Featured Speakers
Susan K. Neely
President & Chief Executive Officer, American Council of Life Insurers
State of the Industry
Susan K. Neely is President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), whose mission is to help families live better lives by achieving financial security and certainty. ACLI’s member companies represent 95 percent of industry assets and provide financial security products and services to 90 million families. In her role, Neely has forged groundbreaking initiatives and partnerships on tax and retirement security policy, including passage of the SECURE Act in 2019, the first retirement security legislation passed in a decade. Under her leadership, ACLI launched the Economic Empowerment and Racial Equity Initiative to tackle issues like addressing systemic inequality and closing savings gaps. Life insurers are championing the adoption of enhanced protections that act in consumers’ best interest. Neely is widely recognized as one of the most influential people in association leadership. She is a two-time trade association CEO of the year, one of Washingtonian’s “most influential people” and “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.” A native of Iowa, Neely holds an undergraduate degree in journalism and French civilization from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in public administration from Drake University. She is the mother of two adult children, Eve and Ben.
Greg Heidrich
Chief Executive Officer, Society of Actuaries
SOA Leadership Insights
Greg Heidrich has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) since 2007. He serves as chief executive for the organization and provides management oversight and direction to the full range of the Society’s activities. Before joining the SOA, he served as Senior Vice President, Policy Development and Research, for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). At PCI, he worked with member insurers to develop public policy positions and research on issues facing the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry. He began his career in 1983 with the Alliance of American Insurers, serving as staff economist and director of research before serving in a variety of management roles. From 2011- 2017, Greg served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Portico Benefit Services, a non-profit organization providing employee benefits for employees nationwide of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). During his term on the Portico Board, he served as Chair of the Investment and Executive Committees and as Board Chair from October 2015 – 2017. Greg currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association Forum of Chicagoland as Secretary-Treasurer and is a member of the Key Professional Associations and Key Global Associations Committees of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). Greg earned his MA-Economics from the University of Chicago in 1983 and his BA- Economics (Highest Honors) from the University of Oklahoma in 1981.
Mariana Gomez-Vock
Vice President & Deputy, Policy Development, American Council of Life Insurers
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Mariana Gomez-Vock is Vice President & Deputy, Policy Development at the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) since 2013. She staffed the ACLI’s Risk Classification Committee for 6 years, and in that time served as staff lead for a number of projects related to genetic testing and the use of external data in underwriting. Mariana current staffs the ACLI Reinsurance Committee and is lead staffer for issues relating to domestic and international group capital standards. Mariana graduated from the University of California (BA) and American University (JD). Mariana lives with her husband and two children in Washington.
Dale Hall
Managing Director of Research, Society of Actuaries
Welcome and Opening Remarks
R. Dale Hall, FSA, CERA, MAAA, CFA is Managing Director of Research for the Society of Actuaries in Schaumburg, Illinois. In his role, Dale coordinates the SOA's strategic research partnerships, oversees SOA practice research and experience studies, and directs the SOA's data-driven research initiatives. He is a frequent speaker at insurance and retirement industry meetings, including presentations to the actuarial task forces of the NAIC and highlighting the breadth of SOA research to international audiences. Dale has appeared on behalf of the SOA in a variety of media outlets including coverage on C-SPAN and National Geographic's BREAKTHROUGH television series, and hosts the weekly Society of Actuaries Research Insights Podcast. Prior to joining the SOA, Dale spent over 20 years in the US insurance industry, and was an active volunteer for the SOA, AAA and ACLI actuarial committees.
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alex castellanos
Political Strategist and Analyst
Alex Castellanos is one of the Republican Party’s best-known and most successful media consultants and strategists. Castellanos has served as communications consultant to seven U.S. Presidential campaigns, has helped elect over a dozen U.S. senators and governors, and enjoys over three decades of political
consulting experience, both in the United States and abroad. He brings a wealth of campaign strategy, public opinion research insights, and communications experience to corporate communications and public policy campaigns. Castellanos is a co-founder of Purple Strategies, a boutique strategy firm that
takes its name from the merger of colors commonly identified with Democrats (blue) and Republicans (red), and the founder of NewRepublican.org. He is also an ABC News contributor and posts regularly on media outlets, including The Huffington Post and NationalReview.com.
stephanie cutter
Political Strategist, Founder of Precision Strategies, and Former Deputy Campaign Manager & Senior Advisor to President Obama
A trusted advisor to America’s most powerful democratic leaders, Stephanie Cutter has been at the center of every major policy and political debate for the last 20 years. Continuing to reinvent today’s political communications as the first-ever virtual Democratic National Convention’s Chief Program Executive and Executive Producer of President Biden’s Inauguration, she is the former Deputy Campaign Manager for Obama 2012 and one of his chief strategists in the White House.
Stephanie served as Deputy Campaign Manager for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, where she played a pivotal role in designing and executing a game-changing campaign that broke barriers in understanding, reaching, and connecting with more Americans than any election in history. Previously, Stephanie served in various senior positions within the Obama administration and campaign, from managing the President's message strategy and issue development in the White House, to serving as First Lady Michelle Obama's Chief of Staff, to counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
In 2020, Stephanie once again changed the political communications game as the Chief Program Executive for the first-ever virtual Democratic National Convention and Executive Producer of President Biden’s Inauguration.
Stephanie is the founding partner of Precision Strategies, an award-winning integrated strategy and marketing agency in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
Before the Obama administration, Stephanie served as a senior advisor to Minority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy. In 2004, she served as Communications Director for the John Kerry for President Campaign. She also held various positions within the Clinton Administration, including President Clinton’s White House Deputy Communications Director.
Stephanie is a former co-host of CNN’s Crossfire show and a former contributor to ABC News. She appears frequently on cable and network television providing her thoughts on current events. A Massachusetts native, she lives in Washington, D.C. with her son, and is a graduate of Smith College and Georgetown University Law Center.