2020 D&I Conference Speakers

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Steve Acunto, Business Insurance
Steve Acunto
CEO
Business Insurance

Mr. Acunto founded CINN Group as a publishing company in 1978. Today, it is a private group of companies in media, insurance and capital markets. Mr. Acunto serves as its Chairman.

Since 1978, CINN Group, Inc. has conducted the company’s media activities, centered upon its media hub in insurance, Insurance Advocate, published uninterruptedly since 1889, with titles in the financial services, insurance, and public policy sectors including: Empire State Report, founded in 1974, the Italian Journal, founded in 1947 and more than 30 other titles over its 35 years.

In 2019, Mr. Acunto formed BEACON INTERNATIONAL GROUP, Inc. which is now among the leading financial publishing companies in the world in insurance and risk management. As publisher of the US leader, Business Insurance (Chicago) Commercial Risk (London) serving the UK, the EU, and Africa; Asia Insurance Review (Singapore) serving North East Asia, South East Asia, South Asia and the Pacific, Middle East Insurance Review (Amman) serving the Middle East and North Africa and WorkCompCentral (Los Angeles) serving the US workers’ compensation insurance sector. Beacon also publishes Consular and Diplomatic Affairs Quarterly.

Together with its financial services media, CINN has created and, in some cases, both created and managed several international and national business organizations such as the American Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS US), The Society of Insurance Financial Managers (SIFM), AMCOMP, the Insurance Federation of New York, Inc. (IFNY), and several others.

Daniel Aronson, Marsh
Daniel Aronson
Managing Director
Marsh
Regis Coccia, Wordsmith Strategic Communications
Regis Coccia
President
Wordsmith Strategic Communications

Regis is President of Wordsmith Strategic Communications LLC, an Atlanta-based communications consultancy specializing in content strategy, executive communications and content creation. His extensive experience in writing, editing and building business relationships helps clients nationwide to tell their story and differentiate their organizations to both internal and external audiences.

Wordsmith serves clients in various industries, including insurance, financial services, marketing, publishing and technology.

Before launching Wordsmith, Regis was the Director of Global Content Strategy for Aon Risk Solutions, the global retail brokerage and risk advisory business of Aon plc. In this role, Regis created client global thought leadership content, developed and implemented strategies to boost client and colleague engagement, and coordinated content responding to significant events such as Superstorm Sandy. Before that, he was Director of Global Marketing and Communications at Aon Service Corp., where he was one of the principal speechwriters for Aon plc’s president and chief executive officer as well as adviser to other senior executives on messaging and content development. He oversaw Aon’s global client and colleague publications and collaborated with the firm’s marketing and communications teams on a variety of employee engagement and client-facing projects.

Prior to joining Aon, Regis was the editor-in-chief of Business Insurance, a weekly newsmagazine and website covering the commercial insurance industry. In this capacity, he developed and led programs to enhance brand and audience engagement, including Innovation Awards, Readers Choice Awards, Women to Watch and Benefit Manager of the Year. He also launched web video programming for the publication, producing commentaries and interviews with insurance industry experts.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and minor in French Literature, Regis enjoys connecting with people, exchanging ideas and creating compelling stories. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and children.

Kim Davis, NFP
Kim Davis
Executive Vice President, Chief D&I Officer
NFP

After many years of running successful and highly integrated HR strategies within several public and private companies, I created my own firm providing these services for Private Equity firms and portfolios. That company became a highly successful Benefits Procurement / HR Consulting firm that was purchased by NFP in January 2012. Those business lines still exist to serve clients in standalone offerings; Alterity Group and HR Services.

As a career HR leader, I have worked to align the companies goals and employees goals in a way that adds value to an organization and engages the employee to excel and manage their own career growth and success. After the integration of our acquired company, I assumed the head of HR role for NFP and became an executive level leader in the company. Transitioning NFP from a public holding company to a private insurance brokerage and consulting company that has grown to be the 4th largest insurance brokerage in the US, requires cultivating a people-centric work environment where our employees are seen as the #1 asset of the company and encouraged to build honest and transparent relationships with our clients and vendor/partners to unite all parties together for mutual success. This Peoplefirst culture is ingrained in everything we do.

