Erica Dixon, former client services manager at Bridge Financial Partners, has joined Copper Leaf Financial as client services associate and paraplanner. In her new role, she will provide extensive support to Copper Leaf’s clients and work closely with the wealth management team to provide operational and administrative assistance.

Dixon brings to Copper Leaf strong communication and organizational skills that she acquired from 16 years of professional experience in the construction, retail, government, nonprofit and consulting-services sectors.

Marcos Gabriel, chief transformation officer at McCormick & Company, was recently elected to serve on the National Life Group Board of Directors.

A global executive with 25-plus years of experience in major multinational companies across three continents, Gabriel brings to the position solid experience in all areas of finance; strategy development; enterprise-wide business transformation; mergers and acquisitions; risk management; and private equity.

Daniel Ori, former director of performance marketing for Hickory Farms in Chicago, has been named vice president of performance marketing at Vermont Teddy Bear, the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order and the internet. In his new role, Ori will lead digital paid media efforts and be responsible for driving sales across the company's brands.

Charles E. Stanley Jr. has been named winner of Norwich University's 2023 William E. Colby Military Writers’ Award for his book, “Lost Airmen: The Epic Rescue of WWII U.S. Bomber Crews Stranded Behind Enemy Lines” (Regnery History, 2022).

Norwich presents the award, now in its 24th year, annually to a first solo work of fiction or nonfiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of military history, intelligence operations or international affairs. Winners receive a $5,000 honorarium.

Vera Sheehan, an Abenaki artist and founding member of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, was presented with the Center for Women & Enterprise Andrea C. Silbert Rising Star Award at CWE's annual auction and gala April 26 at the Omni Parker House in Boston. The award recognizes Sheehan as someone who has been economically empowered by her relationship with the center and celebrates her representation of women who are lifting up the world.