Leadership Biographies

Teresa J. Rasmussen

President and Chief Executive Officer

Teresa (Terry) Rasmussen has overall leadership responsibility for Thrivent, guiding the organization on its mission to help people achieve financial clarity so they can live lives of meaning and gratitude. She is also a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors. Prior to her role as president and CEO, she was president of Thrivent's fraternal business after serving 10 years as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Lisa Flanary

Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer

Lisa Flanary is responsible for driving growth at Thrivent. She oversees marketing (including client experience, innovation and brand), data and digital engagement, corporate strategy, research and business insights, advice development, and the transformation management office.

Paul R. Johnston

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Secretary

Paul Johnston oversees teams that are stewards of Thrivent’s relationships and resources, including legal and compliance, business ethics, corporate governance, corporate and government affairs, corporate security and business resilience, employee relations, privacy, distribution operations, and facilities and real estate functions.

David S. Royal

Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer

David Royal oversees all asset management activities at Thrivent, including investments for Thrivent’s General Account, mutual funds, banking and trust, and mergers and acquisitions.

Vibhu Sharma

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Vibhu Sharma oversees finance, actuarial and technology at Thrivent. He joined the organization in 2019 as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Tina Smith

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Tina Smith oversees the teams that provide strategic human resources advice and enterprise support for talent acquisition, benefits and compensation, organizational design, diversity and inclusion, and workforce culture and effectiveness. Smith joined Thrivent in 2007 in the General Counsel's Office, serving as vice president, deputy general counsel.

Bonnie E. Raquet

Chair of the Board

Bonnie Raquet has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since 2010 and was elected to serve as chair of the board, effective February 2018. Raquet was Cargill's corporate vice president, Corporate Affairs, from 2000 until her retirement in 2011. Over that span, she led Cargill's worldwide corporate affairs activities, including government relations, media, communications, brand management, marketing services and corporate responsibility. She also represented Cargill's business and corporate policy interests.

Deborah M. Ackerman

Board Member

Deborah (Debbie) M. Ackerman was elected to the Thrivent Board of Directors in 2020. She serves on the Audit and Strategy committees. Ackerman is co-founder and senior advisor to Twin Bridge Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago. She has spent her career managing and leading organizations, including the private equity funds program at PPM America. She has held numerous board, board director and advisory board seats at both organizations.

N. Cornell Boggs III

Vice Chair of the Board

N. Cornell Boggs III has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since December 2013. He serves as chair of the Governance committee and serves as a member of the Human Resource committee and the Executive committee. Boggs currently serves as a senior advisor for Barker Gilmore, a corporate legal advisory firm. Previously, Boggs served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Toys 'R' Us, Inc., where he led its global legal and legislative affairs functions.

Kenneth A. Carow

Board Member

Kenneth (Ken) Carow was elected to the Thrivent Board of Directors in February 2013. He serves on the Finance committee and the Human Resource committee. Carow is a professor of finance and currently serves as the executive associate dean of faculty and research at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business Indianapolis (KSBI). He also served as associate dean for Indianapolis Research and Programs, as a co-director of the Kelley Direct American Banking Association Program, and as chair of the undergraduate program at KSBI. Prior to his time at Indiana University, he was assistant professor at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Bradford N. Creswell

Board Member

Bradford (Brad) Creswell has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since February 2018. He serves on the Audit committee and the Strategy committee. Creswell is co-founder and managing partner of NCA Partners LLC, a private equity firm in Seattle, Washington. Prior to joining NCA, Creswell was vice president at Bankers Trust & Company. He started his career in the audit department of Arthur Young where he earned his CPA.

Lynn Crump-Caine

Board Member

Lynn Crump-Caine has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since August 2016. She serves on the Audit committee, the Human Resource committee and the Governance committee. Crump-Caine spent 30 years of her career at McDonald's Corporation where she served as executive vice president of worldwide operations. In that role, she directed global operations departments for more than 31,000 McDonald's restaurants worldwide. Prior to that position, she was senior vice president of U.S. operations. As a field executive, she was responsible for sales and profits in McDonald's largest domestic territory.

