About Us:

As President of the Voluntary Division, Norman Heinrich is responsible for the management, marketing and development of Voluntary Flood programs administered out of the WNC First Miami office.   His thirty plus years of Property and Casualty sales, marketing and underwriting experience have given Norman the expertise to develop, administer and underwrite Flood insurance programs for insurance companies, wholesalers and reinsurance partners. 

Prior to joining WNC, Norman was the Director of Marketing and Flood operations for Capital Assurance Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Skandia Companies.  His responsibilities included the marketing and sales functions for the Property and Casualty units and the marketing and underwriting functions for the Flood operations.  The Flood operations included voluntary and NFIP flood programs.

Norman Heinrich holds a degree in Accounting from Florida International University and is a licensed Property and Casualty agent and a Surplus Lines insurance agent. 

As Chief Operating Officer, Jim Sigafoos is responsible for delivery of high quality and on-time services to WNC’s clients. WNC’s Insurance Service Centers in Dallas, Texas and South Pasadena, California, the Information Technology and various support departments report to Mr. Sigafoos.

Mr. Sigafoos has over 35 years of experience in Lender Placed Insurance. His previous experience includes senior executive positions with Insureco, Assurant and Balboa in which, at various times, he was responsible for Information Technology; Marketing; Insurance Tracking Operations; Claims, and Product Management of the Voluntary Homeowners, Lender Placed Property and Lender Placed Auto products.

Mr. Sigafoos is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.

As Chief Underwriting Officer, John’s primary responsibility is the management of property and casualty lender-placed insurance programs for financial institutions – including flood, hazard, wind, and physical damage coverage for automobiles. John and his Product Support team work very closely with all of WNC First’s insurance carriers, producers and client lenders to provide lending compliant insurance programs.

Before joining WNC First, John’s career of more than 30 years was exclusively devoted to the insurance carrier side of the business – with major carriers such as Allstate, Transamerica, and most recently, Balboa.  During his years with these companies, John was responsible for underwriting and product development of all types of property and casualty coverages such as automobile liability and physical damage, renters, condo-owners, boats and recreational vehicles, plus fire and homeowners coverages for property owners.

Recognized as an expert in lender-placed insurance products, John has had the opportunity to participate with state insurance regulators in the development of regulations that were effective in protecting the interests of consumers and lenders, as well as the insurance industry. John has also been able to provide expert testimony for the support of lender-placed programs in several areas of litigation.

John has dual degrees in Business and Marketing from the University of Southern California.

As Chairman of Precise Adjustments, Inc., Mark is responsible for the operations, direction and growth of the organization, and he has been working with Precise since 2005.

Mark has over 25 years in experience in the insurance claims industry and has been managing claims and other operations within insurance companies for over 22 years. He began his insurance career with Safeco Insurance Company and subsequently moved to Balboa Insurance Company where he became the Vice President of Claims.

Mark’s employment at Balboa and now Precise brings forth his claims experience from the viewpoint of the financial institutions.  His varied career expertise has given him a unique and well-rounded perspective of claims service as well as a slant toward an entrepreneurial spirit. 

Mark is a graduate of Biola University.

As Executive Vice President of the Direct Marketing Group, Dava Wittig is responsible for the leadership, sales and strategic planning of this division which specializes in providing ancillary products, administrative support and consulting services to the financial institution industry. 

Dava’s 28 year career of providing strong direction and proven success is exemplified by her history in sales, marketing, loan servicing and management within the financial institution marketplace.   She is a high-energy individual who is committed to providing unparalleled customer service, maintaining exceptional client relationships, offering quality products and introducing a variety of marketing opportunities that are suitable to each individual organization. 

Dava has served in numerous senior-level positions with both WNC and Fleet Mortgage Group.  Prior to joining WNC in 2003, she spent 13 years in management roles at Fleet Mortgage and was accountable for a variety of departments including Hazard Insurance, Optional Insurance Marketing, Collections, Payoffs and Assumptions as well as directing the activities of 125 staff members in the insurance division.   Her extensive management and servicing experience have been invaluable in her current role.    

She attended the school of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and holds insurance licenses in all states for Property/Casualty and Accident/Health. 

Linda Long joined WNC in 2001.  As Senior Vice President of Accounting, Linda is responsible for all of WNC’s financial accounting functions  including payroll, general ledger, cash management, budget, and financial statement preparation. She also oversees the annual financial audit and income tax preparation.

Linda has over 25 years experience in both life and property and casualty insurance accounting. A graduate of Central Oklahoma University, Linda began her career at First Life Assurance Company and rose to Vice President of Subsidiary Accounting. She joined CSC Logic in 1989, serving as Division Controller and assisting the larger corporation in acquired company integration.

Linda is a Certified Public Accountant and a Fellow of the Life Management Institute.

As Senior Vice President, Compliance and Legal Affairs, Jordan N. Gray serves as the company’s compliance officer and in-house counsel.  He is responsible for implementing WNC's compliance management, contract management and risk management programs.

Mr. Gray has over seventeen years of experience as an attorney in the insurance industry.  He is licensed to practice law in California, New York and the District of Columbia, and is also admitted to practice before California and New York federal district courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.  Mr. Gray holds an “AV” rating in Martindale-Hubbell for his work in California.*  Before joining WNC, Mr. Gray served as a partner in Arias, Lockwood & Gray, a boutique litigation firm, and as a partner in Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, a national full service law firm.  His private practice clients have included Allstate Insurance Company, Hartford Insurance Company, Protective Life Insurance Company, Specialty Risk Services, WNC Insurance Services, and the County of Riverside, California.  

Mr. Gray earned his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside, and his J.D. from the University of Montana, School of Law, where he served on the Montana Law Review.

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As Vice President of Human Resources at WNC, Valerie is responsible for ensuring best practices in the management of employee relations, regulatory compliance in employment law, performance management, and learning and development.  She is also responsible for developing our strategy to remain attractive and competitive enough to recruit and maintain the very best talent possible.

Valerie has over eighteen years of experience in human resources management that began in 1992 as a Human Resources Manager for Alltel Corporation through its Information Services subsidiary which was later acquired by Fiserv, Inc.  Valerie subsequently headed the human resources department in various industries before joining Insperity (formerly Administaff), a leading Professional Employer Organization, from 2001-2006.  At Insperity, she was a Senior Human Resources Specialist to more than 50 small and medium sized businesses in the major market division including franchises like Krispy Kreme Donuts and Party City.  Valerie joined WNC in 2006.

Valerie is certified by the Society for Human Resource Management and holds an MBA degree from the University of La Verne.