 Lisa Almeda is Assistant Vice President of Partner Relations with California Casualty Insurance. The company has partnered with the California Teachers Association for more than 68 years and is a valued longtime sponsor of the NEA Foundation's Award for Teaching Excellence. From my perspective, we are more than just a benefits partner, you know, or a business partner. We're part of the family. Through her 26-year-long tenure there, Lisa has developed deep connections to public educators, mainly because she spent so much time with them. I started as one of their field representatives. I visited at least two schools a day every day for years and years and years, sat in lunchrooms, in classrooms, went to rep council meetings, and a lot of union meetings. She explained to us a bit more of what she's learned over the years and how she's committed to public education. I was lucky enough to manage our field marketing team for a while for the company, so I was able to go into other states and other states' districts and classrooms and lunchrooms, and it was really nice to see that across the country there's a sisterhood and brotherhood of educators out there. And then you learn a whole heck of a lot of other things that I think the general population doesn't know. They don't know how much our teachers do. We're putting insurance totally aside. What it is that they're doing every day, you know, they're not just teaching. They're nurses, they're counselors, they're PE teachers, they're dancers, they're, I don't know, they're your best friend, you're your confidant. Our educators are heroes. They're just like our fire and police officers. They're here every day. I mean, think about the responsibility that they have in nurturing and growing our future. We have so much knowledge. When I spoke to Lisa, she was with her daughter, Megan. It's amazing. I just feel like because you've been in this company for so long and you've seen so many things happen, you just have so much understanding and so much depth there, and it's amazing. Megan is a first grade teacher in Southern California. Another reason Lisa is so invested in public education. I just feel so blessed that I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher, probably since I was in preschool teaching the two-year-olds things while they're in their high chairs. Up until that moment, Megan wasn't completely sure what her mother did. I mean, I have her auto insurance. I know what she does, but I know she gets up in front of big groups of people and talks to them and gives presentations, but I didn't know to the extent of how much you understood educators. Why did you go to work for an insurance company? Well, I actually worked for a different insurance company. Before that, I know it's so exciting insurance, very glamorous. But I wanted to go to work for them because I heard all kinds of great things about the company. And then, you know, I realized what they were doing that was so different, and it felt like, okay, if I can't be a police officer like my husband or I can't be a teacher, I can do marketing and I can work with teachers every day. I'm a product of California Public Schools. Every single one of my kids went to public school, and I'm just really proud to be a part of that. And now I get to work with public school teachers and I get to work with a very strong, supportive professional association for the California teachers. And I get to live out a wonderful dream of having a daughter who's giving back to our community. So I'm really proud of her. Thank you.