AFS Staff
The American Folklore Society employs staff to manage the Society’s financial, programmatic, and other administrative functions and to implement its policies as determined by the Executive Board.
As Executive Director of the American Folklore Society, Jessica nurtures a broad network of folklorists working in universities, public institutions, and nonprofit organizations. A native of southwest Virginia, she's happiest in the mountains and spends her spare time gathering with family, friends, and food. She believes in the power of tradition, and a good biscuit, in bringing communities together.
As Community Engagement Coordinator, Charish has primary responsibility for AFS membership engagement and outreach, account and billing support, AFS Sections – including prizes and awards, as well as volunteer coordination for the Annual Meeting. A Master’s from George Mason University, Charish has an extensive background in community outreach, event planning, artist engagement, and volunteer management both in the United States and abroad. Originally from Missouri, she has primarily spent the majority of her adult life overseas with the Foreign Service. When not busy with her family, work, or her many community volunteer engagements, Charish loves true crime podcasts, hunting through used book stores, and the idea of gardening (even though she’s not the most attentive plant mother).
Chunfen Zhou is the current AFS graduate assistant and is also a Ph.D. student in folklore at Indiana University Bloomington. His research interests include material culture in small-scale societies, especially southwest China; forming of natural history museum collections; and evolutionary approaches to human behavior. Zhou will also assist AFS staff members in a wide variety of other projects.
As Special Projects Consultant, Cassie supports AFS communications and focuses on special projects, such as professional development and outreach activities. Cassie is Co-Project Manager for the Folk Arts Partnership Professional Development Institute (along with Laura Marcus Green), which is a collaborative project between AFS and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the National Endowment for the Arts. She served as Associate Director of the Center for Folklore Studies and Director of the Folklore Archives at Ohio State University from 2012-2021. Cassie is the founder and Executive Director of Southern Ohio Folklife, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 2020 that supports, documents, and networks folklife in the region.
As Senior Managing Editor of the Journal of American Folklore, Lorraine works closely with the JAF Editor-in-Chief to advance all editorial activities from manuscript submission to print. Cashman brings her history of working for many years at the American Folklore Society, along with extensive editorial experience.