SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Board of Directors has appointed Sadguna Anasuri, Ph.D., CFLE, to be program chair for the 2025 NCFR Annual Conference, scheduled to be held in Baltimore, Maryland. The program chair's primary duties are to select the theme, identify the plenary speakers, and prepare the call for abstracts for a particular year's conference.

Dr. Anasuri has been an associate professor and coordinator of the human development and family studies program in the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences at Alabama A&M University for nearly ten years of her professional tenure. She brings almost 20 years of teaching experience to her professorship with Alabama. She graduated from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University with a bachelor's degree in family and consumer sciences/home economics teacher education and a master's degree in human development and family studies. Dr. Anasuri also attended the University of North Texas, where she earned a master's of science in human development and family studies. Additionally, she received her doctorate in child development at Texas Woman's University. Further, she completed courses at Harvard, Duke, Yale, MITx, ColumbiaX, and the University of Edinburgh.

Dr. Anasuri's research extensively explores the impact of media usage on obesity among young adults and the lifespan human development. Dr. Anasuri employs qualitative methodology, specifically conversational interviewing, a technique that builds a connection between parties. She brings a new, multilayered, diverse perspective to families and health, providing valuable policy information. With her vast knowledge and experience come cutting-edge ideas for the 2025 NCFR Annual Conference.

Dr. Anasuri has been a member for more than 20 years. Her programmatic and applied background spans many interest areas in NCFR: child poverty, workplace bullying, and diversity. She has served in leadership positions in the Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families Section as communications chair and on the CFLE Academic Program Review Committee.

Dr. Anasuri has proposed the 2025 conference theme: Power, Privilege, and Difference: Lived Experiences of Changing Families and Societies, aiming to comprehensively analyze the intersecting effects of long-lasting systemic measures that have exerted oppression and disadvantage on families and societies. The goal would be to explore ways to alleviate their impact and promote equity and fairness. Dr. Anasuri considers power and privilege labeling some social groups disenfranchised and disadvantaged while rendering others with an advantage of dominance. These labels and ideals come with severe consequences for families. She directs us to reimagine social policies that are impartial, inclusive, and equitable. This theme invites us to observe, "we cannot be equal if we define one group as better or superior to another." Dr. Anasuri highlights the critical role of Family Scientists.

Dr. Anasuri has proposed topics including inequality; the nation of origin; resilience; race; rights; disparity, and invisibility. She has also proposed to focus on how critical it is to resolve conflicting views and strengthen all families, which speaks to visibility and seeing beyond 'traditional' conceptualizations of family. One cannot wholly ignore the environmental elements' impact on the family system. Each topic is essential to the discipline of Family Science. Engaging scholars in dialogue is crucial to changing the national and international discourse around Family Science and diversity, equity, and inclusion to promote healthy families and functioning.

The NCFR Elections Council was impressed with Dr. Anasuri's proposal, the substantial leadership and extensive networks that Dr. Anasuri brings to this role, and her broad range of leadership responsibilities in service to NCFR.

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.