NAIFA is pleased to announce that Karla Kirk is NAIFA’s new Vice President of Growth and Revenue. In this role, she will be in charge of NAIFA’s business development, membership sales, and Centers of Excellence operations and will report to CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE. She will lead a business development and sales team focused on advancing NAIFA initiatives to grow membership and corporate non-dues revenue.

For the last several years, Kirk has served as the Executive Director of the Advanced Practice Center, a collaboration of NAIFA and the Society of Financial Service Professionals, that offers resources, events, and access to experts for financial professionals working on clients’ complex planning needs. In this role, she has become very familiar with NAIFA’s membership, volunteer leadership, corporate partners, and sponsors.

“Karla Kirk has proven a valuable member of our NAIFA team, leading and promoting the highly successful Advanced Practice Center. We now look forward to working even more closely with her as she leverages her deep industry knowledge, broad industry connections, and fundraising experience to benefit the entire NAIFA enterprise,” Mayeux said. “Karla enters her new role with a running start and a strong understanding of the strong value proposition NAIFA offers our members and partners as well as the entire insurance and financial services industry.”

As Vice President of Growth and Revenue, Kirk will facilitate revenue generation through all of NAIFA’s Centers of Excellence:

• The Limited & Extended Care Planning Center
• The Business Performance Center
• The Talent Development Center
• The Advanced Practice Center (a collaboration with the Society of FSP)
• The Employee & Executive Benefits Center (a forthcoming collaboration that includes support from LIMRA)

She and her team will also focus on increasing membership by working with companies to promote NAIFA among their agents and advisors and engaging firms with NAIFA’s 100% Agency and Financial Security Champions programs.

Karla was most recently the Vice President of Firm Selection with Lion Street Financial, a network of over 1,000 financial professionals representing almost 200 member firms across the country. Karla led the firm selection process by attracting financial professionals to join the Lion Street network.

“I’m excited to return to the association industry to lend my experience and talent to take NAIFA to the next level in growth,” Kirk said. “I have deep respect for the work that NAIFA has done to transform itself into a modern, agile association and look forward to being part of a dynamic leadership team that works tirelessly for its members. The protection and expansion of our industry is a passion of mine and is also central to NAIFA’s Mission Statement. It is an honor to be working with one of the largest and most influential associations for our industry, financial professionals, and their clients.”