At Ameritas Mutual Holding Company, headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Susan K. Wilkinson serves as president and chief operating officer—roles that carry responsibility for a wide range of operational areas.

Ameritas provides life insurance, annuities, disability income insurance, retirement plans, wealth management services, dental coverage and vision insurance. Nationwide the company has about 6 million customers.

“I lead the Enterprise Services areas of Ameritas—what we sometimes refer to as the ‘rest of the house’ when we talk to people outside our organization,” said Wilkinson, who joined the Kansas City Fed’s Omaha Branch Board of Directors this year. “The ‘front of the house’ is distribution and sales support, customer service and product development. The rest of the organization is what keeps the front of the house in motion—IT, finance, marketing, AI/automation investments, risk and compliance.”

Wilkinson has 29 years of service at Ameritas, starting as a cost accountant and later working in several leadership roles, including chief planning officer, chief risk officer and chief financial officer. Earlier in her career she worked in public accounting with Deloitte, a public accounting organization. Wilkinson, a Nebraska native, holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an Accounting emphasis from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

In one way, she said, joining the Omaha Branch Board is an opportunity to expand upon the service she has provided throughout her career.

“I have great respect for the Federal Reserve and its role in supporting economic stability in our country,” she said “It’s an honor to have been asked to serve on the Board of the Omaha Branch. This will certainly be one of the most impactful areas of service that I will have during my career.”

Working in a sector of the economy that touches consumer finances, employment benefits and related topics provides a direct pathway for timely input as a Board member.

“I feel I can bring some consumer perspective to the questions that we discuss at our Board meetings,” Wilkinson said. For example, “The promises we make to our customers in the design of products we issue are directly affected by interest rates, thus I feel it is valuable to be able to offer opinions on economic issues.”

At the same time, Board service provides deeper insight into how the Federal Reserve strives to ensure an economy that works for everyone.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to continue the learning journey I have pursued throughout my career,” Wilkinson said. “I look forward to gaining a better understanding of how the Federal Reserve thoughtfully makes decisions and the underlying economic impacts of those decisions. I also want to bring back to my company and share with my community a well-rounded perspective and deeper knowledge of the inner workings of our economy.”

Learn more about Ms. Wilkinson here.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City or the Federal Reserve System.