The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) recently honored Sam Smith as the recipient of the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award at the 86th Annual Convention in Albuquerque, NM. This award is the health insurance industry’s most meaningful and significant honor.
NAHU annually awards the industry’s greatest accolade, the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award, which recognizes the recipient as the industry’s “Person of the Year.” The recipient is selected by a committee of past award recipients that carefully reviews individuals nominated for their contributions made to the industry.
“Sam Smith is a trailblazer: someone with selflessness, passion, integrity, devotion and great ideas,” said Janet Trautwein, CEO of NAHU. “His contribution to the advancement of NAHU has been invaluable. We are incredibly pleased to present Smith with this award, and we look forward to many more years of benefiting from his wisdom and dedication to the health insurance industry.”
Smith has held many leadership positions for the Los Angeles and California Association of Health Underwriters. When Smith takes on a job, he does not settle for doing just enough. Instead, he improves, innovates, strengthens and contributes to the overall success of LAAHU, CAHU and NAHU.
During the ballot to initiate the passage of Proposition 45, Smith was instrumental as being one of the few to spearhead the outline, vision and execution of CAHU’s Agents in Action campaign. Its success was an integral part of the defeat of Proposition 45, and, ultimately, impacted consumers across the country.
Smith began his insurance career in 1975 with Connecticut Mutual, specializing in executive and employee benefits. For the next 22 years, Smith built the sales force and corporate accounts units for several large insurance companies, general agencies, reputable properties and casualty firms. In 1996, Smith founded his own insurance agency, Genesis Financial & Insurance Services, where he remains as the president and co-partner with past NAHU president Bruce Benton.
Throughout his career, Smith has been an unceasing advocate for agents—and not just through NAHU. He speaks on behalf of agents at Chambers of Commerce, in public symposiums as well as with policymakers and reporters. He also is a lay leader in his Episcopal church and seeks to become an ordained priest to further his contributions of impacting his community on even greater scale.
Smith lives in Valley Glen, California, where he dedicates much of his time to various charitable organizations, and is a Lay Chaplin at a local hospital. Smith’s interests are foreign language and world politics.