Chris Robinson to serve as 2024-25 NFDA President

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2024
    
Brookfield, Wis. – Eligible voting members of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) elected the following individuals to serve as officers on the Board of Directors: President-elect Daniel J. Ford, CFSP, CCO; Treasurer Chris E. Christian, CFSP, CCO; and Secretary Bobby “Steve” Spann, CFSP. Additionally, the proposed changes to the NFDA bylaws passed. 

The officers will serve one-year terms of office that begin immediately following the 2024 NFDA International Convention & Expo, which will take place October 20-23 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

From June 13 through 26, 2024, 1,285 votes were cast by eligible voting members. Votes were cast online through a secure balloting system run by YesElections. Winners of the officer elections are determined by a plurality vote. The results were: 

• President-elect
  • Daniel J. Ford, CFSP, CCO, 100% (1,219 votes)
• Treasurer 
  • Chris E. Christian, CFSP, CCO, 100% (1,229 votes)
• Secretary 
  • Bobby “Steve” Spann, CFSP, 52.35% (667 vote)
  • Brad Walker, CFSP, CPC, CCO, 47.65% (607 votes)

Christopher P. Robinson, CFSP, CCO, of Robinson Family Funeral Homes, which has three locations near Easley, South Carolina, will ascend from his current president-elect role to lead NFDA as the 2024-25 President.

Current NFDA President Douglas R. “Dutch” Nie, II, CFSP, CCO, will continue his service on the Board with a one-year term as immediate past president. 

Also continuing their service on the Board of Directors are 2023-25 At-large Representatives Homer E. Elwood Jr. and Ellen Wynn McBrayer, CFSP, CPC.

Information about the officers elected to the Board of Directors can be found on the NFDA website, NFDA.org/Elections.    

During the 2024 NFDA Leadership Conference, state association representatives will elect two additional at-large representatives to serve two-year terms (2024-26). Information at-large representative candidates can be found on the NFDA website, NFDA.org/Elections.    

Proposed Bylaws Changes

Along with electing officers to serve on the NFDA Board of Directors, qualified association members were also responsible for voting on proposed changes to the NFDA Bylaws. Bylaws changes require a two-thirds affirmative vote to pass. Each proposed change was voted on separately. 

• Addition and clarification of a “School Member”– Passed with 95.56% (1,228 votes) votes in favor 
• Changing of specific date deadlines to a prescribed timeframe for election-related events – Passed with 93.93% (1,207 votes) vote in favor

Details about the changes can be found online: Portal.NFDA.org/Bylaws-Vote.

NFDA is the world's leading and largest funeral service association, serving 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 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 NFDA.org. 

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Contact: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536, jkoth@nfda.org