Alison R. Nelson, managing counsel of Ford Motor Co.’s Consumer Litigation, took office for a three-year term as a member of the board of governors of the American Bar Association..
Nelson is Ford’s chief counsel on all consumer affair issues and is responsible for several thousand lawsuits. She also handles some commercial litigation matters, including antitrust and contract disputes. Nelson is chair of Ford’s Outside Minority Counsel and Charitable Contributions Committees.
She served on various American Bar Association, National Bar Association and State Bar of Michigan committees. Within the ABA, she chaired the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and served in the House of Delegates and as a member of the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the profession.
She also is a member of the ABA Gavel Awards Committee.
She is a member of the Legal Aid and Defenders Association of Michigan, the National Bar Institute Board of Directors and the State Bar of Michigan Access to Justice – Corporate Committee. From 2000 to 2001, she served as president of the Wolverine Bar Association.
Nelson was also assistant general counsel for the Michigan State Council of the NAACP. She has received several awards, including the Wolverine Bar Association Trailblazer Award and the National Bar Association Presidential Award.
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan named Ken Dallafior president and CEO of the new insurance subsidiary of the Michigan Blues. He formerly was president and CEO of DenteMax, the largest independent dental PPO network in the nation and a subsidiary of Michigan Blues.
Previously, Dallafior was president of HBE Agency, and was vice president of sales for DenteMax from 1992 to 2000. From 1982 to 1992, he played professional football for the Michigan Panthers, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dallafior received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Minnesota. He is a founder and board member of the Courage House.
Rick V. Morrone was named president and CEO of DenteMax, replacing Dallafior.
Previously, Morrone was director of national accounts marketing and sales for the Michigan Blues. He helped develop and set strategic direction for selling and serving national account customers, including the Federal Employee Program. He built a team that more than doubled the number of enrollees in the Michigan Blues’ national accounts market and increased customer satisfaction scores.
Morrone earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master’s degree in finance from Wayne State University. He is a member of the Italian American Club and the Divine Child High School Men’s Club.
He is former athletic director of Sacred Heart Elementary School.
BRASSCRAFT
BrassCraft promoted Simon Davis to vice president, BrassCraft/vice president and general manager, Cobra Products.
In addition to his new Cobra administrative duties, Davis continues to manage sales activity for key BrassCraft retail customers.
David was formerly a principal of Magne-Flo, a manufacturer of gas safety products that was acquired by Masco in 2001. He graduated from Solihull College of Technology in England.
AMERICAN RED CROSS
The board of directors of the Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross elected Thomas DeGrazia as its chair for the 2006 fiscal year.
DeGrazia joined the Red Cross in 2000 and previously was on the board as vice chair and a member of the executive, development, nominating and site planning committees. DeGrazia was instrumental in the planning and design phase of the new chapter facility in Pittsfield Township. In addition, he was actively involved in the recently concluded capital campaign.
DeGrazia has a strong corporate background with extensive experience in human resources, business planning and development-implementation, and union relations.
A graduate of Wayne State University, he holds a master’s degree in business administration with specialization in behavioral science and operations research. Prior to his retirement in 2000, he had a 35-year career with Ford Motor Co., with service in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
DeGrazia also served on the Conference Board, U.S China Business Council, American Chamber of Commerce.
LA-Z-BOY INC.
La-Z-Boy Inc. appointed Kathy Liebmann director of investor relations and corporate communications. Liebmann works with the buy- and sell-side investor community, with additional responsibility for coordinating internal communications.
Before joining La-Z-Boy, she worked for 15 years with various flagship financial communications firms as a consultant to both U.S. and non-U.S. companies in a multitude of sectors, where she developed and implemented both investor and public relations programs. For the past four years, Liebmann was with the Spear, Leeds & Kellogg division of Goldman Sachs. Liebmann graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism from Montclair State University.
