LEADERSHIP

Douglas Massey, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC, CRES, FSS, is a registered representative with OFG Financial Services, Inc., where he has been since 1992. His practice specialties include retirement planning and life insurance. His company’s focus is on near-retirees and retirees. It also does a significant amount of business in the non-profit and 403(b) market.

A NAIFA member since 1987, Massey has served as Chair of the IFAPAC Committee, was on the NAIFA-TX board of directors from 2008-2014, and was President of NAIFA-TX from 2012-2013.

He has attended every NAIFA Congressional Conference since the meeting’s inception and has attended every NAIFA-TX Legislative Day since 1991. He is one of the key contacts for Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and Rep. August Pfluger.

Massey is an IFAPAC Defender (monthly contributor), as well as a contributor at several events each year. Over the years, he has recruited and sponsored many NAIFA members and has encouraged past members. He has moderated LUTCF and FSS classes and is a Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) graduate.

Christopher L. Gandy, LACP, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Midwest Legacy Group (OneAmerica) in Lisle, IL. He has served as President of NAIFA’s Chicagoland chapter and has been a NAIFA member since 2003. He entered the insurance and financial services industry in 1999 after playing professional basketball for the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs as well as in L’Hermaine, France.

Gandy serves on NAIFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force and is a member of the NAIFA 2025 Strategic Planning Committee. He is a highly sought-after speaker for industry events and has been a speaker at NAIFA’s Performance+Purpose annual conference and published in Advisors Magazine, GQ, Advisor Today, and InsuranceNewsNet among other publications.

Gandy is also an active volunteer in the community. He serves on the Board of the Chicago Concussion Coalition, which strives to make amateur sports safer for children, and on the Board of Directors of the Urban League. He is part of the United Way’s Young Community Leaders and volunteers for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization.

Tom Cothron, LUTCF, FSCP, entered the business in 1979 and joined NAIFA in 1981. In 1986, he was appointed as an Agency Manager for Southern Farm Bureau and manages a multi-line agency in Ocala, FL. He has been named Agency Manager of the Year several times and has also been chosen to receive Florida Farm Bureau’s Team Player Award on multiple occasions.

Cothron served as a NAIFA local chapter President in Ocala, FL in 1995 and 2002, as NAIFA-Florida president in 2008-2009, and served on NAIFA’s national board of Trustees from 2011-2015. In 2007 he was asked to serve on the “NAIFA In The 21^st Century” (NAIFA 21) strategic planning task force and after rotating off the national board in 2015 was asked to serve as a member of the “NAIFA 2020” strategic planning group. He was the 2011 recipient of NAIFA-Florida’s highest award as Advisor of the Year being named as the recipient of the “C.G. Snead/J.F. Bryan, III Memorial Award for Outstanding Service”. He has served as a LUTCF moderator and is a graduate of NAIFA’s Leadership In Life Institute.

Cothron serves as a NAIFA Key Contact for several state and federal lawmakers from Florida and his favorite activities include travel with his wife of 30 years, Susie, and any time spent with their 4 children and 6 grandchildren.

John W. Wheeler, Jr.
CFP®, CLU, ChFC, CRPC®, LUTCF, CLTC, LACP

Agency Executive Senior Partner,
Totus Wealth Management, LLC

As Agency Executive Senior Partner of Totus Wealth Management, LLC., John Wheeler is a registered principal and financial advisor with Cetera Advisors LLC.  With an extensive background in the financial services industry dating back to 1969,       Wheeler supports the firm through seminars, advanced joint sales work, recruiting and the development of our financial planning endeavor. He is a Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner, and has earned the Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor, Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow, LACP® and, CLTC® designations. A well-known speaker in the financial services industry and various Bar Associations, Wheeler has been quoted in such publications as Money Magazine, Life Insurance Selling, The National Underwriter, Insurance News Net, and The Journal of Financial Planning.

Wheeler is on the faculty of the College for Financial Planning and has taught various Certification programs including the CRPC® and the CFP®. He is one of only a few people in the United States currently teaching the entire CFP® certification  program, which he has been teaching since 1985. He was chosen as one of five individuals by the College to serve on the Adjunct Faculty Advisory Board. He has also taught for DePaul University for the Office of Continuing and Professional Education and has been a frequent lecturer for The Insurance Sales Institute at Purdue University.

