Allen R. Bruce, CLU, ChFC, is this year’s winner of the Lang Dixon Leadership and Excellence in Achieving Diversity Award. Bruce has been in the financial and insurance industry for 52 years and has been a loyal member of NAIFA since 1973. He was the first African American to complete a full term as president of the District of Columbia Life Underwriters Association (now NAIFA-Greater Washington, D.C.) and the first African American president of the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation. 

Rock Planck has been an affiliate member of NAIFA since 2020 and is today helping clients set up financial strategies for their future. With 30 years of experience in the business, Rock was first attracted to the field as a loan officer and reverse mortgage planner due to the belief that mortgage planning should be incorporated into every financial plan (although it often is not). As Rock says, “not enough people really consider the impact that having a mortgage has on their financial picture.” Rock believes in providing knowledge to people, rather than focusing solely on having the lowest costs or rates—he is, as he says, “another tool in their toolbelt.”

Charlie Calderwood, CLU^®, ChFC^®, has been a member of NAIFA since 1977 and today is eagerly helping clients set up financial strategies for their future. Charlie enjoys the freedom and finances that he was able to obtain as an investment advisor, however, he points out that “with the freedom gained, there is an increased requirement for motivation and discipline.” Charlie emphasizes that his self-discipline and willingness to put in the hours required to be successful is what helped build him up as an advisor. Charlie has been working in the insurance and finances field since he completed college at Tulane University, quickly and steadily working his way up until now, where he owns his own very successful RIA firm.

Gilbert Mares, MPA, LUTCF, LILLI, CEO of Gilbert A. Mares and Associates, is a loyal NAIFA member and Past President of NAIFA's Los Angeles affiliate from 2003-2005.

Mares was born in El Paso, Texas, and later moved to Los Angeles when he was four years old. He attended schools in the greater Los Angeles area and earned his undergraduate degree from Cal Poly Pomona University, and developed a passion for Political Science. At the age of 21, Mares had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live and work in Washington, D.C., as a fact-finder at the cabinet level. 

Grace Staten, recently named the Women in Financial Services (WIFS) 2020 Woman of the Year, is the Vice President of Marketing for Coastal Wealth, and a loyal NAIFA member since 2013.

Staten says, “I was first introduced to the financial services business as an undergraduate by a volunteer at my college. She was a part-time career counselor who worked professionally as a financial advisor. Knowing that I wanted to major in business, she steered me toward finance and allowed me to be an assistant in her financial services office.”

Early in his career, Steven Saladino, RICP, LACP, LUTCF, took a very important step: He decided to become a member of NAIFA.

That step has turned out to be highly beneficial for Saladino. He is now a managing director with Principal Financial Group, the recipient of many accolades and awards, and a proud member of NAIFA’s Board of Trustees.