| The Board of Directors |
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Lori Wagner started her paralegal career in 1992, and is a member of the Northeast Indiana Paralegal Association (NIPA). She served as President of NIPA in 1997 for a two-year term and then again in 2010 for a four-year term, holding various positions in between. She was the NIPA Primary Representative to NFPA from 2010 – 2016. She received the NIPA Outstanding Paralegal Award in 1997, 2011 and 2014. She is also a member of the Indiana State Bar Association where she received the Outstanding Affiliate Member Award in 2015. She has been registered with the Indiana State Bar Association as an Indiana Registered Paralegal since July, 2015. Lori has held several positions with NFPA prior to becoming President including NFPA Strategic Planning Coordinator from 2012 – 2015, and the 2016 Convention Coordinator. She then served on the NFPA Board of Director as Region III Director from 2016 – 2019. Lori was elected Treasurer, Director of Finance, for 4 years before taking over the role of President-Elect and then ultimately, President. Lori is passionate about NFPA and committed to seeing it thrive. President Elect - VACANT Director of Profession Development - VACANT
The Director of Positions and Issues will assist the President and the Director of Profession Development in leading NFPA and the paralegal profession by addressing positions and issues that will directly affect the association and the profession.
Julie Rosenau has worked as a legal assistant / paralegal for over three decades. She is currently employed by RHIMagnesita, a world leader in refractory services. She is a member of the Central PA Paralegal Association and has been involved in non-profit Board volunteer work for over two decades. Julie has served on committees and the Board of Affordable Housing Advocates (AHA) as Chair and current Secretary for well over a decade. She is the Recording Secretary of her large church Board and was the Secretary of the Christian School of York. Julie has been PA certified paralegal since her employment with RHI US Ltd. began in 2021. Julie hopes to meet as many of you outstanding paralegals (and associations) as she can in the near future. If you are on the east coast, please contact Julie (especially with virtual meetings !) Since Julie and her family love to travel, contact Julie and she just may try to visit further associations too. Julie’s goal is to strengthen the relationship between the NFPA and our local associations. She looks forward to supporting Lori and all other NFPA Directors. Director of Marketing - VACANT
The Director of Paralegal Certification will assist the President in leading NFPA and the paralegal profession by overseeing and managing the administration of NFPA’s two certification exams, the Paralegal CORE Competency Exam® and Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam®, and the Paralegal Certification Standards Committee, by addressing issues related to paralegal certification, and by being the main spokesperson regarding paralegal certification by NFPA. Tina M. Johnson is a paralegal in Maslon's Estate Planning Group in Minneapolis MN, with more than two decades of experience managing probate and trust administrations, maintaining trust account ledgers and annual trust accountings, and preparing fiduciary income tax, gift tax, and estate tax returns. She also supports attorneys with clients' long term care planning needs and annual accountings for guardianships, conservatorships, and special/supplemental needs trusts. A leader in her field, Tina regularly writes and presents on estate administration topics. Most recently, she authored a chapter in the newly revised Minnesota Estate Administration Deskbook from Minnesota CLE. Tina earned her paralegal degree from Inver Hills Community College and a bachelor's degree from Minnesota State University – Mankato. She is certified as a PACE® (Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam) Registered Paralegal by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc., has earned the Minnesota Certified Paralegal (MnCP) credential, and serves as a notary public. Cherylan Shearer, IRP, is a corporate paralegal at the law firm
of Yoder Ainlay Ulmer & Buckingham, LLP in Goshen, Indiana. She has
been with the firm for 28 years and received her paralegal certificate
with honors in June 1999 from Indiana
University at South Bend. She primarily works with the initial
set up of organizations including for-profit, not-for-profit, and
limited liability companies, mergers and acquisitions, and maintains
corporate compliance for approximately
600 clients of the firm. Ms. Shearer is also a member of the
Affiliate Committee of the Indiana State Bar Association currently
serving as Vice Chair. She has been a member of the Michiana Paralegal
Association since 1999 and is a
current member of the Northeast Indiana Paralegal Association.