Wheeler served two terms as President of the DuPage Area Association of Insurance  and Financial Advisors, has served on the board since 1990, and currently serves as National Committeeman for NAIFA Chicagoland. In April of 2003, he was named Member of the Year and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. He is also on the NAIFA Texas Board. He served on the Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for over 30 years and served as President seven times. He served as Director of Professional Standards for the Institute of Certified Financial Planners. He then served as Director of Ethics and Education and Director of Governmental Affairs of the Financial Planning Association of Illinois and in 2007 Wheeler was the recipient of the FPA Illinois Chapter Heart of Financial Planning Award*. He is a past President of NAIFA Illinois, past Chair of the Member Benefits Committee, Co-Chair of the Political Involvement Committee. He is also a Board Member of the Forum 400, currently serving as Chairman.

Wheeler is active in his community. In both 1988 and 2004 he received the Judges Award from the Village of Carol Stream for community involvement, the Illinois Reaches Out Award in 1997 for community participation and support, and the Country Spirit Award in 1998 for community service. He is a past Vice-President and co-founding Director of the DuPage Habitat for Humanity** and was also Chief of the YMCA Indian Guides Cheyenne Tribe.

Paul Dougherty is a Past-President of NAIFA and current national Treasurer. He has been in the insurance and financial services field for thirty-four years representing State Farm Insurance, the last twenty-seven as an Agent with offices in Hyattsville, Maryland, and Washington, DC. He is a passionate advocate for the insurance industry in general, and the role of the agent specifically. 

Dougherty is also the past national Secretary for LifeHappens, a not-for-profit association whose mission is to educate the American public about the importance of life insurance and disability protection.

 Throughout his career, Dougherty has actively engaged in training producers, educating clients, as well as advising regulators and legislators about the value of the products and services designed to help consumers recover from the unexpected. Dougherty speaks to audiences and organizations across the country about the key role producers play in the industry and the need to assist clients in preparing for their financial future.

His insights in the delivery of professional advice to a diverse marketplace has resulted in multiple requests to brief members of Congress and their staffs on key issues and has led to frequent testimony before Maryland House and Senate committees. He is also the current Chairman of the Retirement Planning Coalition of Maryland.

Dougherty balances the demands of his agency with his commitment to his community. He has served on four different school boards in Prince Georges County, including as President of two, as well as serving on other charitable boards. He is also a very experienced coach and has spent over fifteen years coaching three dozen different teams.

Dougherty is a native of Potomac, Maryland and a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He lives in Croom, Maryland on the historic West End Farm.

As NAIFA’s Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Mayeux, CAE, oversees the headquarters and national staff and manages relationships with life, health and financial service companies, other industry organizations, legislators, and regulators. Mayeux supports NAIFA’s Board of Trustees and committees and coordinates efforts with NAIFA’s 90 state and local chapters. As CEO, he led an effort to modernize NAIFA’s operations through the development and implementation of a bold new strategic plan, NAIFA 20/20.

Prior to becoming NAIFA’s CEO, Mayeux served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Officer for North American Operations, and General Counsel for the Institute of Internal Auditors Global Headquarters in Orlando, Fla. In this role, Kevin supervised the core membership services offered to all 75,000 IIA members in North America in 158 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean islands. Kevin further served as General Counsel, guiding the IIA’s intellectual property protection, affiliation agreements and legal interests around the world. He is a Certified Association Executive and holds a Certificate in Risk Management Assurance.

Mayeux has served as an association management professional for more than 25 years, including serving as the executive director of a statewide trade association in Tallahassee and CEO of an international individual membership society in Indianapolis. He also practiced law in Central Florida. He has held leadership positions on both the state and national level within the association management community, including being named Indiana’s association executive of the year, serving as president of the Indiana Society of Association Executives, and serving on the board of directors for the Florida Society of Association Executives. Mayeux received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and took Masters in Political Science and Public Administration courses concurrent with his Juris Doctorate at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he served as Student Body President. Kevin continues to serve his alma mater as a member of its national alumni board.