Ben Boas is an Underwriting Trainee for Markel Specialty’s Environmental team in Richmond, VA. He graduated from the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business in 2023 with a degree in Risk Management and Insurance, with a concentration in Business Analytics. Throughout his academic career, Ben completed various internships with Wholesale & Specialty groups as well as the Philadelphia Insurance Companies. He served as the University of South Carolina’s Gamma Iota Sigma...

Connor Thomson is a second-year law student at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. After graduating summa cum laude with University Honors from Saint Joseph’s University’s Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management in 2022, he matriculated to Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. In March 2023, at the age of twenty-three, Connor earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation and began his tenure at Stickley Law, LLC, a boutique...

April Rinne is the opening keynote speaker at the upcoming In2Risk event and is a trusted advisor to well-known startups and companies, financial institutions, nonprofits, think tanks, and governments worldwide. For over two decades, she’s been known for seeing emerging trends early, understanding their potential, and helping others do the same. April is a bridge-builder between stakeholders, priorities, business models, markets, and those excited about change and those resistant to it. Not...

Welcome to the 100th episode of the In The Know podcast! Today’s guest Bruce McEwan is the principal of PROMANCON, an insurance and risk management consulting organization specializing in management, risk management, conflict management, and related organization change projects. Based in Hawaii, Bruce is a retired executive manager for Young Brothers, Limited, a Marine freight transportation company. During his 29-year career as a risk manager, Bruce identified, analyzed, and evaluated risks...

Janet Coffey is the Enterprise Risk Global Manager of Michaels Stores, one of the largest arts and craft retailers in the United States. With over two decades of risk management experience, Janet is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University and has served as a director of risk management and a risk management consultant. In this episode of the In The Know podcast, Chris Hampshire and Janet explore the world of risk management, Janet’s experiences within the retail sector, and her thoughts...

Paul Roderick is a digital product owner and operations manager at Midwest Employers Casualty (a WRB company), where he’s deeply involved in digital transformation and process improvement initiatives, as well as bringing technical and business colleagues together. Previously, he led a public entity risk management and insurance program, using a technology-forward approach to streamline operations. He is a current member of the CPCU Society’s Technology and Innovation Committee. In this...

Dr. Shirley Davis is the President and CEO of SDS Global Enterprises, Inc., and will be the closing keynote speaker at the In2Risk Conference this fall. Dr. Davis brings a unique background as a seasoned HR and Diversity & Inclusion global thought leader, a senior executive, a certified leadership coach, and a former Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for several major Fortune 100 companies. She has worked in more than 30 countries on five continents and delivers more than 80...

Kristine A. Fox, CPCU, AIC-M, ARM, AIC, API, AINS, SCLA-Gold, is the Midwest regional claims manager for the Property Americas Division of Sedgwick, where she organizes deployment of field resources and oversees client accounts. Fox has over 20 years of experience in property-casualty claims, ranging from homeowners and auto losses to general liability, and has also supervised commercial trucking liability claims. She is a past president of the Omaha CPCU Society Chapter. In this episode of...

Matt Swafford is Senior Litigation Counsel at Shelter Insurance Companies, where he manages litigation across the United States for Shelter and affiliated companies and provides general counsel to Shelter’s claims branches. He practiced law in Kentucky for over ten years with a focus on insurance, business, and employment litigation, clerked for Justice Will T. Scott at the Supreme Court of Kentucky, and was a Staff Attorney for Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Barry Willett. At Northern...

Joe Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates and the author of the thought-provoking Managed Care Matters blog. He is also the president of CompPharma, LLC, a research and consulting firm dedicated to improving pharmacy programs in workers’ compensation. In 2012, Joe received IAIABC’s President’s Award for his efforts to address the opioid problem in workers’ compensation. He currently participates in the “Comparative Effectiveness of Two State Payer Strategies to Prevent Unsafe...

Melissa Burt DeVriese is the President at Security First Insurance Company. She has been with Security First Insurance Company since 2009 and has been President since March 2020. Before serving as President, she held a variety of roles, including Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. Melissa holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Miami and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown Law Center and is a licensed attorney in Florida, Washington D.C., and California. Before...

Sandip Chatterjee is the Executive Vice President of Client Management & Innovation at MedRisk, leading the Account Management organization. He also leads the Product & Innovation for MedRisk where he is responsible for the creation of new solutions to drive improved experiences and outcomes for MedRisk Customers and Partners. Prior to joining MedRisk, Sandip was a Managing Director at Marsh McLennan leading the Analytics Delivery Organization for North America. Sandip has 20-plus...

