John D. Russell, JD, has been named Executive Director of the American Association of Career Schools (AACS). Russell brings more than 17 years of association leadership and government relations experience. He worked at the American Society of Appraisers, where he built the organization’s internal government relations department and was the association’s longstanding representative to the Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council. He established his own consulting practice, ValuSight Consulting.

Stephanie A. Morris is assuming the role of National Association of Elementary School Principals Executive Director, effective August 1. Morris currently serves as CEO of SHAPE America, which represents more than 200,000 health and physical education professionals. She was deputy executive director, National Association for the Education of Young Children. Morris holds an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

Ross Ashley has been named President & CEO of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). He has more than 30 years of experience in corporate leadership, public safety, intelligence, and emergency management. Ashley was most recently KPMG LLP’s senior director, emergency management. Throughout his career he has led a variety of for-profit, non-profit, and government entities, including serving as Assistant Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Autumn Griffith has been named as the General Manager at the Royal Park Hotel, a boutique property in downtown Rochester, Michigan. Griffith brings more than 15 years of hospitality leadership experience to Royal Park Hotel, with a career rooted in boutique and lifestyle properties. She most recently served as General Manager of the Daxton Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton in Birmingham, Michigan. She worked in Palm Springs.

Scott Herndon has joined RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) as Executive Director. He brings more than 14 years of experience to the specialty pesticide and fertilizer trade association. Herndon led government and industry affairs in Washington, D.C., for Corteva Agriscience, and was President of Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. Herndon earned a J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law.

Michael Levine has been named the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s (RILA) Vice President & Assistant General Counsel. Levine comes to the association from Under Armour, where he recently served as its global chief sustainability officer. Prior to Under Armour, he was a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, PC. He also was an  assistant district attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. 

Michelle Dimarob will join the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) as Sr. Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, effective June 15. Dimarob brings more than 25 years of experience leading advocacy on tax policy and other legislative and regulatory issues, building coalitions, and advising executives. She joins RILA from Surround Sound Strategies, the advocacy firm she founded. She spearheaded federal lobbying strategy for Altria Client Services.