ADDISON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 5, 2026--
National Life Group has been lauded for its strong, positive culture with receipt of the prestigious Gallup Exceptional Workplace award. Only 78 organizations worldwide receive this honor.
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“Building a strong, positive culture is essential to the overall success of any organization,” said Michael Veilleux, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer of National Life Group. “At National Life, we have worked hard to ensure our associates feel valued, add value and live our values of do good, be good, and make good, every day. The results of this work can be seen in the National Life’s meteoric growth. Receiving this award from Gallup further reinforces the fact that our hard work is paying off.”
According to the Gallup website, “Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winners change the way people work around the world. They achieve this by focusing on the engagement and strengths of their people and investing in their development. Gallup created the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Awards to honor and recognize this commitment to developing human potential.
Winners are selected by Gallup’s review panel and recognized for the impactful work they’ve done this year implementing strategic initiatives to further engagement and help employees thrive.”
“We are so honored to be a 2026 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winner in the engagement category,” said Dr. Wendi Walker-Schmidt, AVP and Head of Learning and Organizational Development. “This award showcases highly engaged, mission driven, performance cultures. Our organization prides itself on ensuring engagement is part of our culture and strategy. We are proud to stand beside the other top tier globally engaged organizations.”
Award winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in Washington D.C. in July.
About National Life Group
National Life Group has been keeping promises since 1848, providing access to flexible, secure life insurance and annuities for families, businesses, educators, and first responders nationwide. With an independent, entrepreneurial spirit, our values are to “Do good, Be good, Make good” for our customers, agents, employees, and the communities we serve. Learn more at NationalLife.com.
National Life Group® is a trade name of National Life Insurance Company (NLIC), Montpelier, VT founded in 1848, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest (LSW), Addison, TX chartered in 1955, and its affiliates. Each company is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. LSW is not an authorized insurer in New York and does not conduct insurance business in New York. NLIC, the flagship of National Life Group was founded in 1848, and all references to 1848 are attributable to NLIC.
Products are issued by National Life Insurance Company and Life Insurance Company of the Southwest.
National Life Group Receives Prestigious Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.
Russia has fired tens of thousands of Shaheds at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago, launching a swarm of more than 800 drones and decoys in its biggest nighttime barrage. Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes by launching the same type of drones at countries in the Middle East.
Ukrainian assistance in countering Iranian drones will be provided only if it does not weaken Ukraine’s own defenses, and if it adds leverage to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to stop the Russian invasion, according to the Ukrainian leader.
“We help to defend from war those who help us, Ukraine, bring a just end to the war” with Russia, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine has pioneered the development of cut-price drone killers that cost as little as $1,000, rewriting the air defense rule book and making other countries take notice.
European countries got a wake-up call last September on the changed nature of air defense when Poland scrambled multimillion-dollar military assets, including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, in response to airspace violations by cheap drones.
Ukrainian manufacturers have developed low-cost interceptor drones specifically designed to hunt and destroy Shaheds, and its rapidly expanding drone industry is producing excess capacity.
Zelenskyy announced earlier this year that Ukraine would begin exporting the battle-tested systems.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said before chairing a meeting of EU and Gulf foreign ministers via video link Thursday that the talks would look at how Ukraine’s experience can help countries counter Iranian drones.
The Iran war, now in its sixth day, has drawn international attention away from Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, and forced the postponement of a new round of U. S-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week, Zelenskyy said.
Western governments and analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, while there is no sign that yearlong U.S.-led peace efforts will stop the fighting any time soon.
“Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting,” Zelenskyy said. “But as soon as the security situation and the overall political context allow us to resume that trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done.”
Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the return from Russia on Thursday of 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia's Defense Ministry also said it received the same number of prisoners from Ukraine and thanked the U.S. and United Arab Emirates for mediating.
Prisoner swaps have been one of the few tangible results of the talks. Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian negotiator, said on social media that a total of 500 prisoners from each side would be exchanged between Thursday and Friday.
Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to drag out the negotiations so that he can press on with Russia’s invasion while escaping further U.S. sanctions.
He urged the U.S. administration to look at the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in the Middle East as linked.
“In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies that act in concert — Iran supplies weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry. These are interconnected conflicts,” Merezhko told The Associated Press.
Ukraine’s army has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Localized Ukrainian counterattacks liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, the Washington-based think tank said this week, estimating the recovered land at about 257 square kilometers (100 square miles) since Jan. 1.
Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A Ukrainian soldier of the 48th separate brigade launches a reconnaissance drone in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
A Ukrainian soldier of the 48th separate brigade launches a reconnaissance drone in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
