About Us
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At NAIA, we understand the challenges of operating an independent insurance agency. Our staff has a combined tenure in the insurance industry of over 100 years! Since we have been agency owners, we have experience with all aspects of agency management; company contract negotiations, employment issues, agency technology, best practices, mergers and acquisitions, and perpetuation planning.
The benefits of becoming an NAIA partner agency are many! Give us 20 minutes to show you how your agency can increase its bottom line figures significantly in 6 to 18 months.
Meet The Team

Craig Sargent
President and Co-FounderCraig Sargent is the President and Co-Founder of the North American Insurance Alliance, Inc (NAIA). He established NAIA in 2009 with the mission of helping insurance agents achieve greater profitability and business stability. Craig’s extensive knowledge of the insurance industry, coupled with his business management acumen, has helped agencies throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Florida increase their market share.
Laying the foundation for his professional career, Craig was voted the 1973 Scholar Athlete of the Year and Valedictorian at the Maine Central Institute, Pittsfield, ME.
While attending college, Craig began his career in 1974 as a real estate agent with Sargent Agency Real Estate in Rangeley, Maine. From there, he founded Sargent Insurance in 1982, previously Western Maine Associates of Rangeley, where he served as President for over twenty years. During this same year (1982), Craig opened Sargent Appraisal Services, a real estate appraisal business that specialized in residential appraisals.
As a Certified Insurance Counselor for over 20 years, Craig also served as an instructor at the University of Texas – San Antonio, where he taught real estate and appraisal courses, concentrating on commercial, investment, residential and other designations.
Craig is a Registered 1A investor. He has been married for over 30 years to Sharon Sargent who works for NAIA as bookkeeper. They have one son who also lives in Rangeley with his family and Craig’s three grandchildren, Ryder, Anthony, and Isabelle.

Debora Hillier
VP and Co-FounderDebora is the co-founder and Vice President of the North American Insurance Alliance Inc. She is responsible for business consulting with insurance agencies throughout New England, as well as agency program development and planning. Debora specializes in agency management issues, operations, insurance coverage, and risk placement.
As a licensed insurance agent (FL), real estate broker (ME), and Certified Insurance Counselor, Debora has extensive knowledge and background in insurance and business operations. Previously, Debora controlled day to day operations of 17 insurance agency locations for Northeast Financial & Northeast Bank. Prior to that, and for over 20 years, she managed all aspects of business operations at Belgrade Insurance Agency, Inc. At this time, she is pursuing certification as a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter.
Past and current interests include participation in a local Kiwanis Club; Chairperson for an economic development team for Augusta, Maine; Board member for the Gannett House Project, whose mission is to “examine the history and promote the practice and understanding of the First Amendment.”
Debora graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Anthropology. She continued with her graduate studies in Business Administration at Thomas College and received her M.A. in Public Policy and Management at the University of Southern Maine. She lives in Florida with her husband Jim.

Rebecca Sherwood
Director of Marketing and CommunicationsAs Director of Marketing and Communications, Rebecca concentrates on our brand by bringing visibility and consistency to the NAIA image. Rebecca also focuses on outreach to our member agents with communications, while bringing awareness of our value to non-members via engagement at conventions and other insurance related events. Rebecca is a key person to NAIA’s expansion goals. Members are carefully chosen based on their location, company mix, loss ratios, volume, staffing, growth, history, and needs; Rebecca assists in research and outreach out to agencies that fit the criteria.
Prior to NAIA, Rebecca was employed with Travelers Insurance Company as a Senior Sales Specialist and, before that, held positions in Underwriting, Insurance Sales, Accounting and Marketing.
Rebecca has earned the API, AIS, AINS designations from the Insurance Institute of America.
Rebecca’s personal interests include spending time with her family. She also enjoys cooking, relaxing at the lake and has a fondness for cruising the Caribbean. Rebecca resides in Auburn, ME with her husband Charles.

Eric Sargent
Director of Data and Information ManagementDirector of Data and Information Management.
Eric is a licensed CPA in Florida and his skills perfectly align with the growing needs of our organization.
For the last seven plus years, Eric worked with Advantage RN Companies and held positions of recruiter, Director of Local Staffing (San Diego, CA), Accounting Manager (West Chester, OH) and Division Controller (Teamstaff RX, Inc. in Clearwater, FL that was acquired by ARN).
Previously, Mr. Sargent was a founder and Chief Financial Officer of RN Network in Wolfeboro, NH until it was sold to CHG Medical Staffing Services, Inc. of Salt Lake City, UT.
