On August 16, 2018, Citizens, Inc. announced the retirement of Terry B. Festervand, the company's vice president, chief operations officer. Ms. Festervand is retiring after leading the Company's remediation initiatives to improve the effectiveness of the company's internal control over financial reporting and implementation of the company's reorganization plans within operations. Ms. Festervand's handpicked successor, Amanda Crews, assumed the role of Vice President, Operations effective immediately. Ms. Crews was hired by Ms. Festervand in 2017 to serve as the Company's Human Resources Director and was quickly identified as a project management leader within the Company's operations after successfully leading the Company's 2017 corporate headquarters relocation. Ms. Crews was then promoted to oversee the Company's Property Services division. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Crews served in leadership roles in the areas of human resources, project management, business development and customer service at various locations, including serving as the Human Resources Director at the Railroad Commission of Texas, serving as the Corporate Human Resources Manager and Corporate Human Resources Generalist at D&S Community Services, serving as the Business Development Manager and Branch Manager at Sistema Technologies, Inc. and serving as the Human Resources Specialist at Employees Retirement System of Texas. The promotion of Ms. Crews to Vice President, Operations fulfills the company's dual objectives of advancing leaders and diversity within its leadership ranks.
Citizens, Inc. is a diversified financial services company. The Company is providing life, living benefits and final expense insurance and other financial products to individuals and small businesses in the United States, Latin America, and Asia. The Company operates through two segments: Life Insurance, and Home Service Insurance. The Life Insurance segment sells United States dollar-denominated ordinary whole life insurance, endowment, and critical illness policies to non-United States residents, located principally in Latin America and the Pacific Rim, internationally. Also, this segment domestically sells whole life insurance, life insurance with living benefits, critical illness, credit life and disability products throughout the United States. Home Service Insurance segment sells final expense life insurance policies to middle- and lower-income households, as well as whole life products with higher allowable face values, in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.