The 2024 AFA Annual Meeting will host two general sessions featuring keynote speakers, panel discussions, exciting Association announcements, and more!
General Sessions are designed to provide information pertinent to success in fraternity/sorority work delivered by experts in their respective areas. These experts will guide you through their experiences and give you perspective for how to elevate the standard of your work. Because General Sessions are made to bring all conference attendees together, you’ll also have an opportunity to network with other attendees and learn about the happenings of the Association.
Opening General Session
8:30 a.m. Thursday, December 5
Alison Malmon
Founder and Executive Director
Active Minds
About Alison
Alison Malmon is the Founder and Executive Director of Active Minds, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for young adults.
Alison formed the organization in 2003 as a 21-year-old, following the suicide of her brother and only sibling Brian. Wanting to end the silence that caused her brother to suffer alone and ultimately take his own life, Alison created a group on her campus at the University of Pennsylvania to promote open dialogue around mental health.
Since then, Active Minds has grown into the country’s foremost mental health organization for students and young adults, with a vibrant network of chapters and award-winning programs at more than 1,000 colleges and universities, K12 schools, workplaces, and communities nationwide. Read more about Active Minds’ inspiring story »
Alison lives in Boulder, Colorado, and is a wife and mother of three young girls. In her spare time, she loves flying 23 feet in the air at the Trapeze School in Washington, DC.
Closing General Session
11:30 a.m. Saturday, December 7
Panel Discussion: The Future of Higher Education
Panelists:
Dhanfu E. Elston, Ph. D.
Senior Vice President for Strategy & Chief of Staff
Complete College America
Dr. Dhanfu E. Elston (pronounced: dah-NEE-foo) has served a 28-year career in postsecondary education that spans a range of executive leadership, federal and state policy, not-for-profit operations, and academic officer positions. He is Complete College America’s Senior Vice President for Strategy and Chief of Staff, where he utilizes his national policy and campus expertise for practical application, implementation, and scaling of high impact strategies across a 53-member Alliance network of states and institutional consortia throughout the United States. He provides oversight of national external partnerships and has led CCA’s guided pathways initiatives, Purpose First career alignment strategy, 15 To Finish national campaign, and standards to close equity and institutional performance gaps. Elston has also coordinated relationships with Governors’ Offices, higher education state-wide systems, and national partners in their college completion efforts. He launched a national initiative with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to amplify completion efforts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and minority-serving institutions. Prior to joining CCA, he provided leadership to Georgia State University, which is nationally recognized as a model for collegiate academic success, as the Faculty Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies. Over his higher education career in academic and student affairs, Elston has created and implemented comprehensive success and retention programs that have garnered national attention.
Dr. Elston earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University. He earned both an M.A. in Educational Leadership and B.S. in Biology from Clark Atlanta University.
Lori Greene
Vice President for Enrollment Management
Butler University
Lori Greene joined the Butler University community in April 2015 as the Vice President for Enrollment Management. She currently oversees the Office of Admission, Office of Financial Aid, Enrollment Operations, and Registration and Records. Lori has 30 years of enrollment experience at four different U.S. institutions including Research I, Master’s Comprehensive, and Liberal Arts institutions.
Prior to joining Butler, Greene served over seven years as the Director of Undergraduate Admission at Loyola University Chicago. She also worked in various senior leadership roles at Loyola University New Orleans, including serving as the Director of Admission at the time of Hurricane Katrina in fall 2005. Before moving to New Orleans, she worked in college admission at her alma mater, Spring Hill College, in Mobile, Alabama.
Greene currently serves as a Board Member and a member of the Finance Committee for the International Center of Indiana. Her past experiences include Board Director and Finance Chair for the Common App and service on the Executive Board of the Indiana Association for College Admission Counseling as the Co-Chair of the Admission Practices Committee. She has also served in a number of roles within the Illinois and Southern Association for College Admission Counseling. On a national level, she was a faculty member and the co-director of the Admissions Middle Management Institute for the National Association of College Admission Counseling for five years and worked with ETS Scholarship and Recognition Programs for ten years.
Greene holds a bachelor’s degree in international business with a minor in economics from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. She also has earned a master’s in business administration from the University of South Alabama.
Katy Launius
Strategy Officer for Student Success
Lumina Foundation
Katy Launius, Ph.D. is a strategy officer for student success at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. She helps to shape and drive Lumina’s community college success strategy.
Launius previously worked for Dallas College, where she worked in leadership roles within their student affairs department. Most recently, she was the inaugural associate dean of support programs, where she led the development of a new support programs unit across seven campuses. Throughout her time at Dallas College, she designed and implemented academic and holistic support programs, emphasizing equitably serving and centering marginalized students. Her list of roles and services along these lines is expansive, both at Dallas College and in her prior campus positions.
Katy is also an avid learner and policy thinker. She received her doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Texas at Arlington and serves as the public policy liaison for the National Association for Student Personnel Administrator’s Community College Division Board.
