Paul Dougherty is a Past-President of NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors) and has been in the insurance and financial services field for thirty-two years representing State Farm Insurance, the last twenty-five as an Agent in Hyattsville, Maryland. He is a passionate advocate for the insurance industry in general, and the role of the agent specifically. Paul also serves as the current national Secretary for Life Happens, 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, Paul 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. Paul speaks to audiences and organizations around 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.

Paul 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 3 dozen different teams.

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

Michael Hedge serves on the NAIFA Government Relations team as the Director of Federal Government Relations. His primary focus centers on financial services, representing NAIFA before the House Financial Services Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and federal regulators.

Before joining NAIFA, Hedge served six years as a lobbyist for the Community Associations Institute, representing common-interest communities before state and federal legislators and regulatory agencies. He has worked for trade associations in the technology and energy fields and also spent four years representing the interests of the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates as well as in the United States.

Hedge got his start in DC on the staffs of former Ohio Congressmen John Kasich and David Hobson. He conducted his graduate studies at Georgetown University for social and public policy and completed his bachelor’s degree in history from the Catholic University of America, both located in Washington, D.C.

Brett has developed a reputation as a hard-working and connected lobbyist who delivers results for his clients. Brett is known for being very well prepared and having subject matter expertise of the issues, no matter the complexity. As a native of Maryland, he maintains strong relationships with key decision makers at the state, county, and local levels from both sides of the aisle.

Brett has worked for an insurer, the State insurance regulator, and has represented the insurance industry for over 20 years. Prior to joining Kress Hammen Government Affairs, he was a major accounts manager for Transamerica’s financial institution business unit (which sold life, accidental death and supplemental health insurance products through financial institutions throughout the United States). During law school, he became a legislative analyst in the company’s law department where he combined his sales background with his legal training.

Brett then became the Director of Government Affairs for the Maryland Insurance Administration under Commissioners Alfred W. Redmer, Jr. and Steven Orr. He then hung out his shingle and began representing clients in a lobbying capacity before the Maryland legislature, State agencies, and the executive branch prior to joining a major law firm where he became partner and Chair of the Business Practice Group with his practice focusing on government affairs and insurance regulatory matters. He then joined a corporate boutique firm and was managing director of its government affairs entity.

Brett graduated cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Bob is a fun, no-nonsense expert in helping people unleash their potential and enjoy a life of abundance and fulfillment. He is energized by topics such as time management, effective leadership, recruiting, goal-setting, and sales. As a testimony to his ability to achieve his dreams, Bob was fortunate enough to retire in his mid-30s. 

Bob has the record of success you’d expect from someone who retired at 35-years-old. He is the #1 Executive Recruiter in the history of Southwestern/ThinkingAhead Executive Search. Bob knocked on thousands of doors over three summers and earned the highest awards possible for number of hours worked and sales presentations performed. He was the #1 Manager and #1 Salesperson in the Mid-Atlantic region for Southwestern Advantage. He was also the #1 Rookie salesperson for a national insurance company and the #1 salesperson nationally for a 220-employee financial firm. Bob earned his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Delaware. 

Bob returned to the workforce because of his insatiable passion to help others realize their dreams. He has a lifelong enthusiasm for business strategy and decision making, leading him into the partner position at Southwestern Consulting. 

Bob is passionate about bringing out the best in people. In fact, he took the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to personally homeschool his children for nine years and help them achieve their potential. They have since moved on to incredible opportunities! 

Bruce Palmieri, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® grew up in central Maryland and during college interned with IBM and accepted a full-time position with them just after graduation. Bruce found out about Northwestern Mutual after becoming a client and quickly changed his focus to the financial services industry. Bruce joined Northwestern Mutual in December of 1990 and was his offices rookie of the year after earning his bronze award.

Bruce quickly became a high lives and new client producer leading his agency for many years in both categories. Bruce focused his career on financial planning and the integration of investments during the late 1990’s. In 2018, Bruce took the next step in his career by combining practices with Gray Shannahan, CFP® to form Palmieri & Shannahan.

Bruce is an active board member, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), Catholic Charities of Baltimore’s Planned Giving Committee where he and his wife Tracy have started a Donor Advised Fund, The Bruce and Tracy Educational Fund supporting inner city children in the head start program. Bruce is also a founding member of the Phi Hexaton Educational Fund which awards scholarships to deserving students at Towson University honoring deceased fraternity brothers from college.

Bruce lives in Cockeysville, MD with his wife Tracy. They have a daughter, Elizabeth, a son, Nathan whom they have been raising since he was 7. They have two rescued hound dogs, a fox hound and an American Black and Tan Coonhound. Bruce spends his free time golfing and Bruce and Tracy spend their free time in Duck, NC and Ocean City, MD, enjoying time with family and friends.