The people behind Promise
From planning and strategy to enrollment support, Promise is run by retiree-health specialists and guided by an advisory board of leaders who have spent their careers protecting union members and the funds that serve them.
Our Team
Meet the Team
Mark Whitcher
Chairman & Chief Executive OfficerMark leads Promise’s strategy and operations, drawing on more than 20 years in retiree health benefits and long-standing relationships with labor leaders and coalitions.
Nicole Allen
Vice President of Client ServicesFocused, approachable, and driven by results, our head of client services is all about building strong relationships. Nicole helps connect people to the right solutions—with clarity and care.
Cecilia Izquierdo
Business Development & Sales SupportCecilia focuses on market research, studying plan options, competitive pricing, and what union funds need, insight that helps Promise reach the right members and guide them through enrollment.
Emma Morey
Business Development & Sales SupportOn the research, communications, and marketing side, Emma shapes how Promise explains and promotes its plans to union leaders and retirees, keeping every step from first contact to active coverage clear and easy to follow.
Advisory Board
Senior leaders in Taft-Hartley benefits, fund administration, and ERISA law who bring decades of fiduciary experience to the plans we build for union retirees.
Guided by labor benefits leaders
John Heenan
Immediate Past President, Delaware Valley Health Care Coalition · Fund Administrator, IUOE Local 542 Benefit FundsJohn Heenan is an institutional healthcare executive and labor fund strategist with over two decades of experience pioneering multi-employer cost-containment. Since January 2005, he has served as the Fund Administrator for the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 542, managing comprehensive medical, retirement, apprenticeship, and supplemental benefits for over 10,000 members and dependents across Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.
For six years, John also served as the President of the Delaware Valley Health Care Coalition (DVHCC), the nation's largest multi-employer coalition comprising over 250 union trust funds. Under his leadership, the DVHCC leveraged unprecedented mass purchasing power to secure deep-discount medical and pharmaceutical pricing.
An early champion of bringing private-sector healthcare innovation into union benefit structures, John holds a BS and an MBA in Finance and Healthcare from La Salle University. His unique background helps Promise Labor Benefits deliver optimized healthcare solutions that resonate directly with labor leadership.
Neal S. Schelberg, Esq.
Former Chair, U.S. Secretary of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council · Founder, Counsel Advisors, Inc.Neal S. Schelberg is a highly experienced ERISA and employee benefits attorney with over four decades of legal practice. After a distinguished career at the global law firm, Proskauer Rose LLP spanning nearly 38 years, he retired as a partner in 2023 and founded Counsel Advisors Inc., through which he now serves Taft-Hartley pension and welfare plans as a professional trustee, independent fiduciary, consultant, and expert witness.
His professional recognition includes appointment by the U.S. Secretary of Labor to the ERISA Advisory Council of the U.S. Department of Labor, where he served as Chairman, as well as fellowship in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and longstanding involvement as a speaker and author with the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and other groups.
His deep understanding of labor-management relations and fund governance will be an invaluable asset to the strategic growth of Promise Labor Benefits.
Robert “Bob” Winther
Robert “Bob” Winther is a veteran labor benefits executive with over two decades of institutional fiduciary experience. He serves as President of the Delaware Valley Health Care Coalition (DVHCC), directing the collective purchasing power of dozens of regional labor unions, welfare plans, and public employee benefits groups.
Previously, Bob spent 22 years pioneering healthcare and pension asset management for Steamfitters Local Union No. 420, including a decade as Chief Funds Administrator.
An expert in Taft-Hartley compliance and structural cost-containment, Bob provides Promise Labor Benefits with unmatched insight into labor procurement and fund solvency. His deep trust networks and understanding of active fund liabilities bridge the gap between commercial healthcare innovation and institutional labor adoption.
President, Delaware Valley Health Care Coalition