While a member of the Michiana Paralegal Association, she served as
Membership Chair, on its Board of Directors, as President, and as
Primary Delegate. She has also served
as the NFPA Region III Director from 2009 through 2012, served
as NFPA’s Secretary and Director of Operations from 2015 to 2018, served
on various committees, as Convention Coordinator, and as Governing
Documents Coordinator. She has taught seminars
to the paralegal students taking the Business Organization class
at the Indiana University at South Bend. In 2010, she was awarded the
Michiana Paralegal of the Year. Treasurer & Director of Finance Catherine D. Curtis, CP is a Trust and Estate Paralegal with McLane Middleton, with over 25 years of experience. She assists attorneys and clients in a variety of matters with an emphasis in post-death trust administration and funding, probate administration, guardianship administration and related estate and fiduciary income tax returns. Catherine has been actively involved in NFPA as the Region V Director (2019-2023), NFPA’s Budget Committee (since 2012), Continuing Legal Education Co-Coordinator (since 2014) and Membership Coordinator (2012). Region Directors The Region Directors are the main liaison between members associations and other members of the Board. There are five region directors serving members in the five regions of NFPA.
Theda Yandell, RP® was a litigation paralegal at Forsberg & Umlauf, P.S., a litigation defense firm, from 2000 until she retired in 2024. She currently is a contract paralegal for Forsberg & Umlauf, P.S. Theda has over 37 years of experience as a litigation paralegal in the areas of personal injury, premise liability, property damage, product liability, complex litigation and malpractice cases. Theda received an Associate of Arts degree and an Associate of Arts and Sciences degree, Legal Assistance from Highline College, an American Bar Association accredited paralegal program. She is a member of the Highline College Paralegal Program Advisory Board and volunteers at the King County Bar Association Kent Legal Clinic. The Region I Director is responsible for helping all NFPA associations which are located in Arizona, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Cindy Moss earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Southwest Texas State University in 1998. She received her Paralegal Certificate through the University of North Texas Professional Development Institute in 2012. She moved to the Dallas area from Austin with her husband and cat in 2015. She joined the Dallas Area Paralegal Association in 2016 as a student member while attending El Centro College to earn her Associate of Applied Science in Paralegal Studies in 2017. During her time with DAPA, she served as Pro Bono/Community Service Chairperson, Sustaining Member Liaison, Membership Vice President, and NFPA Primary and Secondary. She is now a member of New Orleans Paralegal Association, and is currently employed as a paralegal at Silvera Deary Ray. While Cindy pursues a wide variety of interests, she is especially an avid reader and knitter. The Region II Director is responsible for helping all NFPA associations which are located throughout the Mountain West and Midwest states of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Jessica Kubiak, RP, OSBA Certified Paralegal, is a long-time member of NFPA and has held several Coordinator positions such as Convention Coordinator, Nominations Coordinator and Leadership Coordinator. Jessica has also been a long-standing member of her local association. Cleveland Association of Paralegals (CAP) and has held various Board positions on her local board as well. The Region III Director is responsible for helping local associations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee.
Jessica Durkin is the operations manager and legal secretary at Community Justice Project, a civil rights legal aid organization for low-income Pennsylvanians. She works in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. Jessica’s introduction to NFPA began with a membership to the national organization through her local paralegal association (Pittsburgh Paralegal Association) and was on the board of the local association as an NFPA delegate. Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in communications-journalism from Cal Poly Pomona. As a trained communications specialist and writer, she coordinates the firm’s media relations and social media accounts, and probably most important, she proofreads her boss’s court filings. Jessica is a past newspaper reporter and worked at daily newspapers in New England and Scranton, PA. She left newspapers during the industry’s retraction as it went from print to all-digital, and for a few years studied independent online news start-ups, local media ecosystems and media policy for a Washington, DC think tank. Before becoming a legal aid paralegal, Jessica worked in the social justice movement in Pittsburgh on the communications team of a hospital worker labor organizing campaign. She lives in Pittsburgh with her boyfriend, who is a local union president, and two female cats. Jessica was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, and she has lived in California, England, Connecticut, and Scranton. The Region IV Director is responsible for helping local associations in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia. Director, Region V - VACANT The Region V Director is responsible for helping local associations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
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President
Director of Positions and Issues 
Director of Membership
Director of Paralegal Certification
Secretary & Director of Leadership Development
Director, Region I 
Director, Region II
Director, Region III
Director, Region IV