Grace Caress Named Senior Vice President of Operations, Alexis Gammon Promoted

(Indianapolis, IN) – Pension Fund of the Christian Church is pleased to announce that Grace Caress, FSA, MAAA, will join our Senior Leadership team as Senior Vice President for Operations. Caress, a former board member, comes to Pension Fund with over fifteen years of industry experience in defined benefit and defined contribution plan administration. Prior to Pension Fund, she served as the Director of Benefits Services for Elevance Health, formerly Anthem Inc. During her tenure at Elevance Health, she was a member of the Human Resources Operations Team, had responsibility for interpreting the plan documents, and oversaw the enrollment process for Elevance Health’s more than 70,000 employees. Prior to joining Elevance Health in 2007, Caress was a Consultant at Towers Watson, Ernst & Young, and Mercer. She is an actuary with a Master’s in Applied Mathematics.

Rev. Dr. Todd A. Adams, President and CEO stated, “Grace adds tremendous strength to our leadership team, given her years of experience with defined benefit and defined contribution products and services. It is a bonus that she knows us as a former board member, and more importantly knows and loves the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).” A member of Allisonville Christian Church, Caress will chair the Church Council beginning in July 2023. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the people who have so faithfully served the Stone-Campbell Movement churches and organizations,” shared Caress. She has previously served on the board for the Christian Church Foundation and Christian Theological Seminary. Born in the Philippines, she is the first Asian/Pacific Islander to serve on Pension Fund’s Senior Leadership team.

Pension Fund is also pleased to announce the promotion of Alexis Gammon to Senior Vice President of Clients Relations. Gammon joined Pension Fund as an Area Director in 2017 and was promoted to Vice President in 2019. In addition to maintaining her current duties, she will provide leadership to our Marketing and Communications team. Additionally, the Enrollment Specialists, who process new enrollments, will be moving to the Client Relations team. Gammon is currently pursuing an Ed.D. from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in Leadership and Learning in Organizations.

In accepting the new role, Gammon shared “I am honored to serve our members and staff in this new capacity. I look forward to contributing to the visionary work of our Senior Leadership team.” In reflecting on her initial interview Adams noted, “When Alexis interviewed in March 2017, I wrote on her resume, ‘will end up leading the team’. She is a gifted leader, who is committed to the mission of Pension Fund.” Gammon is a member of Riverside Avenue Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida, where she will continue to reside. She serves as a board member of the Phillips University Legacy Foundation and is a proud alumna of Texas Christian University.

Pension Fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) provides pension and retirement savings accounts for clergy and lay employees of congregations, regions, general ministries and church-related colleges, seminaries, and benevolent care centers of the Stone-Campbell (Restoration) Movement.

Pension Fund manages over $3.3 billion in net assets on behalf of more than 14,000 members in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and related international ministries, so they can live fully in retirement.

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