The National Alliance story began in 1969 in Austin, Texas, when a small group of independent agents approached insurance professor Dr. William T. Hold to develop a program for teaching advanced insurance topics to Texas' agents. The product of this meeting was the Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC) Program - which became the foundation and the cornerstone of The National Alliance.

Housed in a small portable building, with an original staff of three, Hold and company developed the CIC institutes, and the demand for these real-world, practical programs steadily grew within the industry.

CIC co-founder James K. Ruble [1923 -1996] shared Dr. Hold's vision for establishing and directing a national, high-quality continuing education program for independent insurance agents. The principles Mr. Ruble represented - the freedom to learn and the commitment to ongoing personal and professional development - live on through the seminars named in his honor. James K. Ruble Seminars are a tribute to his leadership and the high ethical standards he represented.

As the numbers of CIC participants and designation-holders mushroomed, long-term relationships were established with state and national agents associations, and the program was taken nationwide.

Today, The National Alliance still occupies the same corner north of downtown Austin, but now two, two-story office buildings house more than 100 employees on the site. The ability to anticipate the imminent needs of the industry, draw on the vast intellectual resources represented by agents and faculty, and continually provide the best education programs in the business, remain the greatest strengths and challenges of The National Alliance.