Kathryn Barco Atkinson

Kathryn Atkinson, CMP, is the Director of Continuing Medical Education and Events at the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians. She began her career at the NCAFP in 2006 and often says she has “the best job ever”, supporting family physicians and their essential work. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. In 2017, she achieved the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation, underlining her commitment to excellence in event management.

Kathryn has been an active member of AENC since 2014. Her contributions and commitment to association management and event planning were recognized in 2020 when she received AENC's Jovita Mask Award. In 2021, she was honored with the President's Choice Award. She has been a member of the AENC Board of Directors since 2020 and now serves as President-Elect.

When she is not planning the next best Family Medicine conference, Kathryn enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends. With a family home in North Topsail Beach, she is an avid shark tooth hunter, beach glass collector, and sunrise watcher. Kathryn has a superpower when browsing thrift stores and has been known to scoop up complete sets of Limoges china and Lenox crystal for next to nothing. (She may or may not have more than one china cabinet in her house.) If you ask her, Urban Cowboy is the best movie ever, and she wishes Dolly Parton was the President. Kathryn is married to her college sweetheart, Doug, and they have two children: Jack, an ECU Pirate currently working on his MBA, and Lily Kate, a UNCW Seahawk pursuing a degree in Environmental Science. Her four-legged children include Gypsy, a rescued German Shepherd mix, and Piper, a tiny stray kitten she found near a drain pipe one cold and rainy night.