Our success in Field Services and as a company is always directly attributable to each of YOU and the effort you bring each day! To that end, the Field Services leaders and I would like to take a moment to recognize 11 of our teammates that have just been promoted as a part of this compensation review cycle. Please join us in congratulating each of our amazing teammates on their well-earned promotions!!
Amanda Atwood has been promoted to Director, Field Services. Amanda joined National Life in 2010 and has not only been a great leader for her Business Operations Support team, she’s been an instrumental leader on several projects that have modernized and shaped the way National Life operates. This long list includes the rollout of the original Agent Portal, Contracting Fast-Start, the ACE Payroll project to sunset legacy mainframe GEAC and continues with her leadership on large initiatives like our Agent Onboarding & Compliance project currently underway. Prior to joining Field Services in 2015, Amanda spent time as a Project Manager with National Life and with MicroData GIS. Amanda has a Bachelor of Science degree from Northland College in Wisconsin; she’s a Certified Scrum Master and holds her PMP designation as well. When Amanda is not at National Life you are most likely to find her with her husband and 2 boys on a mountain bike or snowmobile trail or generally anywhere outdoors!
Steve Turner has been promoted to Director, Field Services. Steve has been with National Life for just over 5 years and in that time has proven himself to be a versatile and caring leader with a demonstrated willingness to roll up his sleeves and do whatever is necessary for his team, other departments and our customers to have successful outcomes. It’s clear that Steve has exuded our servant leadership values across his experience with our Licensing, Contracting and Commissions teams. Steve joined us with 15 years of experience in banking and leadership with M&T Bank and National Bank of Delaware County. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY – Buffalo and holds his Masters degree from Canisius College in Buffalo as well. If Steve isn’t at National Life you are most likely to find he and his wife, Aria exploring the woods, mountainsides and traveling to experience new outdoor adventures.
Jessica Haney has been promoted to Finance Manager, Field Services. Jaye joined National Life in August 2019 as a Financial Analyst on the Distribution Finance Team where she quickly built strong relationships with Field Leadership and rose to the challenge of enhancing the underlying processes. Jaye brings extensive experience from Bank Leumi where she was the a Finance Project Manager focusing on their broker dealer and from her auditing experience with Ernst & Young. Moving forward Jaye will lead a team responsible for the Incentive, Independent Finance and Distribution Analytics & Reporting functions. Chuck Eldred, Matt George, Aaron Pires, John Riedel, and Megan LeCours will all join Jaye’s new team and she will continue to report to Kara Leclerc. Jaye holds her CPA and Masters of Accounting from Bentley University and since her move to Vermont, Jaye has started to golf and ski and adopted a dog with her fiancé.
Jessica Darling has been promoted to Financial Analyst IV and Senior Financial Partner. Jessica joined National Life in 2011 and has become an essential member of the Affiliated Distribution Finance Team. Jessica approaches every challenge as an opportunity to create additional value for the field and NLG. During this last year, Jessica really expanded her role by taking on additional financial partner responsibilities and solidified her brand as a respected, trusted financial partner to several of our General Agents and Regional Vice Presidents. Jessica holds her Bachelor of Applied Science from Fisher College and a Masters degree in Accounting and Finance from Southern New Hampshire University. When she’s not working, you’ll find Jessica out hiking and leading her niece’s Girl Scout troop!
Maggie LaGue has been promoted to Financial Analyst II. Maggie joined National Life in 2018 as an intern and accepted a full time position with the company upon her graduation in 2019. Maggie approaches everything she does with a smile and a desire to see the team succeed. During 2021, she leveraged her passion for data and continuous improvement to dramatically enhance several key financial and reporting processes. These improvements reduced team workload, improved accuracy, and created impactful and timely insight for channel leadership. Maggie holds her B.S. in Finance from Robert Morris University where she also played NCAA Division 1 Hockey and later became our favorite WNHL player for the Connecticut Whales! Currently she is also an assistant coach for the Essex High School Women’s hockey team.
