PPAI has promoted two staff members to new positions serving Association members:

• Christina Sanders, PPAI’s awards and recognition manager and executive director of the Specialty Advertising Association of California (SAAC), now has the additional title of regional relations manager.
• Kathlene Brethowr, PPAI’s member engagement manager, is also the new executive director of the Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF).

Sanders has managed PPAI’s awards programs since 2010, overseeing the PPAI Pyramid Award Competition, the PPAI Hall of Fame and the Distinguished Service, Woman of Achievement, H. Ted Olson Humanitarian and Regional Volunteer awards.

In February, Sanders became executive director of SAAC, helping its board of directors guide the direction of the regional association while engaging with members and potential members.

As regional relations manager, Sanders will manage the relationship between PPAI and the promotional products industry’s 27 regional associations along with the Regional Relations Committee (RRC) – previously known as Regional Association Council).

“I look forward to working with the RRC and the regional associations to foster strategic partnerships that allow the associations and all our members to continue to grow and flourish,” Sanders says.

Brethowr, who joined PPAI in 2018, works with the PPAI Board of Directors and oversees the Association’s volunteer program and its summer conferences in her role as member engagement manager.

As executive director of PPEF, Brethowr will manage the Board of Trustees and all PPEF activities, including the scholarship program, fundraising activities and donor recognition initiatives.

Since 1989, the PPEF has awarded over $3 million in college scholarships to 1,618 promotional products industry employees and their children. This year, $299,000 in scholarship money was awarded to 130 new recipients and 32 renewal recipients.

“Through the incredible donations it receives, PPEF is able to provide a lasting impact on the lives of families and employees within the promotional products industry. This includes awarding four-year scholarships for college students, Friends of PPMN Scholarships for industry employees, Chairman’s scholarships for college juniors, or one-year scholarships for college students and trade school applicants,” Brethowr says. “I am looking forward to being part of this foundation and hopefully growing the impact it has on our industry and the families involved. I have always wanted to be in a career that allows me to play a part in changing lives, and PPEF does just that.”