DLLG Legacy
Legacy of the Delaware League of Local Governments
The DFIT Program is borne from a collaboration of the long-time vision of former DLLG Executive Director- the late George C. Wright, and Program Administrator Theresa DeSanto, to create an insurance alternative for the Delaware municipalities for Workers Compensation coverage, where in George’s words, they would have “Control over their insurance destiny”. Workers Compensation had been a significant cost burden due to unstable cycles for decades, for all employers in Delaware.
George and the DLLG began working with Theresa and her insurance firm in 2006, where the concept gained the approval of the Executive Committee of the DLLG and its general membership, to embark on the task of forming a self- insured Workers Compensation pool.
The first Board of Trustees was assembled in 2006 by George, and they collaborated to first give the program a name, and then crafted the first draft of the DFIT By Laws. George selected the name “DeLea”- an acronym for the Delaware League- followed by “Founders”- to honor the founders of the DLLG- and the name DeLea Founders Insurance Trust (DFIT) was approved and adopted by the Trustees.
The DFIT became the first group municipal insurance pool in the history of Delaware. Both the Department of Insurance and the Department of Labor have approved the creation of this program, and the DFIT has had a history of support from former Insurance Commissioners Matt Denn and Karen Weldin Stewart, and continues to receive avid support from the current Commissioner Trinidad Navarro.
The DLLG/ DFIT legacy continues and flourishes with the support of current Executive Director Marcia Scott, and the DLLG membership. The growth of the DFIT Program which has provided vital benefits to the participating Delaware municipalities is important to its continued success. At the request of its members, Strategic Insurance Partners was able to successfully expand the DFIT Program to offer a proprietary group municipal Property & Casualty program. The benefits of this program to its members have been especially significant to the coastal communities, which have experienced increasingly more limited options especially for Property coverage, in the carrier marketplace.
In Memoriam, George C. Wright Jr.
Executive Director, Delaware League of Local Governments 1991-2014
Mayor, Town of Smyrna DE 1981- 1995
First African American to serve as Mayor in Delaware
We Welcome the New Executive Director of the Delaware League of Local Governments: Dr. Kevin J. Spence, PhD.
Kevin J. Spence, PhD, was appointed Executive Director of the Delaware League of Local Governments (DLLG) in August 2023. Dr. Spence is a member of the National League of Cities, International City/County Management Association and City Management Association of Delaware.
In 2022, Dr. Spence was awarded a doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration specializing in International Education at Kent State University. Spence’s dissertation included research on the educational policies in Cuba and conducting research in authoritarian regimes. Spence has taught in three overseas universities and three universities in the United States.
Dr. Spence served in two international leadership positions: NAFSA – Association of International Educators Indiana State Representative for Region VI and Comparative & International Education Society Chair of the Latin America Special Interest Group.
A former U.S. Department of State Virtual Foreign Service E-Intern (Cuba Economic Baseline Study) and English Language Fellow Alumni Ambassador, Dr. Spence is also a veteran ESL and EFL instructor with extensive overseas living, working, grant-writing and teacher-training experience in Morocco, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Colombia, and Cuba.
An alumnus of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, Dr. Spence served as a print news reporter in New York City, and in Delaware where he covered local politics and government and statehouse legislation. He has a master’s degree in TESL from the University of Delaware and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of South Florida.
With deep gratitude, we thank former Executive Directors Marcia Scott and Carl Luft for their service to the DLLG, and for their support and commitment to the continued success of the DFIT Program.
July 2021- July 2023- Marcia Scott
June 2014- July 2021- Carl Luft