Sonali Virendra

Senior Vice President and Head of Agency

Sonali Virendra is senior vice president and head of Agency at New York Life, overseeing the company's career agency distribution system. In this capacity, she leads a network of more than 12,000 agents and advisors across more than 110 general offices nationwide, in addition to managing the business units that provide strategic support to the field. She was appointed to New York Life’s Executive Management Committee in January 2025.

Ms. Virendra began her career with New York Life in 1997 as a development manager in the New Jersey General Office. She progressed through various leadership roles, becoming a Life Product consultant in 2008, Life Sales officer of the Northeast Zone in 2009, and vice president and national Life Sales officer in 2012. In these positions, she was instrumental in driving sales strategies and supporting life insurance sales across the company.

In 2015, she expanded her responsibilities to include agent and management development, agent prospecting, and the development of a new digital experience for the field. By 2017, she assumed leadership of the Product Consulting team and Agency Sales, earning a promotion to senior vice president. Her leadership portfolio expanded in February 2023 when she was appointed head of the West Central Zone, overseeing agents and advisors across a specific geographic area.

Raised in Hong Kong, Ms. Virendra holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from Sacred Heart University. She has earned professional designations including Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Leadership Fellow, and Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow.

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