Eric J. Draut

Board Member

Eric Draut of Chicago has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since February 2015. He currently serves on the Audit committee and the Strategy committee. Draut began his career as an audit manager at Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers). He spent 20 years with Unitrin (now Kemper Corp.), a financial services holding company, a tenure that included 13 years as executive vice president and CFO. Over that period, he also managed a $6 billion investment portfolio and led numerous acquisition, divestiture and financing transactions.

Kirk D. Farney

Board Member

Kirk Farney was appointed to the Thrivent Board of Directors in November 2011. He serves as chair of the Strategy committee and member of the Finance committee and the Executive committee. He currently serves as vice president for advancement, vocation and alumni engagement at Wheaton College in Illinois. In that role, Farney oversees alumni relations, development, planned giving, the college's Center for Vocation and Career, institutional partnerships, media relations, marketing communications and advancement services. Additionally, he holds faculty rank in the college's Department of History.

Mark A. Jeske

Board Member

Rev. Mark Jeske has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since May 2011. He currently serves on the Finance committee, the Human Resource committee and the Governance committee. A Milwaukee native, Jeske has served as senior pastor of St. Marcus Lutheran Church, an inner-city congregation, since 1980. Today, St. Marcus is a thriving, multicultural congregation with more than 1,100 members. The congregation operates numerous outreach ministries, and its elementary school, which has more than 900 students, has been nationally recognized for its Christ-centered focus and academic excellence.

Frederick G. Kraegel

Board Member

Frederick (Fred), has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since August 2008. He is the chair of the Finance committee and serves as a member of the Strategy committee and the Executive committee. Since February 2011, Kraegel has been a managing director with Parham Partners, a financial advisory firm in Richmond, Virginia. From 2003 to 2011, he served as a senior director with Bridge Associates. His activities from 1987 to 2003 involved serving as chief executive officer or chief financial officer or as an independent consultant for businesses of at least $150 million to more than $8 billion in annual revenue that were experiencing significant financial difficulties, often involving formal bankruptcy proceedings.

Kathryn V. Marinello

Board Member

Kathryn Marinello of Bonita Springs, Florida, was appointed to the Thrivent Board of Directors in August 2014. She serves as chair of the Human Resource committee and serves as a member of the Finance committee and the Executive committee. Marinello is the president and chief executive officer for Hertz Global in Estero, Florida. Prior to joining Hertz, she served as senior advisor for Ares Management. She previously served as chairman, president and CEO of Stream Global Services Inc. In addition, she has held management positions at Citigroup, Chemical Bank New York (now JPMorgan Chase & Co.), First Bank Systems and First Data Corp. She previously was a division president of General Electric Financial Assurance Partnership, and marketing and division president for General Electric Fleet Services. She also was president, CEO and chairman of Ceridian.

Nichole Pechet

Board Member

Nikki Pechet has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since 2018 and serves on the Audit committee and the Strategy committee. Pechet is CEO of Homebound, a venture-backed company creating a better way to build homes with the help of technology. Prior to Homebound, Pechet served as Vice President of Marketing at Thumbtack, a growth-stage technology company that was one of the fastest growing companies in the $700 billion U.S. local services industry. She is also an investor and advisor to several early stage technology companies.

Teresa J. Rasmussen

President and Chief Executive Officer

Teresa (Terry) Rasmussen has overall leadership responsibility for Thrivent, guiding the organization on its mission to help people achieve financial clarity so they can live lives of meaning and gratitude. She is also a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors. Prior to her role as president and CEO, she was president of Thrivent's fraternal business after serving 10 years as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Angela S. Rieger

Board Member

Angela (Angie) Rieger was elected to the Thrivent Board of Directors in 2020. She serves on the Audit and Human Resource committees.

Rieger is currently senior vice president, head of international at Lands’ End. In this role, she is responsible for all international efforts to drive profitability, improve market share and increase brand awareness. Prior to her current position, she held several progressive leadership roles at Lands’ End, including senior vice president for planning and inventory, and senior director for planning U.S. direct.