NAIFA congratulates our corporate partner OneAmerica on its new multi-year sponsorship deal with USA Swimming, the national governing body of the sport of swimming in the United States. OneAmerica is the first Centennial Partner heading into the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for swimming, which will be held in Indianapolis. 

NAIFA is pleased to announce that Charmell Davis, CMP, is NAIFA’s new Vice President of Member Advancement. In this role, she leads NAIFA’s newly created Member Advancement team and reports to CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE. The Member Advancement team combines many of the functions of NAIFA’s former Professional Development and Professional Credentials Departments under Davis’s direction.

On Monday, October 31's "Don't Be Scared of Long-Term Care," NAIFA's Executive Director of Centers of Excellence, Carroll Golden, addressed the crisis of long-term care that is sneaking up on most Americans. "When we look at the cost of care, it’s only increasing and it’s increasing dramatically," she said at the Limited & Extended Care Planning Center's annual Impact Day.

Paul Dougherty is a Board Member for Life Happens, a nonprofit organization focused on education based on unbiased opinions about insurance. He has been an insurance agent for nearly 25 years and is a former President, Secretary, and Trustee for NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors).

For Johnson Byrd, the transition from high school teacher and coach to insurance agent was an easy one. As he points out, both careers require a drive to succeed and a passion for education. So, when he got a job opportunity with Farm Bureau, he decided to take the leap. 

Washington State’s “Washington Cares Fund” (WCF) imposes an uncapped 0.58% employee-paid payroll tax ($580 per $100,000 earned) to fund a $36,500 lifetime pool (intended to inflate, beginning in 2027, according to WA’s consumer price index) for long-term care received in WA by vested employees. A claimant must require help with at least 3 activities of daily living (11 ADLs are listed on WCF’s website).

When Michael Herring, CLU^®, ChFC^®, LUTCF, was studying business in college, he expected to build a career in finance, but he decided to change direction when he took a course on insurance. After graduation, he took a job as a claims adjuster and, three years later, became an insurance agent. Now, he works primarily with Nebraska’s farming community. He protects their farmhouses, combines, and tractors; provides liability coverage for the rare chemical spill or animal collision; and is his clients’ first call after a hailstorm.

Christopher Gandy, LACP, Founder of Midwest Legacy Group in Lisle, IL, and the top-ranked producer for OneAmerica, has been recognized as the NAIFA Diversity Champion for 2022.

Gandy, a loyal NAIFA member since 2003, serves on NAIFA’s Board of Trustees, is a Past President of NAIFA-Chicagoland, and is a Co-Chair of NAIFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council. He was also a member of the NAIFA 2025 Strategic Planning Committee, which developed the NAIFA 2025 strategic plan with a goal of increasing DEI in the association and industry. After four years as a student-athlete at the University of Illinois and playing several seasons of professional basketball for the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs as well as in L’Hermaine, France, Gandy entered the insurance and financial services profession in 1999.

Jeff Chernoff, M.S., LUTCF, LACP, Vice President of Insurance and Trust in Tampa, FL, is the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) Young Advisor Team Leader of the Year for 2022.

Chernoff is the President-Elect of NAIFA-FL and has been a loyal NAIFA member since 2011. He is a graduate of NAIFA’s Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) and has remained active in the program, serving as a moderator of classes in Florida. He is a Past President of NAIFA-Tampa Bay and received that chapter’s Dick Cimino Distinguished Service Award in 2018 for his strong support of the chapter’s membership endeavors and public service projects.

Coastal Wealth, a leading financial services firm in the southeast, has announced the addition of Lawrence “Larry” Holzberg, LUTCF, LACP as a new Brokerage Director. He will be responsible for leading financial professionals to offer case consultation and design and positioning strategies and presentations.