NASFAA Presentation Speakers
These are the speakers available for NASFAA speaking engagements. Learn more about their session offerings and request a speaker through this form.
NASFAA Officers
Kristi Jovell, FAAC®, National Chair
Kristi Jovell, FAAC®, is assistant vice president of student financial services and enrollment at Middlebury College. She has served as president of the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA) and on NASFAA's Board of Directors as representative-at-large and regional representative. Kristi has been an active leader in professional association activities at the state, regional, and national levels. She has served NASFAA as a member of the Conference Program Task Force (Chair), Financial Affairs Committee, Pell Restoration Working Group, Awards Task Force, Nominations and Elections Committee, and as a conference and webinar presenter. The heart of her service to EASFAA has been through training, as the training and graduate/professional chair for multiple years and architect of EASFAA Leads and the “Tuesdays@2” webinar series. Kristi has received Outstanding Volunteer and Committee of the Year awards from EASFAA and the NASFAA Regional Leadership Award. As a first-generation college student and Pell Grant recipient, Kristi is passionate about access to higher education and its ability to change the trajectory of students' lives. She earned her bachelor's degree in business administration/management and master's degree in education from Elmira College.
Session: NASFAA Update
Helen Faith, FAAC®, Past National Chair
Helen Faith, FAAC®, has 24 years of financial aid and higher education experience and has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lane Community College, the University of Western States, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland State University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. She earned her bachelor's degree in literature at UC Santa Cruz and a master's degree in education: policy, foundations, and administration at Portland State University, and has completed doctoral coursework in educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has served in a number of elected and volunteer roles at the state, regional, and national levels, and is a past president of Western Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (WASFAA) and OASFAA (Oregon). She has served on NASFAA's Board of Directors as WASFAA regional representative and representative-at-large. She has also participated in negotiated rulemaking with the U.S. Department of Education and has collaborated with several higher education associations on financial aid research and analysis projects. Helen is passionate about financial aid and higher education as critical engines for social change with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Sessions: Advancing the Profession—Getting to Know NASFAA's New Toolkit , Care and Feeding of Yourself and Your Career, NASFAA Update, Recognizing and Addressing Bias in the Student Aid Experience: A Research-Practice Conversation , Staying in Love with Financial Aid Even When It's Hard (And It's Usually Hard), Talk's Not Cheap: Improving Communication to Serve Students and Boost Efficiency, Using NASFAA Tools, Why Weaponize When You Can Disarm? Building Alliances for Compliance(s)
NASFAA Staff
Karen McCarthy, Vice President of Public Policy and Federal Relations
Karen currently works in NASFAA's division of policy and federal relations, providing a financial aid administrator's "on the ground" perspective to federal student aid policy discussions and debates. She began her career in student aid working in the financial aid offices at several large, four-year institutions, including Boston University, Miami University of Ohio, and The Ohio State University. She began work in NASFAA's training department in 1999 before joining NASFAA's policy team in 2010.
Sessions: Advocacy and You, Inside the Beltway Update, The Federal Budget and Student Aid, and Top FAFSA Simplification Questions
Rachel Gentry Rotunda, Director of Government Relations
Rachel contributes to NASFAA's policy and advocacy efforts, representing the association before congressional members and staff and working to enhance the advocacy capacity of its members. Prior to joining NASFAA, Rachel worked in higher education policy analysis and research in Washington, D.C., and began her career in higher education as a high school college advisor assisting low-income and first-generation students through the college application and financial aid process.
Sessions: Advocacy and You, Inside the Beltway Update, and The Federal Budget and Student Aid
Dana Kelly, NASFAA Vice President of Professional Development and Institutional Compliance
Dana currently serves as the vice president of professional development and institutional compliance for NASFAA. In this role she oversees all products and services assigned to the training and regulatory assistance and certification and credentialing departments, supervises DC-based and remote training staff, manages the annual Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo, and develops session content for NASFAA's national conference. As a member of NASFAA's executive team, she is instrumental in ensuring NASFAA is working toward the vision, mission, and goals established by NASFAA's Board of Directors. Prior to working at NASFAA, she held positions at Nelnet Diversified Solutions as a national trainer, at Nelnet as a regional director, and at High Point University as the director of student financial planning. She holds a bachelor's degree in justice and policy studies from Guilford College, a master's degree from the University of Phoenix in organizational management, and master's degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Sessions: Administrative Capability, Professional Judgment Best Practices, Top AskRegs Questions, Top FAFSA Simplification Questions, Using NASFAA Tools