Now I am focused on building an inclusive environment that brings a sense of belonging to our employees and encourages innovation from the strength of our differences. We continue to make significant progress in advancing women leaders throughout the organization with the full support of our CEO and executive team including my appointment to our Board of Directors. We have created an Advisory Board as a grass roots effort to join people from all business lines and levels, all ethnicities and genders with different experiences to build upon our D&I work and bring best practices to the business. These efforts have had a direct impact on the business performance and success.

Ericka DeBruce, Sedgwick
Ericka DeBruce
Vice President, Colleague Experience and Corporate Citizenship
Sedgwick

Ericka joined Sedgwick in January, 2016. Her expertise is designing cultures of inclusion where workplace experiences engage, develop and retain employees.

At Sedgwick, Ericka has the responsibility of creating and driving the global colleague engagement and experience strategies which include university relations, diversity and inclusion. In addition, Ericka oversees the corporate citizenship and substantiality programs.

Prior to pursuing a career with Sedgwick, Ericka was the Global Diversity and Inclusion Manager for International Paper, where she oversaw activities that drove the company’s integrated D&I strategy. In addition to International Paper, Ericka has led the diversity and inclusion efforts at BAE Systems, American Red Cross, Blood Services, American Cancer Society, and Talbots, Inc.

Her specialty is creating safe learning experiences where employees can make connections and engage in dialogue that create culture change through her use of humor and deep understanding of human behavior.

Ericka holds a degree in Speech Communication from Bradley University located in Peoria, Illinois and a Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Management Certification from Georgetown University located in Washington D.C. She was recently named one of 2020’s Superwomen in Business by Memphis Business Journal and recognized by Insurance Business America for her efforts to champion and advance DEI throughout the industry.

Jeff Gallimore, Zurich
Jeff Gallimore
Chief Operations officer, U.S. Commercial Insurance
Zurich

Jeff Gallimore is the Chief Operations Officer for Zurich U.S. Commercial Insurance (USCI). In this role he is responsible for establishing best-in-class service for customers and brokers and to help drive USCI's operational priorities by delivering improved solutions in a cost-effective and market-leading way. He joined Zurich North America in 2008.

Over his career, Jeff has built on a broad set of business expertise in standard Property & Casualty, Small Business, Environmental, Global Energy, Financial and Credit Lines and most recently International. Gallimore has held various leadership roles of increasing responsibility throughout Zurich North America in Operations and Specialty Products. Jeff has ascended steadily in USCI, most recently serving as Vice President – Director of Operations prior to taking the ad-interim Chief Operations Officer role in 2019. Prior to joining Zurich, Gallimore spent more than 15 years at AIG in various management roles, including Vice President of Operations for AIG's Small Business unit. 

Gallimore is a member of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA) and a founding and now active member of the Zurich African Ancestry Alliance (ZAAA) employee resource group. He also works with the Newark High School Business Advisory and coaches basketball through the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). 

Gallimore holds a degree in business administration and management from Hampton University in Virginia.

Roosevelt Giles, Atlanta Life Financial Group
Roosevelt Giles
Chairman of the Board
Atlanta Life Financial Group

Roosevelt Giles has gained global recognition as an authority in Business Transformation and Digital Strategy. He brings over 30 years’ experience in managing, strategic and operational complex operations. Giles has extensive omnichannel experience in areas as: Finance, Insurance, Global Manufacturing, Automotive, Health Care and Technology. A serial entrepreneur, Giles is the Founder of EndPoint Consulting Group, LLC a holding company with investments in over 12 companies with offices in 5 cities on 3 continents. As the President & CEO of EndPoint, Roosevelt companies offers Cyber and Digital transformation services to DoD, as well as Fortune 1000 companies in areas such as: Insurance, Manufacturing, Health Care, Financial Services, Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Cloud, and Mobile adoption.

Giles holds several board positions including Chairman of the Board of Atlanta Life Financial Group, Inc., Former Chairman of the Board of Herndon Capital Management asset Management Firm, Chairman of the Board Herndon Foundation, Tech Bridge Georgia, Former Board Member Georgia Research Alliance, and former board member of Leadership Atlanta, and Visiting Nurses Hospice Atlanta where he serves on various Board Committees such as Audit, Risk and Governance, Technology and Compensation.

