The 2023 Rough Notes Community Service Award was given at the company’s Agency of the Year banquet this past March. From left: Sam Berman, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, The Rough Notes Company; Shawna Weaver, Director of People Operations, Bender Insurance Solutions; and Maggie Bender-Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bender Insurance Solutions.
Sacramento agency under her leadership
builds on a decades-long track record of “giving back”
By Alice Ashby Roettger
Photography by Lynn Donaldson
Some years ago—nearly 25, as a matter of fact, Robert Kretzmer shared with his friend Walt Gdowski, president and CEO of the Rough Notes Company, that he wished there was some way that independent agents, brokers, or agencies could receive special recognition for their philanthropic contributions to the cities or areas that they service. It would be a kind of “giving back,” as Kretzmer described, to the people who helped make them a success.
The outcome of that conversation was the creation of The Rough Notes Company Community Service Award, of which Kretzmer is executive director. The award is sponsored by The Rough Notes Company, long-time publisher of Rough Notes magazine.
This year’s winner of the coveted award is Maggie Bender-Johnson, president and CEO of Bender Insurance Solutions of Roseville, California. Let’s take a look at the Bender Insurance Solutions story, which is an extraordinary example of careful perpetuation, breaking the glass ceiling, and the honoring of employee loyalty.
Founded by Warren G. Bender in 1938, Bender Insurance Solutions has served the Sacramento area for 85 years—70 years from offices in Sacramento itself and since 2008 from its current headquarters location in nearby Roseville. Over the years, the family-led agency has experienced considerable growth. During those growing years, Warren’s son Stephen joined the firm, eventually taking over the helm from his father. Another son, James, brought his expertise in construction management.
Just prior to the turn of the 21st century, grandson Christopher became the third generation of Benders to take his place in the firm; and not long after that, one of Stephen’s daughters, Maggie Bender-Johnson, broke the ancient glass ceiling, along with her sister, Jillian Bender-Cormier.
Over the past half-century, the firm has grown from three employees to more than 50 and has seen an increase in annual revenue from $725,000 to more than $10 million.
Hidden among all these statistics is the fact that Bender is now known as the Sacramento area’s only employee-owned and family–led insurance brokerage, and it is headed by—yes—President and CEO Maggie Bender-Johnson. Well, the firm’s story and Maggie’s leadership role aren’t entirely hidden; the agency was the Rough Notes Agency of the Month in September 2019.
Giving back
Among the many plaudits that members of the Bender Insurance Solutions team received through the years, The Rough Notes Community Service Award is unique in that it recognizes the firm’s “thank-you services” to the community that helped make it successful.
Through the years, the Bender crew has been as inventive in the way it has selected and managed its charitable activities as it has been in its approach to perpetuation, risk management, and employee/client satisfaction. For example, according to its 2022-2023 Community Outreach Annual Report, “Bender Insurance Solutions streamlined its giving strategies by establishing the Community Outreach Committee
in 2017.”
Since those initial beginnings, “the Committee has developed a donation/sponsorship selection strategy for nonprofits that reach out to Bender Insurance Solutions, established more nonprofit relationships in the greater Sacramento Region, and hosted several fundraisers/volunteer events supporting our partners.”
The Committee “gives back” to the community in four different ways: by recognizing partner organizations through social media and intranet posts, by hosting fundraisers throughout the year for partner charities, by sponsoring partners’ individual fundraising events, and by having employees volunteer at least eight hours to a charity in need each year..
The work of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is of particular personal interest to the Bender family, whose patriarch and company founder died of a form of one of those blood diseases.
Maggie Bender-Johnson addresses the attendees after receiving the Community Service Award.
Among the many plaudits that members of the Bender Insurance Solutions team received through the years, The Rough Notes Community Service Award is unique in that it recognizes the firm’s “thank-you services” to the community that helped make it successful.
Bender Insurance Solutions has been a supporter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for 20 years, manifesting contributions of over $435,000
For Bender employees to have a sense of ownership in the firm’s charitable activities, they are encouraged to spend three to four hours participating in two Volunteer Days per year. To date they have helped clean up the American River Parkway, reorganized the nearby SPCA’s thrift store donation containers, made and served lunch at Loaves and Fishes, and helped build a Habitat for Humanity home. (Interestingly, data indicate that employees who are engaged in volunteer activities on the company’s time outside the Volunteer Days amassed a total of 670 hours in 2022.)
In addition, in 2019, Bender initiated its Gift of Giving Back Program, in which it moved from providing clients with holiday gift baskets to creating a charitable gift giving program. Each December, Bender clients receive a list of all the charitable organizations with which the firm interacts and are asked to vote on the top three. From that vote, the winning organizations receive an individual $5,000 donation.
Organizations that were not selected for sponsorship are not neglected. Bender hosts one to two fundraisers for these groups that raise between $500 and $1,000 each.
Honoring the “hurt”
But … dear to Bender’s heart has been the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), which was the company’s largest nonprofit partner before the formation of the Community Outreach Committee. The work of LLS is of particular personal interest to the Bender family, whose patriarch and company founder died of a form of one of those blood diseases.
Linda Yao-Chin, campaign development director of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Central Valley Region’s Greater Sacramento Area, can speak personally of Bender’s “remarkable and unwavering support” to the LLS cause: “In the span of 20 years, Bender Insurance Solutions has emerged as a valiant champion in the fight against blood cancer, embodying the true spirit of corporate social responsibility. Their dedication to our cause has manifested in a monumental contribution of over $435,000.”
In addition, she says, “In commemoration of their 20th year standing beside us, [the organization] demonstrated their commitment once again by raising and donating an impressive sum of over $11,000 in 2023. Bender Insurance Solutions took part in numerous activities to engage their employees. From hosting an internal kickoff to gain support from their staff to hosting fundraisers and inviting their community to join this cause.
“All of these efforts helped LLS … [by] spreading awareness about our mission and free services,” she adds.
Yao-Chin lauded the Bender corporation’s recent participation in the Sacramento area’s Light the Night community event for LLS—which is part of a national event. The efforts of its entire staff resulted in the company’s being named a “Top Team.”
As has been the case with many of the previous Community Service Award recipients, a personal experience has become the catalyst for “giving back” to a community that not only bolstered their success but has supported them through difficult times. Such is the case with Maggie Bender-Johnson, who was honored during the Rough Notes magazine’s recent Agency of the Year celebration in Indianapolis. She received an engraved eagle sculpture, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Central Valley Region received a $5,000 check in her name.
Readers: If you know of an individual or organization that warrants recognition, look for Nomination Forms for the 2024 Rough Notes Community Service Award in Rough Notes magazine later this year. n
For more information:
Bender Insurance Solutions
mybendersolutions.com
The Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society’s Central Valley Region
lls.org/cencal
The author
Alice Ashby Roettger is a freelance writer based in Indianapolis, Indiana. She also serves as an editorial assistant at Rough Notes magazine.
