, was promoted to vice president of communications. In addition to overseeing the association’s communication, marketing and public relations efforts, she now oversees NFDA’s publications and business development departments. Marquardt holds her bachelors degree in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 18,500 individual members who represent nearly 10,000 funeral homes in the United States and 43 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.