Giles sits on the Nasdaq Corporate Governance task force for corporate governance. Giles was featured in Forbes Magazine in August 2020. Giles delivers talks to various organizations and businesses around the globe in areas of Cyber Security, technologies and disruptive shifts in technology that can impact economies around globalization. Giles holds a BS degree in business administration and has studied at University of South Carolina, Limestone College, with advanced management courses from Harvard and MIT Roosevelt is currently writing a book that features a collection of: “saying” collected from his travel to over 137 countries.

He has received honors from industry and private groups, including the:
Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the year finalist award 2001
Giles delivered the commencement address at Clayton State University in 2013
Giles has participated in over 267 marathons which include running the 50 states 3x , the 8 continents (including Antarctica, 3x) the Abbott World Marathon Majors 3x, and a marathon in 53 countries at the request of his brother James Giles before he transitioned in 2013.

Kevin Husbands, AIG
Kevin Husbands
Territory Distribution Leader
AIG

Kevin Husbands is a Territory Distribution Leader in the Southeast Zone of AIG’s U.S. General Insurance operation. In this role, he leads sales and growth initiatives, troubleshoots issues, co-ordinates internal/external strategies of multi-line accounts with broker/client partners specifically in the southeastern states of Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. Kevin has been with AIG for 24 years in a multitude of claims, underwriting and distribution roles commencing his career in New York prior to transferring to the Atlanta office. He was most recently an Excess Casualty Underwriter for 5 years prior to his current business development responsibilities which he has done for the better part of the last decade.

Kevin has held many strategic initiative positions over his tenure at AIG. He was the head of the Atlanta Diversity and Inclusion Council which was charged with creating Employee Resource Groups in the Atlanta area, enhancing corporate awareness in the region and working with executive leadership on sponsorship appointments as well as strategic overview and implementation. Three Employee Resource Groups were created under his leadership (GA Young Professionals & Allies, GA Black Professionals & Allies and GA Women & Allies).

Kevin also sits on the Atlanta Advisory Council of the George Washington University Customer Experience Board.

Kevin is a graduate of the City University of New York – New York City Technical College.

Robert
Robert "Bob" Jett III
Chief Privacy Officer & Lead IT Counsel
Crawford & Company

Robert S. Jett III (“Bob”) joined Crawford & Company just over 18 months ago and presently serves as Chief Privacy Officer and lead IT counsel. Bob currently also leads Crawford’s Global Incident Response Team and Workplace Reintegration Taskforce for COVID-19. Bob has more than 25 years of experience as a legal advisor and in-house counsel with multi-national organizations in the medical device, insurance and financial services industry and has worked closely with colleagues and issues related to Information Technology, Data Privacy and Protection, Information Security and Corporate Compliance functions. This has included the creation, implementation and maintenance of global compliance, incident response and data privacy programs and managing a privacy office for several global companies.

He holds a B.A. in both international relations and political science from Hobart College. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is an active member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP); Past President of the Global Leadership and Development Department Advisory Board of the University of Missouri at St. Louis and a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.

Keith Kenner, Business Insurance
Keith Kenner
Publisher
Business Insurance

Keith Kenner was named publisher of Business Insurance in 2018. 

Mr. Kenner joined Business Insurance in 2016 as a director of major accounts. He’s led the development of the organization’s digital offerings and has worked with many clients as they use Business Insurance platforms to grow their business.

Throughout his career, Mr. Kenner has held sales management positions with organizations including The New York Times, BusinessWeek, MyWebGrocer and Thomson Reuters.

Tracy Lampert, Zurich North America
Tracy Lampert
Head of Employee Experience & Culture
Zurich North America

Tracy Lampert is Head of Employee Experience and Culture. In this role, she works across the organization and is focused on bringing to life Zurich’s employee promise, enhancing employee’s experience in the moments that matter, strengthening manager capabilities and fostering a high-performing culture. Tracy also has responsibility for Diversity and Inclusion and Community Investment. Tracy and her team prioritize efforts to inspire and help employees reach their full potential – and for Zurich to continue to be recognized as a great place to work.

Starting her career as an Underwriter with FM Global (formerly Arkwright), Tracy joined Zurich in 1995. She has held numerous roles within the organization, including Head of Operational Transformation and serving in various Chief of Staff and Strategic Change Management roles. Prior to joining the Human Resources team, Tracy was Chief of Staff for Zurich North America. In this role, she was responsible for setting and driving the agenda for the North America Office of the CEO and had responsibility for Corporate Communications, Community Investment, Employee Engagement and other North America initiatives.

