AAF Montgomery was founded in 1956 as the Montgomery Advertising Federation under the leadership of our first president, Bamber Cox. Montgomery began giving advertising awards in 1959 and in 1962 honored P.W. Walsh of the Advertiser-Journal with the first Silver Medal from Montgomery.

After serving as Montgomery’s president from 1990-1991, James Belton went on to serve AAF District 7 (known then as 7th Deep South District) and became its first African-American Governor from 2000-2001.

The members of the Montgomery Advertising Federation voted to approve an organizational name change to AAF Montgomery beginning July 1, 2008, making itself more recognizable with the American Advertising Federation.

From 2016-2019, Montgomery reigned supreme at the District 7 Club of the Year under the leadership of presidents Michelle Leland (2015-2017) and Kristina Turner (2017-2019) and nationally as Club of the Year for 2017 and 2019.

After serving as Montgomery’s president from 2010-2012, Leigh Farrior went on to serve AAF District 7 in many capacities, including Governor from 2020-2021. She was awarded Governor of the Year in 2021. She was then elected to the National Council of Governors Executive Committee and served as chair from 2023-2024.

We welcome members from all advertising-related organizations representing all facets of the industry: media, advertisers, agencies, designers, and suppliers of advertising products and services. AAF Montgomery is a valuable and unique forum for creating industry contacts and improving communication and knowledge of advertising.

We aim to professionally benefit our members and improve our industry and its public image. The Federation is building a positive history of growth and service to our area. Through public service projects, we provide valuable assistance to worthy causes. Our fundraising activities provide us with operating funds that enable us to support these activities, allow for more professional development opportunities, allow us to get bigger and better speakers for our chapter meetings, and give us the opportunity to send some of our board members to conferences where they gain more knowledge to benefit the chapter. We encourage all those in advertising, marketing, and related fields to join us and help us continue our growth and development as our industry’s voice.