Katharine E. Rounthwaite Installed as Chair of the NFCA Board
of Directors
Vice President, General Counsel & Executive Secretary of Foresters elected chair of the board.

09/18/07

OAK BROOK, IL – The National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA) announced that Katharine E. Rounthwaite, Vice President, General Counsel and Executive Secretary of The Independent Order of Foresters (Foresters), was elected chair of the NFCA Board of Directors.  Rounthwaite’s installation capped the 121st NFCA Annual Meeting, September 6-8, at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“The NFCA and its 75 member-societies congratulate Kate Rounthwaite on this prestigious election to serve as NFCA Chair of the Board,” said NFCA Interim President and CEO Bob Huxel.  “The NFCA looks forward to working with Ms. Rounthwaite this year to ensure the long-term viability of fraternal benefit societies and to strengthen the fraternal benefit system.”

In this leadership role, Rounthwaite chairs the NFCA’s Board of Directors, provides oversight and counsel for NFCA staff, leads policymaking decisions and represents the fraternal benefit system at both insurance industry and fraternal gatherings throughout the United States.  On behalf of the NFCA, she represents 75 member-societies with almost 10 million members.

In introducing her theme for the year, “Focus on Fraternalism,” Rounthwaite emphasized that “by focusing on fraternalism, each of our societies should be looking at whether we are doing enough in the form of quality good works and community service to sustain our special status as fraternal benefit societies.”

Rounthwaite praised outgoing NFCA Chair Janice U. Whipple, National President, Woman’s Life Insurance Society in Port Huron, Michigan.  “Holding the chairmanship while carrying on as the President of her society is no mean feat,” said Rounthwaite of Whipple.  “During Janice’s tenure, the NFCA continued with its strategic direction of protecting the tax exemption, monitoring legislative developments, providing member education, and enhancing our members’ solvency through work on membership standards.”

Prior to joining Foresters in 1993, Rounthwaite worked as Counsel at Crown Life Insurance Company and at Aetna Canada, now Maritime Life.  In December 1998, she was appointed Vice President and General Counsel, and then in March 2003, she was appointed Executive Secretary to the Board of Directors. 

In her 29 years of practicing law, Rounthwaite has developed expertise in the areas of insurance law, litigation management, employment relations, and corporate commercial law, with a focus on the U.S. insurance market place.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor at the University of Toronto, and her Masters at Carleton University. 

She was elected to a three-year term on the NFCA Board in September 2004.  She also has served on the NFCA’s Law Committee since 1998, and served as Committee Chair since September 2004.

Rounthwaite volunteers as a Board member of the Alliance Community Hospice.  She has fulfilled a variety of other community service roles in the past, such as Chair of her children’s School Parents Association, and Convener of Girls Basketball League for six years.  She and her husband, David Lipton, have four children.

About Foresters
Founded in 1874, Foresters™ helps individuals and families achieve financial security with its innovative portfolio of life insurance products and annuities.  Foresters shares its financial strength with its members, who are customers, through complimentary life, health and education benefits that help its 745,000 eligible members and their families in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  Foresters provides opportunities that inspire its members to make a difference in their communities.  For more information, please visit www.foresters.com
Foresters™ is a trademark of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, Toronto M3C 1T9.

About the NFCA
The 121-year-old NFCA unites 75 not-for-profit fraternal benefit societies operating in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.  The association represents 10 million fraternalists in 37,000 local chapters, making it one of America’s largest member-volunteer networks.  Fraternal benefit societies provide their members with leadership, social, educational, spiritual, patriotic, scholarship, financial and volunteer-service opportunities.  Combined, the NFCA’s member-societies maintain more than $329 billion of life insurance-in-force and, in 2006 alone, contributed almost $410 million to charitable and fraternal programs, and volunteered nearly 95 million hours for community-service projects.  These statistics demonstrate the commitment that fraternals make to those in need and exemplify the true meaning of the NFCA signature phrase:  Joining Hands to Touch Lives.