Tracy graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in finance and is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).

Tracy is Zurich North America’s Executive Champion for Wellbeing and Executive Sponsor for the AbilitieZ Employee Resource Group.

Tracy is a board member of the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois. She also serves on the Chicago Advisory Board for Blessings in a Backpack.

Herbert Mitchell, Sedgwick
Herbert Mitchell
Senior Vice President Client Services
Sedgwick

Mr. Mitchell is a senior vice president for Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. (Sedgwick) in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this role, he is responsible for managing customer relationships in Sedgwick’s commercial accounts unit. He helps ensure that Sedgwick’s solutions and related service delivery remain at the forefront of the industry and address the evolving needs of current and prospective clients. Herb was a founding member of Sedgwick’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) board from 2016-2020. He now serves as a D&I consultant. He has been with Sedgwick since 2015.

Herb is an insurance industry expert with more than 33 years of experience and proven organizational, analytical and management skills. Prior to joining Sedgwick, he served as a senior vice president at Liberty Mutual, where he oversaw service management for the company’s commercial insurance business unit. Herb held several leadership positions during his 28 years with the organization including Northeast division manager and New York operations manager.

Herb served Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) New York chapter as a board member from 2005-2010. He was also a board member from 2011-2015 for The Partnership, an organization committed to building racially and ethnically diverse leadership pipelines. His efforts assisted in developing leadership programs for organizations’ multicultural talent, as well as providing customized consulting services to improve diversity performance in a global marketplace.

Herb holds a bachelor’s degree from Wagner College in Staten Island, New York.

Ngozi Nnaji, MS, Ako Insurance Consulting, LLC
Ngozi Nnaji, MS
Founder/Managing Partner,
Ako Insurance Consulting, LLC

Ngozi started Ako Brokerage Services, LLC in 2017, after a 20- year career in the insurance industry. She started the firm recognizing a growing desire for insureds to better understand the insurance programs that they were managing. Ako Brokerage Services provides the vehicle for insureds to evaluate the protection of their assets by serving as a full-service brokerage and consulting firm. Ngozi not only works with individuals and their families as well as business and their owners.

Most recently, Ngozi recognized an additional need within the insurance industry. She saw many insurance employers continue to struggle with diversifying their workforce in an industry that has historically struggled to do so. In response, Ngozi launched Ako Insurance Consulting, a recruiting and retention firm focused on Black Talent in the insurance industry.

In Igbo, Ngozi’s family native language in Nigeria, Ako means wisdom. In both of her firms, Ngozi uses wisdom, as well as experience and strong industry knowledge to advise the clients that she and her team works with.

Prior to starting Ako, Ngozi served as the Northeast Healthcare Zone Leader for CNA Insurance Company, where she oversaw the profitability and growth of the organization's healthcare business in seven states. She also held leadership positions at Willis (currently Willis Towers Watson) where she led the placement services for their Healthcare Practice located in Hartford, Connecticut. Although Ngozi started her insurance career as an Underwriter with the St. Paul Companies, she also served in business development, customer experience and production roles throughout her career.

Ngozi earned her Master of Science Degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Florida State University and graduated Cum Laude from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Actuarial Science. Ngozi is a Licensed Certified Insurance Consultant in addition to being a Licensed Insurance Producer (CT, FL, ME, and NY; pending MA and RI).

Currently, Ngozi serves as the inaugural President of the Greater Hartford Chapter of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA). And was elected to the NAAIA National Board in September 2019 where she serves as the Chair of the Agent Engagement Committee. Ngozi was awarded the Leadership Award by the State of Connecticut Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday Commission for her leadership and work in the insurance industry in the Greater Hartford area in 2019. This year she received the Leading the Change Award from Insurance Business America. Nominated by her peers, Ngozi was recognized for her work to help build a more diverse and equitable industry.

Ngozi also works with Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. Ngozi is an Adjunct Professor at Goodwin College in their Business Administration Department and is a member of the Goodwin College Insurance Institute’s Advisory Committee.

Ngozi is active in several community organizations and causes. Additionally, she owns a personal training and group fitness company, Ako Fitness. Ngozi lives in Middletown, Connecticut with her daughter who attends North Carolina Central University as a freshman and three teenage sons.

