MEET THE TEAM AT GOOD NEIGHBOR INSURANCE

• Jeff Gulleson
• Founder/Owner/President

Jeff Gulleson was born and raised in Satsop, Washington. He graduated from PBC (PBI) in Alberta, Canada. He moved to Indonesia to work for an NGO for 30 years in training and leadership on Madura Island, and Java, including in Jakarta, the largest city (population) in Southeast Asia. He is fluent in Indonesian and has written several books on communication skills in that language. Upon moving to Arizona in 1997, he founded Good Neighbor Insurance. GNI provides international travel and health insurance for thousands of short-term travelers and international workers, as well as providing group insurance for over 80 international companies and organizations, and approximately 100 more that send out short-term teams. GNI also offers insurance to residents of Arizona and all the 50 states, including individuals, groups, and Medicare plans. Jeff also helped create a non-profit in 2003 that employs two full-time workers and nine part-time staff working alongside nationals throughout Indonesia. Jeff is married and has three adult children, all of which grew up overseas. He tries to return to Indonesia annually.

• Doug Gulleson
• Owner/Vice President

Doug Gulleson, MBA, RHU Doug was born and raised in Indonesia as a Third-Culture Kid (TCK). He graduated in 1986 from the Jakarta International School. After serving in the U.S. Army, Doug moved to Arizona in 1997 and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business at Western International University (WIU). Doug started working full time with Good Neighbor Insurance, Inc. in 2000, and is now Co-owner. In 2002, he graduated with a MBA in International Business from WIU. Doug also sits on the Board of Directors for a non-profit overseas. His major hobby is scuba diving and underwater photography. He has dived off the coasts of countries like Indonesia (Bali and Northern Sulawesi), Thailand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Caribbean.

• Karen Bellas
• Senior Agent – Individuals and Teams Manager

Karen Bellas was born and raised in Columbus, OH. She graduated from Miami University with a BA in International Studies. Her love for travel took her to Turkey where she met her husband while studying Turkish. After marriage they returned to Turkey. They led a team for seven years for an NGO (non-governmental organization) doing relief work with the Kurds after the first Gulf War. After a brief time in the U.S., they went to Bulgaria in 1998 where they did micro-enterprise development among the Millet (Turkish-speaking gypsies). In 2003, they returned to Turkey engaging in community outreach among the Kurds of Istanbul. Karen's two children have now graduated from high school and with one in college and one serving in Turkey during his Gap year.

• Stefan Wessman
• Agent – Individuals and Teams

Stefan Wessman was born in Hollywood, California. When he was four, he moved to Central Asia where he grew up as a Third-culture Kid (TCK) in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. He attended a boarding high school in Germany before returning to the States. After a brief time in Arizona, he spent time working for peace-building project in Kenya. Stefan also went to China for a few months to learn Mandarin. When he settled in Arizona, he worked for the Maricopa County Election Department and Balboa Insurance before coming to work at Good Neighbor Insurance. In his spare time, he likes to play folk music, being able to play the mandolin, ukulele, guitar, banjo, fiddle, cello, bass, djembe, bohran, dombra, hulusi, charango, tin whistle, harmonica, and the Appalachian and hammered dulcimers.

• Troy Gonzales
• Agent - Intern

Troy Gonzales was born and raised in Chandler, Arizona. Troy has a heart for serving people worldwide. Although new to the Good Neighbor team, he reinforces Good Neighbor's service foundation with his positive can-do attitude. Troy is an aspiring vocalist and also has a passion for martial arts such as Wing Chun and Muay Thai. Troy totally enjoys skate boarding and heads over to the skate parks here in the Phoenix Metro area with his friends. He has also has a sincere appreciation for the beauty of nature and takes as much opportunity to go up to the Grand Canyon to hunt.

• Elen Pratiwi
• Administration

Elen Pratiwi was born and raised in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. She is a graduate of Information Systems. She likes all things about Asia, like variety show, news, music, and movie/drama. Her favorite things to do are watch movies, listen to music, browse the internet, and edit photos. When there’s a free time, she likes hang out with her friends.

