NAIFA is proud to recognize Mike LaPorte as the recipient of the Q2 IFAPAC Hard Hat Award, honoring his outstanding commitment to NAIFA’s advocacy mission and his tireless support for the Insurance and Financial Advisors Political Action Committee (IFAPAC).

NAIFA is pleased to announce five new inductees into the NAIFA Hall of Fame. The NAIFA Board of Trustees authorized the creation of the Hall of Fame last year to recognize and celebrate members whose extraordinary service and contributions represent the legacy of the most accomplished, impactful, and inspirational members of the NAIFA family.

The 2025 NAIFA Hall of Fame Inductees are:

• Peter C. Browne, LUTCF*
• Ben Feldman*
• Terry K. Headley, LUTCF, FSS, LIC*
• Robert M. Nelson, CLU, LUTCF, FSS
• Lester A. Rosen*

NAIFA is proud to recognize Scott Blake, MBA, ChFC, CLU, as our Q2 Hard Hat Award winner for his outstanding, all-around contributions to membership growth, engagement, and leadership. Scott serves as Assistant Vice Chair on NAIFA’s National Membership Committee and is a dedicated leader at both the state and local levels in Ohio.

With great sadness, we share the news that NAIFA Past President Mark D. Johnson, CLU, RHU, ChFC, passed away on July 28. He served as President of NAIFA (then known as NALU) during the 1997-1998 association year and was the Chair of Life Happens (then, the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education) in 2006. While a member of NAIFA’s Board of Trustees in the mid-1990s, he led an important Strategic Planning Task Force that shaped the association’s direction for many years to follow. After his term as President, Mark continued as a volunteer leader providing guidance for NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. Prior to his national leadership, Mark was President of NAIFA-Minnesota and NAIFA-Lake Superior.

NAIFA’s Committee on Governance has nominated Carina Hatfield, LUTCF, CLCS, LACP, agency owner of Weigner Insurance & Financial Services, Inc. in Pottstown, Penn., to be the 2026 NAIFA Secretary. Hatfield, who currently serves on the Life Happens Council and NAIFA’s National Membership Committee and Government Relations Committee, is a NAIFA-National Trustee and Past President of NAIFA-Pennsylvania. She has been a NAIFA member since 2005. As incoming Secretary, Hatfield will be in line to serve as President-Elect in 2027 and President in 2028.

Craig Wright is a financial advisor with Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designations. He served as the NAIFA Missouri president and is a founding partner of a financial services firm with over 15 years of experience offering fee‑based financial and insurance planning to individuals, families, and small businesses. Craig holds a MBA from Southwest Baptist University.

Please join us in congratulating Marc Sigmon, our Q2 Hard Hat Award winner in the Grassroots category!  Grassroots advocacy is the heartbeat of NAIFA's impact, and Marc embodies that mission with every step he takes through the halls of Congress.

A dedicated leader, proud veteran, and unwavering industry advocate, Marc has been named NAIFA’s Q2 Hard Hat Award winner in the Grassroots category. This honor recognizes his exceptional commitment to engaging lawmakers, mobilizing local members, and ensuring the voices of agents and advisors are heard at every level of government.

There are a lot of things you have to do to prepare your practice for the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. A lot of it is work in the office behind the scenes. But some of it is client preparation. Our older clients by now have a better idea of the schedule, but newer ones need some training. 

Why is preparing clients important for this period? Simply put, if you do not prepare your clients, I can guarantee someone else will. There are too many other agents and brokers selling Medicare products for your clients not to be solicited by them. And even for the ones you don’t expect to leave, the advertising, temptation, and word of mouth among friends and neighbors may be too great for some of them. It does not take a lot of effort to just remind your clients that you are here, you know what’s coming, and you have their back. Most of the time that is all you need to do to retain their business. Here is what we do to prepare our clients.

August:

Robert A. Miller, M.S., M.A., of New York City and Vero Beach, Florida, a retired Managing Partner at Miller-Pomerantz Insurance and Financial Services in New York City and NAIFA Past President, has been selected as the 2025 John Newton Russell Memorial Award recipient. The award is the highest honor accorded by the insurance industry to a living individual who has rendered outstanding services to the institution of life insurance. Miller will be celebrated and formally presented the award at NAIFA’s Belong Dinner, October 14 in Arlington, Virginia.

Dwane McFerrin has spent decades navigating the complexities of Medicare policy and product development and he understands just how disruptive regulatory changes can be for the professionals who support seniors every day. That’s one reason he became a founding member of NAIFA’s Medicare Collective, a new initiative created to empower professionals working in Medicare and healthcare solutions through advocacy, education, and community.