Michael Koscielny, MBA, CPCU, CIC, ARe, AIC, API, AIS, AINS, is chief executive officer and founder of Born2Lead, LLC. He has over 40 years of experience creating effective teams and innovative processes for underwriting and pricing for various insurance companies. He currently serves as Director of Marketing for Graduate Programs at The University of Olivet. He is an instructor for The National Alliance CISR and CIC designations and a Facilitated CPCU Study Group Leader for The Institutes....

Rosa Royo is the Director of Worker’s Compensation and Loss Prevention at Miami-Dade County Public Schools. A graduate of Barry University, Ms. Royo has been a Risk Manager for over 30 years and has specialized in Worker’s Compensation for the last 20 years. She is employed by Miami-Dade County Public Schools and supervises a high-volume customer-service-driven worker’s compensation program. In 2016, she relaunched the Rebuilding Me program to include providing athletic trainers, meditation,...

Omari Aarons-Martin is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the National African American Insurance Association, a 2,100-member 501c6 organization that works to diversify the insurance industry and provides professional development programming to its members. A champion of workplace inclusion and equity, Aarons-Martin has received recognition from Insurance Business America, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and Business Equality Magazine for his leadership and...

John M. Howard is chairman and CEO of Truist Insurance Holdings where he oversees the retail and wholesale insurance businesses. He has three decades in financial services and currently serves as executive sponsor of the SERVE (Supporting Emergency Responders & Veterans Engagement) Business Resource Group at Truist. He is chairman of the board of both The American College of Financial Services and The Institutes, board officer secretary for the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers,...

Teresa Chan is the Director of the Master’s in Insurance Management program at Columbia University. She launched the program in 2019 after 27 years of insurance industry experience in legal, product, and business development. Prior to joining Columbia, Teresa was an advisor on the formation of MGU start-ups funded by Willis Group that leverage emerging technological capabilities to underwrite specialized markets on digital platforms and a consultant for energy performance warranty insurance....

Jen Cogbill is the Senior Vice President of the GBCARE Advisor Team at Gallagher Bassett. With over 28 years of experience in the insurance industry, Jen currently directs GBCARE Advisor team strategies and training initiatives for the Gallagher Bassett Client Services and Claim Operations team. Her responsibilities include client engagement, industry presentations, data analytics, and review of integrated products and services. She acts as a liaison between the client servicing team, the...

Traci Adedeji is the incoming 2024 President and Chair of The Institutes’ CPCU Society and works as a Vice-President at JP West, Inc., where she heads the firm’s personal and small commercial lines insurance operations. Her insurance career began in 1984, and her experience includes leadership roles with several national carriers. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Society for Insurance Trainers & Educators (SITE) and the National African American Insurance...

John Smith is President and Chief Executive Officer at Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM). With more than 40 years in the insurance business, he was a property underwriter at Aetna Casualty, a branch manager at CNA, and the Northeast Regional Vice President at General Accident. John has served on the Board of Directors of both PLM and Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (ILM) since the companies affiliated in 2013 and has served on many boards of directors...

Brian Chance is a Senior Vice President, Claims and Risk Manager in the Cost Based Efficiency division at Stephens Insurance, LLC. In this role, he engages with clients to develop strategies to eliminate hidden costs inside their workers’ compensation programs. Brian has 30+ years of experience in the insurance industry with a focus on large employer self-insured workers’ compensation programs. He specializes in developing processes to identify, quantify, and eliminate hidden costs in large...

Description: Ann Mason, WCLA is TruGreen’s National Workers Compensation Manager. With 35 years of experience in the insurance industry, Ann began her career in 1988 as a claims adjustor. She quickly rose through the ranks and enjoyed roles in claims support, office administration, and human resources. Ann played a pivotal role in establishing quality control standards for an independent medical exam company and helped a private investigation team achieve prominence. In 2008, she began a...

Shannon Totten is the Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Excess Casualty Insurance, Sompo International, North America.  She joined the Excess Casualty department of Endurance Specialty in 2003, later acquired by Sompo in 2017, as a Vice President and took on increasing responsibilities including Bermuda Business Unit Leader. Prior to joining Endurance, she worked for AIG as an excess casualty underwriter for Starr Excess Insurance Bermuda as well as American Home in New York. She is...

Megan Angus is the Western Senior Claims Manager for Sodexo, a worldwide industry leader in food service and facility management, where she is responsible for managing the oversight of the workers’ compensation claims. Megan has over 11 years of experience in workers’ compensation with an emphasis on California and is an ambassador for the Alliance of Women in Workers’ Compensation. She has a bachelor’s from The University of Alabama and an Associate in Risk Management (ARM). In today’s...