• Pei Medill
• Group Manager

Pei Medill was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the USA at the age of thirteen. Mandarin Chinese is her native language. Pei graduated from Messiah College in Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Business Administration. She and her family served with an NGO in Central Asia for many years before returning to the USA. Pei is an insurance agent who has license authority in Accident and Health and manages our group insurance division. She understands the needs of overseas workers having lived overseas herself, and is committed to helping organizations, CEOs and H.R. Representatives protect their workers overseas. Pei has three children, one in college and two in high school.

• David Calvino
• Agent – Group Insurance

David Calvino became acquainted with overseas travel thanks to  the US Air Force. While his father served in the military,  the family lived in England, Thailand and Germany. Eventually the family settled on the warm climate of Arizona.

David was introduced to the art of service while in his first job in the hospitality industry. He went on to Cornell University and got his degree in the hospitality industry and management. David came to Good Neighbor with both his  Insurance and Investment licenses, as well as the core values of hospitality and “Life as Service.” Those values are a great fit within Good Neighbor as he works to meet and anticipate his client’s needs. Prior to working in the Group Sales Department, David worked within the “fast and furious” realm of financial brokerage and personal investment where he won many service/sales awards. From ING Funds to Guardian Life Insurance, Morgan Stanley to US Bank, Westward Look Resort to The Doubletree Hotel, David’s customer service ethic has always rung true! 

David and his wife Kellie have two teenage girls and he is planning to go overseas short-term sometime in the summer of 2013.

• Ken Graham
• Group Project Coordinator

Ken Graham was born and raised in Wareham, Massachusetts, and graduated from West Point in 1963 with a Bachelor's Degree in Science.

Ken spent 6 years as a Captain in the US Army serving in South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam. He also spent 21 years with The Navigators, serving in North Carolina, Texas and Arizona. He was Director of a business school in Amarillo, Texas, as well as a teacher. Ken joined GNI in 2009, and is Group Coordinator for the Group Department serving organizations and helping them start the application process. Ken and his wife JoAnne have been married for 42 years and have two grown children. Ken's hobbies include reading, hiking and gardening.

• Mark Sequeira
• Marketing | Art Director

Mark Sequeira was born in Southern California and moved to Phoenix to become Communications Director for a large non-profit organization. His background is in language and intercultural studies having studied Arabic in London and Russian as well as Classical Turkish at UCLA. He spent many years as a graphic artist and marketing specialist. Mark joined the East Valley Tribune as their Senior Graphic Designer and worked for eleven years in their Marketing Department. He then started his own studio/consulting business, MJAStudios, doing consulting work for GNI before working part-time and in December, 2010 full-time as GNI’s Marketing and Art Director. Mark loves to travel and has spent a number of summers overseas. He has studied, visited or done relief/business development in Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Caucasus, Malaysia, Belgium, Finland and England. He loves his work, the discipline and craft of creating good design, and reading. He’s been married for 20 years and has four children.

Dommy Hamid
• Webmaster | Programmer

Dommy Hamid was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, but spent his childhood years in Pekalongan, Central Java and Bandung, West Java. Dommy also spent 14 years in the United States, including high school in Plattsburgh, NY, and college at The University of Texas, Austin receiving his BS EE and BA in Japanese. He worked for a few years in Hayward, CA as a web and database manager, before returning to Indonesia in 2003. He worked with a few non-profit organizations in Jakarta as IT consultant before joining GNI in 2010 as webmaster and programmer, managing and designing websites for GNI. His personal interest includes comics, cartoons, gaming, and technology.

Margie Shapiro
• Accountant

Margie Shapiro was born and raised in Morris, Illinois and moved west, living in Peoria, Illinois, Overland Park, Kansas and finally arriving in Arizona in 2001. Her forty years executive assistant experience included diverse environments such as hospital and medical offices, law firms, commercial realty, then supervisor for the support staff of a world-wide engineering firm, and finally in Arizona spent eight years as office manager for a Scottsdale law office before joining GNI as accountant. She is married to Jerry and has two grown children and two grandchildren. Her favorite things to do in her spare time are read and spend time with her family.