National Life Group Foundation Trustees

Tom MacLeay, Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Life Group Foundation, is the former President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of National Life Group. Tom is also currently Lead Director of the Board of National Life Group and serves on the Board of Directors of Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company, eSec Lending, Inc., and Let’s Grow Kids.

Tom is passionate about early childhood development and works tirelessly to educate others on the importance of early, quality childcare.

Mehran Assadi is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of National Life Group. Mehran joined National Life in September 2003 as the Executive Consultant to the Chief Executive Officer charged with overseeing strategic initiatives. Since becoming President and Chief Executive Officer in 2009, Mehran has led major growth in both top and bottom-line results of National Life’s life and annuity products and has worked to build a culture of collaboration, engagement and empowerment among employees.

In addition to being an active member to the National Life Group Foundation, he joined National Life’s corporate Board of Directors in 2009 and was elected Chairman in 2017.

Beth Rusnock, President of the National Life Group Foundation, is also the Head of Corporate Communications and Community Relations for National Life Group. In this role, she leads internal and external communications, corporate sponsorships, and employee and community engagement.

Beth co-founded Do Good Fest, a benefit music festival held in both Montpelier, Vermont and Arlington, Texas; established ending childhood hunger and addressing children’s mental health as National Life’s corporate causes; and has secured local, regional, and national media recognition for the company.

In addition to her day job, Beth is the Chair of the Board for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. She also serves on the Working Communities Challenge Steering Committee led by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Nimesh Mehta is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of National Life Group. He focuses on all aspects of technology operations to effectively align business and technology strategy with a customer centric focus. He was previously the Head of Life & Annuity Operations and also served as the Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Technology Officer at the company.  Before joining National Life in 2008, he served in various leadership positions at Lincoln Financial Group for over 14 years.    

Nimesh is involved with multiple nonprofit organizations in his community and has a particular interest in children’s mental health.  

David Soccodato is currently the Head of Claims at National Life Group and has been working with the National Life Group Foundation for over 10 years. As a CPA with a tax and accounting background, he has provided various financial advice and support as the Foundation’s reach and community impact has grown. David has also served National Life as its controller and Vice President of Corporate Tax.

David is proud of what the Foundation has accomplished during this time and is excited about the possibilities for the future. David lives in East Montpelier Vermont and has actively supported hunger, food, and farm related activities in central Vermont.

Dawn Lee Minter joined National Life Group in 2009 as Executive Assistant to the Chief Marketing Officer. In 2015, she was promoted to Executive Assistant to the Chairman, CEO and President. She serves as a member of the leadership team, lead to National Life’s administrative professionals, and liaison to the National Life Group Board of Directors. 

In addition to serving on the board of the National Life Group Foundation, Dawn also serves on the Board of Directors of Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation.

Scott Rogers joined National Life in 2018 as the Head of Facilities. He is an active volunteer and has helped organize the free Thanksgiving meals in Vermont since 2020.  Scott also helped organize the first annual Do Good Fest in Texas, and serves as the Incident Commander for Do Good Fest Vermont. In 2020, Scott was chosen as part of the inaugural group of Culture Fellows.

In addition to being an active member of the National Life Foundation, Scott is also a member and past President of the Vermont Society of Engineers.

Lisa Muller serves as Secretary of the National Life Group Foundation. Lisa currently works as Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to the operating companies of National Life Group.

In her role as Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel to the Foundation, she advises the board on its roles and responsibilities, attends and record minutes of all board meetings, facilitates board communications and maintains governance policies, records and documents of the Foundation and its Finance Committee. 

Lisa serves as a trustee for Central Vermont Medical Center and is a member of the University of Vermont Health Network’s audit and investment committees.

Jessica Russo, Operations Officer for the National Life Group Foundation, is a Community Relations Specialist at National Life Group. In 2019, Jessica joined National Life as an administrative assistant and then transitioned to Corporate Communications and Community Relations to help drive corporate social responsibility activities. Here she helps execute the philanthropic strategy, corporate events, and employee giving programs. She believes in National Life’s values of do good, be good, and make good and wants to share these values across the communities in which National Life serves.

Jessica is very active in the community serving on the PTO and Board of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont.

Greg Mateja joined National Life Group in 2014 where he currently serves as Vice President and Treasurer and his responsibilities include Capital Management, Rating Agencies, Reinsurance, and Corporate Insurance in addition to his treasury responsibilities.

Prior to joining National Life, Greg served as Head of Risk Integration for ING U.S. (now VOYA), where he was responsible for economic capital, asset-liability management, and risk reporting.

Greg is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA), a CFA charter holder, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics/Economics from Union College. Greg and his wife Laura live in South Burlington, VT.  He enjoys golf, cooking, home improvement projects, and spending time with his family.

Donna Lasick joined National Life Group in March of 2023 as Vice President and Controller. In this role, she oversees all aspects of GAAP & STAT Financial Reporting, Investment Accounting, and Corporate Accounting for National Life.

Since joining Donna has represented National Life Group as an active volunteer in the community. In September of 2023, Donna was elected to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library Board. Prior to joining National Life, she was with Global Atlantic and its predecessors for 16 years contributing to several initiatives including their transition to a public company.

Donna is a native Vermonter who grew up in Vermont and graduated from Trinity College in Burlington.

Joe Heaslip is the Investment Officer for the National Life Group Foundation and the Head of Risk and Quantitative Analytics for National Life Group. Joe joined National Life Group  in 2008 by working in Sentinel Investments.

Joe manages the endowment for the National Life Group Foundation with a focus on leaving a legacy of doing good.