Now in its second year, the Front of the Jersey Leadership Award was inspired by the “Miracle on Ice” during the 1980 Winter Olympics when the men’s U.S. hockey team, made up mainly of college athletes won the game. Facing a team that had won gold in four consecutive Olympics, U.S. Head Coach Herb Brooks rallied the team around the idea that the name on the front of their jerseys was more important than personal glory. Against all odds, the U.S. team took home gold.

ProAg Operations Accounting Manager, Jennifer Red has something in common with the 1980 Winter Olympics U.S. men’s hockey team. Both Jennifer and the players put their teams first to help reach shared goals. For the Olympic athletes, teamwork resulted in gold medals. For Jennifer, it meant being recognized with the 2023 Front of the Jersey Leadership Award at the annual ProAg Leadership Training Camp.

“Jennifer is driving results across ProAg, helping create better experiences for our policyholders,” said ProAg President and CEO Kendall Jones. “She truly lives out the values of this award.”

The award is given annually to a ProAg team member who works across departments and puts the needs of the organization first. To be considered, team members must be nominated by a colleague, demonstrate a desire to put the needs of the organization ahead of individual or departmental needs and wants, and model a collaborative, team-oriented leadership approach when working with others.

At ProAg, we believe leadership is built on taking initiative to make things better for those we serve.
Tim Rich ProAg HR Director

Jennifer was nominated for her work that improved the 1099 tax form delivery for ProAg policyholders. She led the effort to make these documents available on the myProAg® policyholder portal and include them as attachments on each policy for easy reference. Jennifer collaborated with IT, business implementation, marketing, sales, and claims processing to make it possible. This change has improved the organization’s digital footprint, the ease of doing business with ProAg and operational efficiency. It is anticipated to reduce printing and mailing costs.

In addition, Jennifer has also collaborated with her teammates and agency partners to improve the Livestock policyholder experience. As a result, users can now review and pay amounts due at the endorsement level in myProAg. Policyholders also have greater flexibility on how to pay, including making guest payments with no login required.

It is a true honor to be selected for this award by my peers. I am humbled and grateful to get to work with such an amazing group of leaders.
Jennifer Red ProAg Operations Accounting Manager

Jennifer continued, “I would also like to extend my gratitude to the ProAg team members that helped get these monumental projects completed this year.  I owe a huge shout out to my team. Without them, I would not have had the time to focus on getting these projects implemented. Thank you all!”

Jennifer received the ProAg Front of the Jersey Leadership Award during the 2023 Leadership Training Camp. The annual meeting brings together more than 70 ProAg leaders to continue to develop the capability to lead well, align leadership around a strategic vision and goals and develop relationships grounded in trust. As a result, ProAg can solve problems collaboratively across departments and address existing challenges together as a healthy, productive team. The 2023 ProAg Leadership Training Camp theme was “Lead with Different.” Outcomes included:

  • Lead talent differently.
  • Plan for the present and the future differently.
  • Develop talent differently.
  • Utilize technology differently.

“At ProAg, we believe leadership is built on taking initiative to make things better for those we serve — not a title or position,” said ProAg HR Director Tim Rich. “Jennifer and her fellow nominees are all great examples of that.”

Jennifer was among seven ProAg leaders nominated as finalists for this award, including:

  • Garrett Dorsten, Area Claims Supervisor
  • Tyler Feterl, Vice President Sales Enablement
  • Diane Fishburn, Claims Processing Manager
  • Tony Gay, Senior Business Project Manager
  • Nancy Molter-Zirbes, Software Development Manager
  • Dustin Tubbs, Claims Manager

Join us in congratulating Jennifer on this well-deserved honor as well as the six team members nominated for the 2023 award.