The year 2023 at NCFR was full of many great highlights, from our annual conference to the Family Life Education Summit, and many great events and milestones all year long.

Here are a few stories you may have missed:

New and Noteworthy

• NCFR’s Policy Advocacy Toolkit is created to provide resources on ways for family scholars and practitioners to address policy areas
• The NCFR Darling Grant is established to provide funding to conduct research into the practice of Family Life Education. Proposals will be accepted beginning March 1, 2024
• 10 Student Access Grants were funded by NCFR members coming together to provide conference registration fees, a travel stipend, and 1 year of NCFR membership for Students of Color.
• The 2023 NCFR Annual Conference was attended by members in Orlando, Florida, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and remotely from many locations. Conference registrants can access recordings via the Whova app
• The 2023 Family Life Education Summit focused solely on family practitioners at all experience levels working with and for families. Registrants can access recordings online

Advancing Family Science

• Free Webinar: Marketing Your Family Science Academic Program to University Stakeholders — Our presenter panel discussed invaluable strategies for distinguishing your academic program and positioning your unit to gain support from a variety of stakeholders at your institution. Recording and summary PDF available!
• Family Science 5 — Each month, the new Family Science 5 feature in NCFR's email newsletter showcases five popular press items from the past month that featured Family Science research and/or Family Scientists
• Advancing Family Science at the 2023 Annual Member Meeting — At NCFR's member meeting, members participated in a robust discussion on the theme "The Way We Are Now: Advancing Family Science Through the Pandemic & Beyond," generating new ideas and existing practices to support scholars, students, and graduates of Family Science academic programs
• United Nations Expert Group Meeting — With arrangements led by NCFR's research, policy, and education staff, NCFR was honored to host and help organize a United Nations Expert Group Meeting at the 2023 NCFR Annual Conference. The meeting featured the expertise of many NCFR members and Family Scientists, and showcased Family Science and the discipline's real and potential impact on international family policy

NCFR Journals

• NCFR's 3 Journals Increased Their Impact Factors
• Katherine R. Allen, Ph.D., began her tenure as editor of Journal of Family Theory & Review 
• Spencer B. Olmstead, Ph.D., CFLE, named the new editor of Journal of Marriage and Family 

Member News

• Sadguna Anasuri, Ph.D., CFLE, appointed 2025 NCFR Annual Conference Program Chair
• Brian Ogolsky, Ph.D., and Jennifer L. Hardesty, Ph.D., CFLE, appointed 2026 NCFR Annual Conference Program Co-Chairs
• 4 members receive NCFR Fellow status: Chalandra Bryant, Ph.D., CFLE; April Few-Demo, Ph.D.; Abbie Goldberg, Ph.D.; and Ani Yazedjian, Ph.D.
• Dawn Cassidy, M.Ed., CFLE, named the 2023 recipient of the CFLE Special Recognition Award, an award now renamed in her honor
• NCFR members voted in February to elect leaders to its Board of Directors, board committees, and section.
• Three new student affiliate councils were added to NCFR's to list of local chapters at U.S. college campuses
• The Mississippi University for Women (known as the "The W") created an NCFR student affiliate
• 33 NCFR student members received NCFR Honors Recognition in 2023
• 11 mentor/mentee pairs formed for the 2023 class of the NCFR Mentoring Academy

Supporting the Work of Family Scholars and Professionals

• NCFR webinars continued to support Family Life Educators towards their goal of supporting and serving families. Recordings are available and classroom licenses are available for purchase on topics such as:
  • Building a Nonprofit Family Life Education Business
  • Building a Family Life Education Program (2-part series)
  • How to Implement Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Practices
  • Integrating Reflective Practice into Family Life Education Practices
  • NCFR offered 25 total webinars in 2023 and they are all available on demand!
• CFLE Conversations continued to provide Certified Family Life Educators (CFLEs) with a space to work together and discuss their strategies and network on specific topics, such as CFLEs working in the area of disability
• Teaching Tuesdays was a new recurring program launched in 2023, free for NCFR members. Topics disccused included using podcasts and ChatGPT in the classroom. Recordings are available to watch on demand
• Artificial Intelligence and newer technologies were explored in the fall 2023 issue of CFLE Network, and in several conference sessions.
• Quantitative Methods Webinars — part of a multi-year series organized by Dr. Isaac Washburn — focused on Structural Equation Models and Non-Continuous Regression Models
• Two summer webinars, provided skills around racial identity and socialization for family researchers and practitioners.
• NCFR members’ books were featured in the “On the Bookshelf” feaure:
  • Pathways to Professionalism in Family Science by Celeste Hill, Ph.D., CFLE
  • Choices in Relationships, 14^th edition by David Knox, Ph.D., Caroline Schact, M.A., and I. Joyce Chang, Ph.D
  • Handbook of Asian American Families by Chang Su-Russell, Ph.D., Luke T. Russell, Ph.D., CFLE, and Anthony G. James, Jr., Ph.D., Editors
  • Black Couples Therapy: Clinical Theory and Practice by Yamonte Cooper, Ed.D., and Erica Holmes, PsyD.

Here's to a great year ahead in 2024!