The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is proud to recognize Jody Johnston Pawel, LSW, CFLE, CTSS, CFLC-E as the 2024 recipient of the Margaret E. Arcus Outstanding Family Life Educator Award, which recognizes NCFR member(s) who have made significant contributions to the field of Family Life Education through research, theory, publication, practice, program development, and/or training.

Jody Johnston Pawel, LSW, CFLE, CTSS, CFLC-E, is an award-winning author of over 100 research-based parenting curricula, programs, and resources. She’s a top-rated speaker who has trained over 100,000 parents and professionals and has certified over 100 Parent’s Toolshop® trainers and coaches worldwide. She serves as a parenting expert to the media, with 300+ media appearances in the first year of the launch of her award-winning book, The Parent’s Toolshop® and was the assistant producer and on-air parenting expert of the Emmy-nominated Ident-a-Kid television series. She has shared her knowledge in dozens of professional development workshops, webinars, articles, textbook chapters, and her online course, "6 Steps to Starting and Growing Your Family Life Practice."

Jody has contributed to and presented at NCFR's annual conferences, has contributed to CFLE Network, facilitated multiple NCFR webinars and workshops, and presented at the 2021 and 2022 Family Life Education Summit. She is currently a member of the 2024 CFLE Advisory Board.

The Family Life Educator award honors Margaret E. Arcus who made a remarkable contribution to family life education (FLE) during her long, productive career. Margaret Arcus helped create the NCFR Certified Family Life Education program, setting standards for the field.

Jody Johnston Pawel will be recognized for her achievement during a plenary at the 2024 NCFR Annual Conference where she will give a special address titled, "Charting the Future: Redefining Family Life Education for the Next Generation."

The National Council on Family Relations is the premier professional association for the multidisciplinary understanding of families. NCFR has a membership of nearly 3,000 family researchers, practitioners and educators. For more information on the National Council on Family Relations or its scholarly publications, visit the NCFR website at ncfr.org.