Meet Our Team
Tonya Burson
Finance & Accounting Director
Finance & Accounting Director
Bill Brown
Managing Director, South Central
Bill Brown serves as Managing Director, South Central Region, covering Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas and Kentucky. His responsibilities include oversight of employee benefits, property and casualty insurance, wealth services and retirement services across the region. Working closely with Alera Group’s senior leaders, practice leaders and fellow regional leaders, Bill is focused on enhancing growth activities, creating new opportunities for colleagues to improve client relationships and produce meaningful outcomes.
One of the founding partners of Alera Group, Bill has over 20 years of industry experience. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics.
Heather Eshaghpour
Regional Vice President, Employee Benefits Practice Leader
Heather is the Regional Employee Benefits Practice Leader. In her role, Heather collaborates with firms across the region leading initiatives on our client experience, our people, growth, and operational efficiencies. Heather sits on our national employee benefits leadership team working with other practice leaders to drive innovation and growth within the employee benefits practice.
Heather has over 25 years of experience in employee benefits having worked previously for both small and national consulting firms in client-facing and leadership roles. Heather lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, son, and two Labrador retrievers. She is an avid Nashville Predators Hockey fan.
Mike Inman
Vice President, Property and Casualty, South Central
Vice President, Property and Casualty, South Central
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
Dynamic Data: Strategies for Success
Join us for this session, as our experts will share how to utilize your organization’s data to create advanced and innovative strategies for success.
July 17, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Wealth Services
State of the Markets
Join us as we unveil the factors that drive the nation's financial pulse and how they may impact your personal finances.
July 23, 2025 at 12:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
Preparing for Open Enrollment: How to Engage and Educate Your Employees on Their Total Benefits Package
In this session, our experts will share guidance on setting yourself up for success during Open Enrollment.
August 21, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Employee Benefits
Legal Alert: Employee Benefits Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
On July 3, 2025, Congress passed a reconciliation bill (the “Reconciliation Act”) previously named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but subsequently redesignated “An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14.”
July 8, 2025
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Employee Benefits
Benchmarking: How Do Your Organization’s Employee Benefits Offerings Stack Up?
For the sixth consecutive year, Alera Group is offering a valuable piece of market intelligence: our Healthcare and Employee Benefits Benchmarking Report. We’ll introduce the 2025 edition on its release date, June 26, with a one-hour webinar beginning at 1 p.m. CT.
June 5, 2025
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Reminder: PCORI Fees Due By July 31, 2025
Employers that sponsor self-insured group health plans, including health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) should keep in mind the upcoming July 31, 2025 deadline for paying fees that fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) via Form 720, which was recently updated and released by the IRS.
June 3, 2025
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Benefits Captives: Your Business and What Your Competitors Are Doing
In one form or another, Captive Insurance has existed as a risk management solution for many decades — originally for property and casualty coverage and primarily for large employers. But its viability as a solution for employee benefits and for midsized businesses has increased dramatically in recent years, fueled by volatility in the insurance market in general and by the skyrocketing cost of health insurance in particular.
May 29, 2025
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