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chad yearwood
president & Chief executive officer
I began my insurance career in 1997 with AFR Insurance. Over the course of nearly two decades, I held various positions within the claims department, eventually rising to the role of Director of Claims. In 2016, I made a transition to a corporate risk management and claims position in the energy industry, and later filled the role of a Claims Specialty Practice Leader advocate in a brokerage setting. My credentials include an MBA and a Master of Legal Studies degree, accompanied by several professional insurance designations. Growing up on a family farm in western Oklahoma has been an integral part of my background. My wife, Lori, and I find joy in trying to keep up with our two active children during our leisure time.
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Bernadette Autrey
chief financial officer
Before being named Chief Financial Officer in December of 2019, I was a member of the AFR Accounting Department where I served as a Senior Accountant since 2014. Prior to joining the AFR family in 2013 where I started as a Treasury Accountant, I was an Insurance Defense Auditor for seven years with Farmers Insurance Group in Oklahoma City. All together, I have over 27 years of experience in Insurance Defense and the Accounting Industries. If I am not working, you can usually find me at a hockey rink or a dance competition watching and cheering on my grandkids.
Brandice Rhoades
Vice president of AFR Life
I have been working in the Life Insurance industry for over twenty years with a focus on leadership and providing an excellent customer experience. As both a leader at AFR Life and a customer, my mission is to provide excellent services and products to our customers and their loved ones. After running several insurance operations, I was thrilled to join the AFR team as the Assistant VP of AFR Life Insurance in February 2021. I spend most of my free time with my family at softball games and choir events, but on my down time I have a passion for reading and spend as much time consuming literature as possible.
Mandy Coulter
Director of AFR Life
I joined as Director of Life Company in June 2022. I began my insurance career over 20 years ago. I am fortunate to have worked in a variety of roles including Customer Service Management, Operations Leadership, Process Improvement and Claims. This has developed an understanding of insurance from a multitude of perspectives. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, reading and spending quality time with my family and friends.
Roger Edenborough
Independent Director District 1
Roger L. Edenborough was born in Stillwater, Okla., while his father was attending graduate school at Oklahoma State University. He was raised in the Oklahoma Panhandle, specifically Goodwell, where he attended school and graduated from Goodwell High School. He then attended college at Goodwell at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. While attending college, Edenborough was active in the student senate and held academic honors at the time of graduation. Edenborough attained his CPA in 1992 and joined his father as a partner in the accounting firm, Edenborough and Edenborough, CPAs.
Barry squires
Independent Director District 2
Barry Squires has been a resident of Southwest Oklahoma his entire life. Barry's collegiate studies began in the late 1980' s at El Reno Junior College, where he played baseball and judged livestock. Squires then furthered his education at Oklahoma State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Finance. Squires then attended the University of Oklahoma School of Law where he received a Juris Doctorate degree and was later admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1993.
For the past thirty years, Squires has practiced law in rural Southwest Oklahoma. He is currently the Senior Partner at Buzbee, Upchurch, Squires & Eastwood in Anadarko, where he focuses on real estate, estate planning, and solving rural business challenges. Squires and his wife of thirty-two years, Kim, have a farm and ranch where they grow irrigated corn and cotton.
JIM SHELTON
Independent Director District 3
Jim Shelton and his wife, Sara, live near Vinita and are lifelong residents of Craig County. In 2010, Shelton retired from a 35-year banking career with Oklahoma State Bank of Vinita to expand the cattle operation. The Sheltons operate a 3,500-acre commercial cow/calf and stocker operation. He has served on the AFR Board of Directors several times. Shelton earned a bachelor’s in animal science from Oklahoma State University and is a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University.
LOYD STEWARD
Independent Director District 4
Loyd Steward values work ethic, which is the driving force of his life. He acquired this trait from his parents on the family farm near Dale, Okla. Steward was active in sports, 4-H and FFA and earned a B.S. in Agriculture at Oklahoma State University. Loyd and Becky have celebrated 47 years of marriage while residing in Bethel Acres. They raised two children, Jon and Jennifer, and now have five grandchildren. Steward operates a cow/calf operation.
Mason Mungle
Statewide Independent At-Large Director
Mason Mungle currently serves as the AFR Statewide Independent At-Large Director and the AFRMIC board chair on the Board of Directors. Mungle has been an AFR member and insured for more than 40 years. He worked for AFR in cooperative development and legislative affairs from 1997 to 2007. Mungle earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University.
John Porter
Agent Director District 1
John Porter is a third-generation full-time AFR agent; he owns Porters Insurance in Edmond. Porter attended Central State University in Edmond, where he specialized in business administration and was a member of the Oklahoma National Guard from 1965 to 1971. He was hired by Oklahoma Farmers Union as an adjuster in 1973. During a 37-plus-year career with the company, Porter worked directly with several of the company presidents in various capacities. He was elected in 2010 to the office of AFR Vice President and now serves on the AFR Board of Directors.
Dustin Tackett
Agent Director District 2
Dustin Tackett, his wife, Julie, and their son Hudson live north of Fort Cobb on the farm Tackett’s grandfather bought in 1913. Tackett has been an AFR insurance agent since 2004 and has served in several capacities before sitting on the AFR Board of Directors. Tackett is a two-time Oklahoma State University graduate with a bachelor’s in agricultural economics and an MBA.
WILL LANE
Agent Director District 3
William Lane grew up in Northeast Oklahoma at Jay, Okla. He attended school at Jay and graduated in 1992. From there, he attended NEO and was a member of the livestock judging team. After NEO, he attended Oklahoma State University and was on the livestock judging team there as well. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1993. He was a member of Class 10 of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program. William is a third-generation AFR insurance agent. His grandfather Claud Cagle started in the insurance business in 1974 when he purchased an AFR agency. William owns an AFR insurance agency in Gentry, Ark., and helps his mother with her AFR agency, Cagle Insurance, in Langley, Okla.
ryan plemmons
Agent Director District 4
Ryan Plemmons, 49, was raised on a diversified poultry, swine and cattle farm near Battiest, Okla. Plemmons attended Connors State College and Oklahoma State University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science. Ryan and his two children, Kaylan and Blaine, reside on a small cattle and hay farm near Battiest. Plemmons owns and operates Plemmons Insurance Agency in Broken Bow and has been an agent with AFR for 23 years with a combined 28 years’ experience in the industry. Plemmons currently serves as the vice president of American Farmers & Ranchers Cooperative, a term that will expire at the upcoming convention. He has served as past President of the AFR Agents Association and chair of the AFR Policy Committee. Additionally, Plemmons has helped with numerous events sponsored by the organization and initiated the AFR Livestock Judging Contest. Plemmons has served on the Battiest School Board and the McCurtain County Fair Board, chaired the McCurtain County Spring Livestock Board, and been involved in many of his community’s activities and events. Plemmons currently serves on both the Local 295 and McCurtain County Farmers Union Boards and helped implement and develop the AFR Strive Program. Plemmons enjoys hunting, fishing and camping with his family and working on the farm in his spare time.
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