Larry Phillips, Gallagher
Larry Phillips
Assistant Vice President, Culture and Inclusion
Gallagher

Larry Phillips is a former Account Executive in Arthur J. Gallagher’s Higher Education Practice and Public Sector Practice. Larry brings industry experience and a passion for diverse and proactive partnerships to his Culture & Inclusion role with Gallagher Global Brokerage US. He serves as the Divisional Assistant Vice President for C&I and is responsible for managing Gallagher Connect Partners.

As a leader in Gallagher Connect Partners, he is dedicated to establishing meaningful and deliberate diverse relationships to increase business opportunities. After growing up in Cabrini Green in Chicago, he was fortunate enough to discover Boys Hope Girls Hope-- a residential scholarship program that provides housing and scholarship opportunities to at-risk youth in the inner-city. After graduating from Loyola Academy, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Risk Management and Insurance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School. He received his State of Illinois Producer’s License for Fire and Casualty in 2013.

Ginnette Quesada-Kunkel, NFP
Ginnette Quesada-Kunkel
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
NFP

Ginnette brings results-oriented leadership and expertise to NFP, directing the full spectrum of human resources activities for the company. She leads all human resources operations, compensation and benefits practices, employee benchmarking, change management, and mergers and acquisitions diligence, playing an integral role in creating an environment that attracts and retains top talent through a people-first culture.

Ginnette is a member of NFP’s Executive Management Committee. Before being promoted to Executive Vice President in January 2019, Ginnette was Senior Vice President of Human Resources. She joined NFP in 2007 as Vice President, Human Resources.

Her strong technical and strategic knowledge, depth of organizational awareness, and insightful guidance on opportunities continue to elevate NFP’s human resources capabilities. Ginnette is an engaged advocate of the caring and collaboration that are critical to NFP’s success.

Prior to NFP, Ginnette was Director of Faculty Affairs at Columbia University and an HR Generalist for MetLife.

Andy Toh, Business Insurance
Andy Toh
Director of Research, Planning and Insights
Business Insurance

Andy Toh joined Business Insurance in 2015 as its research director, overseeing several research and data efforts that include the magazine’s proprietary rankings and insights through custom research projects.

Prior to joining, Mr. Toh, oversaw research and data analytics for the health engagement and marketing solution company, The StayWell Co. LLC. (now part of WebMD). Mr. Toh also worked at The University of Chicago Press, starting in 2005, as the research manager of business development and acquisition at the university’s journals division in Chicago.

He also spent several years at the cable television division of Singapore-based StarHub Ltd., completing his tenure as marketing services manager of advertising sales, as was a public relations specialist at Special Children’s Charities, the fundraising arm of Special Olympics Chicago.

Mr. Toh holds a master’s degree in journalism and a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Kevin Whitehead, Alllianz
Kevin Whitehead
Practice Leader - Liability, Corporate Accounts, N.A.
Alllianz

Kevin Whitehead joined Allianz in May of 2018 as the Practice Leader for AGCS’s North American Liability, Corporate Accounts division. In this role, Kevin is responsible for leading and managing the largest liability segment within AGCS NA. He is accountable for the pricing, underwriting and coverage appetite for the division and works closely with the appropriate stakeholders including Claims, Actuarial, Legal and Operational staff to deliver the prescribed growth and profit objectives of the organization.

Kevin has over 30 years of liability underwriting and management experience with a particular focus on Lead Umbrella and Excess Casualty. The vast majority of Kevin’s experience has been spent with 3 of the most widely recognized insurance leaders including 10 year with Chubb, 10 years with AIG and 7 years with Zurich. Prior to joining Allianz, Kevin spent 2 years with Ironshore as CUO for Specialty Casualty. Kevin has a consistent track record of moving to roles of increased responsibility throughout his career including the management of all aspects of the P&L for various Umbrella and Excess Casualty portfolios. Kevin is one of the founding members of Allianz’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council in North America.

Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Pace University in New York.

Dr. Lauren Young, Zurich North America
Dr. Lauren Young
Head of Diversity and Inclusion
Zurich North America

Dr. Lauren Young is the Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Zurich North America. Lauren has also worked as a consultant for a variety of Fortune 500 corporations on areas including organizational design, employee experience and culture initiatives and performance management.

She has a doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership and a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology; both from the University of Southern California. She also holds the SHRM-CP certification in Human Resources Management.