Andy Bender

Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

Andy Bender has served as senior vice president and Deputy General Counsel for COUNTRY Financial, Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and other affiliated companies since June 2019.

Bender is responsible for counseling, advising and handling a variety of corporate and related legal matters. In addition, he has legal, administrative and supervisory responsibilities within the Office of the General Counsel. He is responsible for overseeing the legal support for COUNTRY Financial, Illinois Agricultural Association, county Farm Bureaus, Prairie Farmers Dairy and other affiliated companies. He also provides support for the corporate secretary.

Bender joined IFB as an attorney in 2004. He was promoted to general attorney in 2006, assistant general counsel in 2011, senior counsel in 2016, and deputy general counsel in 2018.

He received his Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from the University of Illinois College of Law, Urbana, in 2001. He earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, in political science and economics from Illinois State University, Normal, in 1998.