WESTFIELD CENTER, Ohio, July 1, 2009 – The InVEST program awarded Dee Macheda of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) with the Dach Award. The Dach Award honors an insurance industry volunteer who has made tremendous contributions in fostering the growth and development of InVEST.
“Dee Macheda is one of our country’s foremost experts on education in the insurance industry,” says Brett Nilsson, Big “I” chairman. “I have made InVEST one of the top priorities of my chairmanship because the future of our industry is dependent on attracting new talent. We need more passionate and talented advocates for InVEST like Dee and we expect the InVEST program to continue to flourish in New York with her at the helm.”
Macheda is the InVEST State Champion for New York and is involved in four local programs. She attends conferences with students, coordinates tours of the local association, speaks to local InVEST classes, assists in curriculum development, conducts mock job interviews with InVEST students and is an active participate in the local InVEST awards ceremony. On a national level, Macheda volunteers her time to assist with the annual InVEST Silent Auction, which funds student scholarships, and serves on the InVEST volunteer “Teacher Task Force” which convened this last weekend to develop a new InVEST curriculum.
“Dee brings professionalism, passion, and enthusiasm to the InVEST experience and the success of the program in New York is largely to her credit,” says Tom Minkler, Big “I” executive committee member and president of the Clark-Mortenson Agency in Keene, N.H. “Dee’s work from the classroom to the national level has made tremendous strides and serves as a model for other InVEST efforts across the country.”
Macheda is the curriculum development, design & instruction specialist for the IIABNY. Previously, she held the positions of IIABNY director of education, director of research and director of information & meetings. Macheda’s career also includes time as a personal and commercial lines underwriter. As the agency education coordinator at the Hanover Insurance Co., she designed and taught both commercial and personal lines coverage and rating courses. She also taught English and general business subjects at Bryant & Stratton Business Institute.
Macheda earned her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, her master’s degree in adult education from Elmira College and is a recipient of one of the first Insurance Training Professional designations from the Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators.
Minkler presented the award at the InVEST State Champion Workshop June 30, 2009 at the Westfield Insurance campus in Westfield Center, Ohio. The award is named in memory of the program’s founder, Stephen Dach, and the honoree receives a $1,000 cash prize to be used in his or her InVEST classroom.
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, InVEST benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons.
Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry. Each year, the program prepares thousands of students for insurance-related careers with a hands-on curriculum taught in high schools, adult education centers and community colleges. The high school curriculum is a business-education program that utilizes a hands-on approach which simulates an insurance agency and company operations to prepare students for various business careers and create more knowledgeable insurance consumers. At the college level, InVEST is an information-intensive curriculum of risk management and financial services. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of the basics needed to pursue careers in the insurance industry. For more information, go to www.investprogram.org.
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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