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Tracey Gray-Walker

Tracey Gray-Walker is the CEO of AVMA Trust. Her strategic objectives include unifying the strategic positioning of the Trust while enhancing member experience, improving productivity and efficiencies all while creating additional value for members.

Prior to joining the AVMA Trust in 2019, Tracey led AXA Association and Affinity business. During her tenue the business saw double digit growth for 2 consecutive years.

During Tracey’s career in Financial Services she received various awards and recognition, including but not limited to one of The Network Journal’s "Twenty-Five Influential Black Woman in Business," and she was featured in Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of its "Women Worth Watching". She was also included among Uptown Professional’s prestigious list of, "Top Executives in America", and a Women of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.

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Tom O'Shaughnessy

Tom O’Shaughnessy is the COO of AVMA Trust. He is responsible for partnering with the CEO to drive the trust’s operating capabilities and enhance the membership experience. In addition, he focuses on the employee experience by assessing and implementing processes and technological solutions.

Tom joined the AVMA Trust in 2019, with over 20 years of financial management experience. He has been a leader in restructuring, reformulating, and growing organizations, as well as creating and executing programs at the Fortune 500 level to improve overall business function. Tom is a graduate of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and has a Masters of Personal Financial Planning from the College of Financial Planning. He is also a Registered Investment Advisor, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and is a past president and current member of the Great Lakes Study Group, the local board of the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA).

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Cynthia Smith

Cynthia Smith is the Member Experience Officer of AVMA Trust. She works with the CEO and other key team members to increase and enhance the member experience, member engagement, and the overall value of the offerings available to members.

Cynthia has more than 20 years of association experience with the American Medical Association Insurance Agency, Inc., where she focused on product development, product improvement, research, digital product strategy and overall product portfolio management.

Cynthia is a graduate of Fisk University, with a major in Business Management. She is also a licensed Illinois Life and Health Insurance Producer.

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Nakia Burress

Nakia Burress joined AVMA Life in November 2020 as the Trust Program and Operations Manager. In her role, Nakia focuses on operational activities in coordination with business partners and service providers to increase quality assurance.

Nakia has over 14 years of experience in the insurance industry, with a background in operations, sales, and customer service support within Allstate, where she focused on creating efficiencies and processes that increased customer satisfaction.

Nakia is a graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago, with Bachelor of Science in Finance and is currently pursuing her MBA and MSIS at Lewis University in Romeoville. She is also a licensed Illinois Property, Casualty, Life, and Health Producer.

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Dr. Rebecca Stinson

Dr. Rebecca Stinson graduated with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Georgia in 2002. After graduation, Dr. Stinson fulfilled her childhood dream of working with horses as an equine veterinarian and later became a founding partner in Carolina Equine Hospital in the piedmont area of North Carolina. Throughout her career, Dr. Stinson has been passionate about helping students identify their own path in the veterinary field. This passion prompted a career shift in 2016 to focus more on education and working with students.

Dr. Stinson taught as adjunct faculty at Averett University and Berry College in Georgia as a Clinical Assistant Professor and College Veterinarian. Dr. Stinson then joined the Academic Affairs team at Virginia Maryland CVM as an Associate Director for Student Support. In 2019, Dr. Stinson was thrilled to join the AVMA Trust as Student Services Representative. In this role, Dr. Stinson coordinates the student outreach with the wonderful team of professionals at AVMA LIFE and AVMA PLIT to provide the best member value possible to SAVMA members.

Throughout her career, Dr. Stinson has been actively involved in organized veterinary medicine including serving as AVMA Vice President from 2014-2016, as well as serving on numerous task forces, committees and councils.

Dr. Stinson and her husband share their life with her horse, two cats and a dog on their farm in North Carolina. They are fortunate to have a wonderful son and daughter in law and three amazing grandchildren.

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Belkys Llanes

Belkys Llanes joined AVMA LIFE in August 2017 as Member Advocate. In her role, Belkys is responsible for helping members navigate the health insurance system. This includes helping members choose the appropriate health coverage, resolve medical claims, understand complex bills, and coordinate with Medicare.

Prior to joining AVMA LIFE, Belkys worked for 14 years as a sales and agent support representative at HealthPlan Services, specifically for the AVMA LIFE account. Belkys graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems.

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Dorothy Humphrey

Dorothy Humphrey is the Executive Assistant/Project Coordinator at AVMA Trust. She supports the CEO and other staff members and is responsible for the day-to-day administrative activities of the Schaumburg office.

Before joining the AVMA Trust in 2019, Dorothy worked for over 25 years in media and broadcast communications. She served in several roles, including Assistant Operations Manager.

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Stephanie Blaser

Stephanie Blaser is the Marketing and Communications Manager for the AVMA Trust. In this role, she works directly with the CEO and other senior team members to reinforce and grow the AVMA Trust brand by building on and enhancing member experience and member engagement.

Stephanie brings over 25 years of marketing and communications experience to the role, having held a variety of positions in industries including both for-profit and not-for-profit education and the retail sector. Her skills include website development, email marketing, digital advertising, print production, writing, editing, and content development.

Stephanie received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from DePauw University, where she graduated summa cum laude. She also attended Northwestern University, where she pursued a Master of Arts degree in English Literature. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honorary society.

Tracey Gray-Walker

Tom O'Shaughnessy

Cynthia Smith

Nakia Burress

Dr. Rebecca Stinson

Belkys Llanes

Dorothy Humphrey

Stephanie Blaser

AVMA LIFE Staff