ALTA Installs New President, Board of Governors

October 17, 2023

ALTA installed Don Kennedy as president as well as its Board of Governors for the 2023-2024 year, during ALTA ONE in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

“Over the next year, ALTA will help our members challenge unregulated title insurance alternatives that put consumers at unnecessary risk, while continuing to support appropriate regulation of the title insurance industry, advance public policies that protect consumers against predatory practices and advocate for the safe and efficient transfer of real property for all homebuyers,” said Kennedy, managing director for First American Title Insurance Co.’s Agency Division. “We also will focus on helping our members develop a workforce that reflects the communities they serve.

“The ALTA presidency is the perfect opportunity to engage with more than 6,000 ALTA member companies and thousands of title insurance colleagues who serve and protect local communities across the United States. I am confident that with the ALTA Board of Governors, staff and membership, we will achieve our goals in the year ahead,” he continued.

ALTA’s 2023-2024 strategic priorities include helping members:

  • Champion the title insurance industry and combat regulatory threats
  • Promote title insurance as the best way to protect property rights
  • Succeed through adaptation and innovation

“Don is an esteemed member of the title insurance industry and a well-respected leader at ALTA,” said ALTA CEO Diane Tomb. “The decades he has spent as a title insurance professional, a litigation attorney and a board member for ALTA, the ALTA Good Deeds Foundation and the California Land Title Association will serve him well as ALTA President. His analytical mind, his drive and his ability and willingness to listen will help ALTA promote the title insurance industry and lead the ALTA membership through a challenging economic market.”

Kennedy is a third-generation ALTA president. His father, Parker S. Kennedy, served as the 1993-1994 president, while his grandfather, Donald P. Kennedy, served as the 1983-1984 president.

“I am proud to build on my father’s and grandfather’s legacies as ALTA president,” Kennedy said. “They have passed down to me a legacy of character and leadership that has shaped my career. Through my years on the ALTA Board of Governors, I’ve come to appreciate and share their passion for the title insurance industry and the title professionals who work to protect the private property rights of all Americans.”

Members of ALTA’s 2023-2024 Board of Governors include:

  • President: Don Kennedy, First American Title Insurance Co.
  • President-elect: Richard H. Welshons, DCA Title
  • Treasurer: Tara Smith, Stewart Title Guaranty Co.
  • Chair of Finance Committee: Lisa M. Steele, Mother Lode Holding Co.
  • Agents Section Chair: Craig Haskins, Knight Barry Title Inc.
  • Agents Section Rep: Quinn H. Stufflebeam, Title Financial Corp.
  • Agents Section Rep: Deborah Bailey, Bailey Helms Legal
  • Underwriters Section Chair: David Townsend MTP, NTP, FNF Family of Cos.
  • Underwriters Section Rep: Donald A. O’Neill, WFG National Title Insurance Co.
  • Underwriters Section Rep: Scott T. Chandler CTIS, NTP, Westcor Land Title Insurance Co.
  • Immediate Past President:  Jack Rattikin III, Rattikin Title Co.


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.