The Bill Brown Award Winners have been selected for 2026! This is the highest honor a Forward employee can receive, and our winners are very deserving.
To be nominated, an employee must deliver a high standard of customer service or service support, go above and beyond the call of duty to take care of the customer and build relationships, and/or do something that demonstrates leadership, teamwork, or dedication to their community or the Forward organization.
Please join us in congratulating Monika Neumann, Michelle Carr, Lu Haugen, and John Tompkins on being selected as the winners of the 2026 Bill Brown Award! Each exemplifies the Bill Brown Way by demonstrating excellence in character and service to their customers, coworkers, and community.
Monika Neumann serves as an Insurance Sales Agent at Insure Forward in Bemidji and joined the Forward team in 2007. Monika’s peers had this to say about her per their nominations:
Monika is not one to point out her own successes and strengths – but her positive impact is inescapably clear to her clients, co-workers, and the community. She is a dedicated, hardworking insurance agent who consistently goes above and beyond to take care of her clients. She is never too busy to get back to her customers, who know they can rely on her for answers, options, and solutions – large or small.
Monika’s availability and cooperation with her co-workers are unmatched. She is always willing to help her coworkers by answering questions, sharing her knowledge, and offering support whenever needed. Her dedication to Insure Forward is reflected not only by her teamwork, but also by her consistently strong sales production numbers. Within the Bemidji community, she has informally taken on the role of ambassador for the Forward team and is involved in several volunteer and goodwill organizations.
Her strong work ethic, commitment to excellent service, and positive attitude make her an outstanding role model and a deserving recipient of this award.
Michelle Carr serves as our BSA Officer, AVP in Carrington and has been with Bank Forward since 2013. Per nominations received, Michelle’s peers had this to say about her:
Michelle consistently demonstrates what it means to be an exceptional leader on both the Operations team and within the Forward Foundation. Michelle brings a thoughtful, steady, and collaborative approach to her work and constantly puts the customer first. This is very important in her role within the Operations team because fraud is constant. Michelle has worked her way up from BSA Fraud Analyst to BSA Officer managing the bank’s BSA/AML and fraud programs. She has developed a passion for fraud and is a compassionate leader who helps our employees and customers navigate delicate situations. She consistently and clearly communicates next steps to employees and customers in fraud scenarios, which is huge because it protects our reputation and helps customers know they can trust us with their finances.
Michelle truly deserves this recognition. Her work ethic, dedication, leadership, communication, and the customer-focused mindset that she brings to our organization every day are top-notch!
Lu Haugen serves as an Insurance Sales Agent, VP in Hannaford and has been with Insure Forward since 1984. Per nominations received, Lu’s peers had this to say about her:
Having worked closely with Lu for over a decade, I have experienced firsthand how her career embodies the exact leadership, customer dedication, and resilience this award recognizes. Lu powerfully meets multiple core criteria for this honor through her exceptional mentorship, high standards, and unwavering dedication during times of crisis. Over the last 10+ years, Lu has been an invaluable pillar of guidance and mentorship for me, defining true leadership and dedication to the organization. A testament to this is the immense grace with which she handled a major professional transition. Moving from Agency Manager for the West to focusing on Cooperstown and Hannaford as an agent is a significant shift. She navigated it with total professionalism, never letting her high standards or supportive nature waver. Her ability to lead by example through organizational change truly showcases her commitment to the Forward organization.
Lu routinely goes above and beyond to take care of customers and build lasting relationships. This past year, she showed me exactly what it means to show up for our clients during an unprecedented crisis. When several severe thunderstorms hit week after week during the 2025 summer season, our office faced the highest volume of claim submissions since I joined the agency. Amid the chaos and overwhelming workload, Lu stepped up with unwavering resolve. She worked tirelessly to ensure our clients felt supported, protected, and heard when they needed us most. This high-integrity approach ensures that our top customers receive an extraordinary standard of service, allowing us to build deeper, more meaningful long-term relationships.
Lu embodies the exact values and spirit that the Bill Brown Award represents, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of our organization’s highest honor.
John Tompkins serves as Managing CPA, VP at Tax Forward in Jamestown, joining the Forward team in 2019. John’s peers had this to say about him per their nominations:
John Tompkins is someone that Bill Brown would have appreciated. He goes above and beyond in supporting both clients and staff. One of John’s best attributes is his use of the word “TEAM.” He doesn’t take credit for the successes himself; he makes it known that his TEAM made it happen. That’s a true leader… taking care of his staff and the clients.
John is the hardest-working person that I know and will always go the extra mile to ensure that things are completed to the highest standard. John is also a strategic thinker – looking ahead at ways to make the tax pillar profitable and valuable to the organization.
John is great at what he does, and he is a great mentor. I believe that he is the textbook definition of leadership, and he goes above and beyond in his dedication to his work, clients, staff, and the organization.
Congratulations, Monika, Michelle, Lu, and John on this much-deserved honor! Bank Forward sponsors the Bill Brown Award to recognize Bank Forward, Invest Forward, Tax Forward, and Insure Forward employees who exemplify Bill Brown’s spirit.