Debbie Miller
President
Debbie Miller, a former journalist and higher education communication professional, serves as treasurer for NFPW. She previously served in roles as parliamentarian and assistant director for NFPW’s national communications contest. In fall 2022, she will become a full-time journalism, media, and English faculty member at NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. She received the sweepstakes award in the NFPW professional communications contest in 2010. In her previous university teaching roles, she encouraged and championed student entries from the University of Arkansas and John Brown University. Her students at those universities entered the collegiate/education division of the NFPW contest and received national awards in public relations and writing for news, sports, and features. In addition to being a member and officer in NFPW, she is a member of College Media Association, Arkansas College Media Advisers, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Public Relations Society of America. She serves on the board of Arkansas Press Women.
Catherine Petrini
Vice President
Catherine M. Petrini is a book author and former magazine and newspaper editor. Under pseudonyms, she has written twenty novels for teen series including Sweet Valley High and others. She has also written a variety of nonfiction books under her own name, mostly for children and teens. She is currently working on a science-fiction series for teenagers. She previously served NFPW in various positions, including Second VP, Third VP, Secretary, Hospitality and Protocol Director, Communicator of Achievement Director, and At-Large Contest Director. She has a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Virginia. An official resident of Alexandria, Virginia, she spends as much time as possible at her home away from home in Umbria, Italy, after falling in love with the country of her ancestors on a 2012 NFPW tour to Italy.
Karen Stensrud
Treasurer
Karen Stensrud of Fargo, N.D., is vice president of brand and executive communications at Bell Bank, one of the nation’s largest family- and employee-owned banks. Named NFPW Communicator of Achievement (COA) in 2010, she has served as COA director since 2019. In 2021, she was named Woman of the Year in Communications by the YWCA of Cass-Clay in Fargo. Karen is serving her seventh NFPW president as an appointed or elected board member.
Kristin Netterstrom Higgins
Secretary
Kristin Netterstrom Higgins is the lead staff member for the Public Policy Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, where she researches and educates the public about emerging policy issues. She oversees the Arkansas Ballot Issue Education Program, which involves producing neutral voter guides, videos and social media campaigns for voters to better understand what’s being asked of them on Election Day. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism and a masters in agricultural education and extension from the University of Arkansas. During her first career, Netterstrom Higgins covered the city of Little Rock for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the city of Bentonville for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas. In her free time, she can be found in her garden of native plants.
Julie Campbell
Education Fund Director/Past President
Julie Campbell, writer and editor, retired in 2018 after 15 years at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, where she was associate director of communications and public affairs and editor of W&L: The Washington and Lee Magazine. Previously, she was the editor of Virginia Cavalcade magazine (1994-2002) and associate editor of The Journal of Arizona History (1987-1994). Campbell is the author of two books: The Horse in Virginia: An Illustrated History, which won prizes from NFPW and the Library of Virginia Literary Awards, and Studies in Arizona History. She has served in several capacities on the board of Virginia Professional Communicators.