Emily Coffin has been promoted to Licensing Coordinator II. Emily started out working in Field Services under a temporary contract. In April of 2019, she officially joined National Life as part of our Licensing team where she has performed nearly every function within that team. Her willingness to take advantage of new opportunities and learn new responsibilities while excelling in her other work really stands out. Emily is always willing to help, mentors new teammates and demonstrates our servant leadership values every day. She holds her Bachelors degree in Finance from Champlain College and when she’s away from National Life you will find her outdoors skiing, biking, hiking and gardening.
Courtney Ferris has been promoted to Accounting Technician. Courtney joined National Life in October 2016 as a representative in our Contact Center. She joined our team in June of 2019 as a member of the Commission Team where she has quickly become a valuable part of the team. Her accounting background, knowledge of National Life & current processes as well as her detail oriented working style have been an asset for our Commissions team and set her up perfectly for her new role as part of the Debt Management Team. Courtney holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Management from Norwich University. When she is away from National Life, Courtney enjoys all things “summer” when she can spend her time kayaking, gardening, and completing home improvements.
Katie Jablonski has been promoted to Producer Contracting Specialist III. Since joining National Life in July of 2019, Katie has established herself as a key “go-to resource, raised her hand to take on many new challenges and always puts the success of the team first. She is a wonderful example of living our values. In addition to Katie’s day-to-day responsibilities she has also learned the back-up workflow coordinator role, cross trained and helped to work through high volumes on the Affiliated team, and established a new disclosure review process. Katie holds the ACS and ALMI designations as well as a Bachelor’s degree from Green Mountain College and is currently working to complete her MBA with the University of Arizona. She regularly volunteers in our local communities and enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Cindy DaPra has been promoted to Producer Contracting Specialist II. Since joining National Life in 2019, Cindy immediately made an impact on our Contracting teams. Her willingness to help across a number of functions has been a hallmark of her success. Recently, Cindy moved into a new transfer role while remaining flexible in our day to day business function needs and hopping into recruit whenever needed. She has brought a new perspective to our transfer team and already closed a few gaps we had between processes. She’s not afraid to ask ‘why?’ which has not only helped us all to have a better understanding of our process but to create a better experience for our customers. Cindy holds a Bachelor’s degree from Moravian College, really loves arts and crafts and is a HUGE Pittsburgh Penguins fan.
Sarah Jewett has been promoted to Producer Contracting Specialist II. Since joining National Life in 2019, Sarah has done a great job keeping the annuity caution function in order while adding some innovations to the process. She has trained others, researches regulation/training updates, maintains the data in our annuity Apps & Terms and puts together training guides. Recently she has been holding down the hierarchy change function, and has been helping the annuity business resolve issues amidst all the Best Interest regulation changes. Sarah takes the time to critically think about the “why” in our processes, she takes the initiative to implement improvements, has a can-do attitude and is disciplined in her work. It goes without saying, Sarah puts our customers first and is truly a teammate that can be relied on to get the job done. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree from St. Michaels College and when she isn’t at National Life, she enjoys visiting her family in Minnesota and going to hockey games.
Jeremy Quelch has been promoted to Producer Contracting Specialist II. Since Joining National Life in 2019, Jeremy has been a mainstay in our Contract teams. Over the past year Jeremy has been an essential part of the transfer team and a big part of our achievement to be within SLAs, specifically regarding bulk transfers. He has lead organizing, prioritizing and maintaining bulks while continuing to be a contributing teammate to our regular transfer workflow. In addition, Jeremy has been training new team members and continuing to look for efficiencies within the process while doing so. He holds a Bachelors degree in Business from Norwich University and when he’s not at National Life you’ll find him golfing, hiking and just being outdoors.
On behalf of the Field Services Leadership Team, Congratulations to all of you!!
-Tim Ryder, VP Field Services