AHFA Promotes O’Keeffe to VP of Membership

January 23, 2020  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

O’Keeffe began her tenure at AHFA in February 2015 as director of membership. She assumed leadership of AHFA’s Solution Partners division the same year. Under her direction, one of the division’s key initiatives, the Annual Education Golf Tournament, has expanded both in number of participants and number of sponsors. As a result, it has doubled the number of scholarships awarded each year – from six to 12 – and increased the value of the scholarships from $2,000 to $2,500. The Solution Partners Scholarship program is the only education initiative in our industry supporting higher education for the children of industry workers.

In December 2016, O’Keeffe added to her responsibilities again when she was named executive director of AHFA’s Specialized Furniture Carriers, a division established in 2009 to serve the unique needs of companies that handle, transport and warehouse residential furniture.  In 2019, she launched the first AHFA/Specialized Furniture Carriers Logistics Conference in collaboration with the Furniture Shippers Association. The event is dedicated to serving the education needs of logistics professionals throughout the home furnishings industry. 

As O’Keeffe assumed these additional roles, she retained oversight of AHFA’s membership recruitment and retention efforts. She will continue these responsibilities as vice president of membership.

“Mary’s efforts have bolstered both our Solution Partners and our Specialized Furniture Carrier divisions. These two groups provide essential support to our industry and to the wider membership of AHFA,” said Andy Counts, CEO, AHFA. “She is adept at building strong customer partnerships, and this has been key to AHFA’s growth over the past five years.”

Prior to joining AHFA, O’Keeffe was director of customer service and sales for HÅG Inc., a Norwegian commercial seating company with U.S. headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., where she spent 11 years.