Origins and Leadership
CFA emerged from a national consumer forum, called Consumer Assembly that was first held in April 1966 to advance new consumer protections. Encouraged by White House Consumer Adviser Ester Peterson, representatives from nearly 60 consumer groups, consumer cooperative groups, and industrial trade unions decided to form a permanent organization that was formally launched in April 1968.
CFA made Consumer Assembly its annual conference and held this forum in conjunction with the organization’s annual meeting. At this meeting, member organizations elected a 40 to 43-person board of directors and debated and voted on policy resolutions for the organization.
The CFA Board selected Erma Angevine ast the organization’s first Executive Director. She served until 1973, then was followed by Carol Tucker Foreman (1973-1977), Kathleen O’Reilly (1977-1980). Currently, Stephen Brobeck is the Executive Director of CFA (1980-present). Retired Senator Howard Metzenbaum served as Honorary Chairman from 1995 to 2008.
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