YFTA Board of Directors
Small but Mighty. Youth Field Trial Alliance is led by three Board of Directors and supported by more than 50 volunteer Ambassadors around the country.
Chris Mathan (BA in Communications Design & Photography, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design)
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Chris grew up in Montreal and immigrated to the United States in 1980. For over 40 years, she worked as a designer and art director, most prominently at New York City’s Chermayeff & Geismar Associates and Knoll Furniture, and as a partner at Peter Saville Associates in London, England. She still manages her own firm, Mathan Design + Photography, which focuses on the sporting dog and shooting sports industry. Chris’ photographs of bird dogs and field trials from across the country have been widely published, along with stories and articles she has penned. She is editor of the online field trial publication, Strideaway, co-founded with Mazie Davis in 2008.
Chris’ involvement in field trials has been as a club member/official, an amateur trainer, handler and breeder as well as owning dogs competing on the open grouse dog circuit. She has been an avid upland bird hunter for decades and currently owns, trains, and enjoys three female pointers who, aside from pursuing Bobwhite quail, have served as “bird dog” representatives at game fairs and in numerous pointing dog demonstrations.
Chris relocated from Maine to the small town of Pavo, just outside Thomasville, Georgia 11 years ago. She brings her professional experience to YFTA where she oversees all marketing and communications efforts. In 2025, she received a modest annual compensation of $2,000.
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Claudia McNamee (BA Geology, Franklin & Marshall College; MBA New York University, Stern School of Business)
Prior to retiring in 2018, Claudia worked as an environmental consultant for 7 years which was followed by 15 years in the hospitality industry managing small to medium teams, and another 15 years in the financial services industry managing corporate volunteer initiatives and analyst development programs for Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and First Data. With broad management experience, Claudia brings strong business acumen and energy to all YFTA endeavors.
Field trialing has been a passion and hobby for the last 25 years — handling and scouting as an amateur on foot and horseback, owning dogs that compete on both the open shooting dog and all-age circuits, as well as reporting, organizing, and promoting open championships. Originally from St. Croix, USVI, Claudia has lived in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains, and metro-area NYC. She moved to Georgia in 2015 to be more engaged in the field trial sport year-round.
Claudia currently lives in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia with her two “house” dog companions, Milo, a mighty 16-year old Jack Russell Terrier, and Blaze a 3-year old English Cocker-Cavalier Spaniel mix.
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Allison Daniels (Bachelor of Liberal Arts, University of Mississippi)
Allison is a financial advisor and partner at Upland Wealth Advisors in Albany, Georgia, having worked in the financial industry for nearly 20 years. She began her career on an equity trading desk, later became a financial advisor, and now runs her own firm with two partners. Passionate about community involvement, Allison serves on several boards and volunteers with multiple organizations, bringing vast experience and her financial management skills to YFTA.
Allison grew up in the field trial world, attending trials from a young age and later scouting and handling in amateur events. Her father, David Williams, a Field Trial Hall of Fame inductee, was a passionate conservationist. Allison is the president of Huntington, Tennessee’s popular and well-regarded Carroll County Field Trial Club, where she helps preserve the land and legacy her dad began 33 years ago.
Her husband, Jamie Daniels, is a professional breeder, trainer, and handler of winning all-age pointers as well as a highly successful developer and manager of quail plantation properties in Southwest Georgia. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Allison now lives in Dawson, Georgia, with her husband and their two children, Rose Marie and Thomas. Outside of work and volunteering, she enjoys spending as much time as possible outdoors with her family and their dogs and horses.