FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
GAMMA IOTA SIGMA ALUMNI NEWSLETTER ALPHA KAPPA CHAPTER
FALL 2020 UPDATES GAMMA IOTA SIGMA - ALPHA KAPPA
Despite the ongoing pandemic, Gamma Iota Sigma, Alpha Kappa and the Katie School have found safe and productive ways to continue to grow professionally and personally. While we are all presented with new challenges within the last year, we have adapted and found new ways for our members to be engaged. The following pages include highlights of the events we enjoyed hosting or taking part in this fall. Even though the semester was not back to normal, students took full advantage of the opportunities presented and learned along the way. We are very excited to see what 2021 holds!
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FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS Fall Activities...................................................................................... 3 Alumni Mentor Program Spotlight............................................... 5 Meet the 2020-2021 Officers........................................................ 6 Fall Calendar..................................................................................... 7 Student/Alumni Spotlight............................................................... 8 Alumni Recognition......................................................................... 9 Katie School Golf Classic............................................................. 12 Alumni Halloween Photo Contest............................................. 13 Alumni Baby Photo Contest........................................................ 14
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
@AlphaKappaGIS
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add Miranda Kobal on Facebook for an invite
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
FALL ACTIVITIES Katie School Alumni/Student Golf Outing
While we were not able to do many of the planned in-person events, we held our 19th Annual Alumni/Student Golf Outing at Weibring Golf Club. The golfers were able to go out and play golf and learn valuable etiquette as well as basic technique. Everyone had a great time!
Volunteering
midwest food bank
clean the quad
“Despite unprecedented times our chapter was able to continue serving the needs of our community while keeping our members safe. Some places we served at this semester include YWCA, Active Bloomington Garden, and the Midwest Food Bank.” - shelby burmeister, director of volunteer efforts
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FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
INDUSTRY PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS Industry Presentations
American Family Captives 101 Meet the Firms Acuity Virtual Hangout CAS vs SOA Internship Panel Pinnacle Pet Insurance Intro to International Insurance Programs Medical/Health Insurance Presentation Emerging Issues Reinsurance 101
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Workshops
Leadership Development - Series of 3 Shift Profile Management How to Pass Actuarial Exams
Career Fairs
VCIF Career Fair ISU Career Fair Katie School/FIL Career Fair
Emerging Issues Presented by Tim Fletcher, Gen Re
Underwriting Casualty Wildfire Exposures Presented by Stacie Graham, Liberty Mutual
WSIA Presented by Christa Nadler, Gallagher
Maximizing Mentoring Experience Presented by Eric C. Hoss, State Farm
Swiss Re Cyber Presented by Armel Francisco
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
GAMMA GRAND CHAPTER EVENTS Leadership Symposium Gamma International Career Fair GIS International Conference
ALUMNI MENTOR PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT As we enter the second semester of our alumni mentor program, we want to spotlight some mentor and mentee testimonials to show how mutually beneficial this program can be!
Shelby Burmeister - RMI 2021 “I am very thankful to have such a wonderful mentor. Maggie is one of the kindest people I know and is always willing to go out of her way to offer advice and support to me. Together, we have worked on my interview skills, tips for studying for professional designations, and my resume to name a few. I feel more confident and prepared for my senior year and life after college because of the mentorship program.” Andy Vuong - Berkley Public Entity “I believe everyone can learn something from one another. The insight my mentors have given me throughout my career has been invaluable and is something I intend to pass along. Emily has been a great mentee and has an eagerness to learn. She is such an impressive student with opportunities for years to come, and it has been a privilege to help her the best I can. The Katie School has given me so much throughout the years, and this is one way I am able to give back. If you are thinking about getting involved and being a mentor, I would strongly recommend it!”
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Tyler Jenkins - Actuarial Science (RMI & Economics minors) 2023 “I feel like having a mentor is one of the greatest benefits of GIS. My mentor is available to answer any of my questions from the insurance industry to GIS at Illinois State. I am grateful to consider him a professional connection in the industry and a good friend.” Sal D’Acquisto - Chubb “Being a mentor for the Gamma Mentorship Program has been a great experience. Having a mentee has allowed me to learn about someone else and his experience in the Katie School, as well as answer any questions he may have about the insurance industry. My mentee is pursuing actuarial science, and this has allowed me to learn more about his classes, exams, and internships. This program has been a great way to stay involved with Gamma and the Katie School as an alumnus.”
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
MEET THE OFFICERS
BRENDAN LEIBFORTH
CONNOR RICHARDS
EMILY SELENIS
NICOLE GRENDZINSKI VP of Student Affairs
KATE PANKHURST VP of Internal Affairs
Director of Recruiting
Director of Recruiting
TYLER JENKINS
MEGAN WHITNEY
MIRANDA KOBAL
SHELBY BURMEISTER
President
Treasurer
Secretary
DAN ANFIELD
Director of Alumni Affairs
Pre
Actuarial Liaison
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ZACH SNOW
Director of Outreach
Director of Publicity/Historian
RAY GUARDADO
MICHAEL IAVARONE
Director of Professional Development
Director of Diversity & Inclusion
RYAN CARLIN
Director of Volunteer Efforts
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
FALL SEMESTER 2020 CALENDAR OF EVENTS DATE Aug 11-13 Aug 27-28 Sep. 2 Sep. 8 Sep. 11 Sep. 12 Sep. 15 Sep. 16 Sep. 18 Sep. 18 *Sep. 21 Sep. 24-25 *Sep 28 Sep. 29 Oct. 1 Oct. 6 Oct. 6 Oct. 7 Oct 7* Oct. 8 Oct. 10 Oct. 12* Oct. 13 Oct. 13 Oct. 14* Oct. 15 Oct. 16 Oct. 20 Oct. 21* Oct. 22 Oct. 23 Oct. 28* Oct. 30 Nov. 4 Nov. 5 Nov. 5 Nov. 6 Nov. 9 Nov. 10 Nov. 17 Dec. 2
DAY Tues-Thu Thu-Fri Wed Tues Fri Sat Tue Wed Fri Fri Tues Thu-Fri Mon Tues Thu Tues Tues Wed Wed Thu Sat Mon Tues. Tues Wed Thu Fri Tues Wed Thu Fri Wed Fri Wed Thu Thu Fri Mon Tues Tues Wed
TIME All Day All Day 6:30-7:30pm 6:30-8:00pm 11:00-4:00pm 9:00am-11:00am 4:00-7:00pm 11:00-4:00pm 11:00-12:00pm 2:00-3:00pm 1:00-4:00pm All Day 6:00-7:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 11:00-1:00pm 11:00-2:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 6:30-7:30pm 6:00-7:00pm 5:00-6:30pm 9:00-11:00am 6:00-7:00pm 11:00-2:00pm 6:30-8:00pm TBD 11:00-1:00pm 11:00-1:00pm 6:30-8:00pm 6:00-7:00pm 5:00-6:00pm 11:00-12:00pm 6:00-7:00pm 11:00-12:00pm 6:30-7:30pm All Day 11:00-1:00pm 11:00-12:00pm 5:00-6:00pm 6:30-8:00pm 5:30-6:30 6:30-7:30pm
*Denotes Actuarial Club Event PAGE 7
LOCATION Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Weibring Golf Course Active Bloomington Garden Virtual Virtual Virtual ISU Quad Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual YWCA Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Active Bloomington Garden Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Midwest Food Bank YWCA Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Midwest Food Bank Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual Virtual
EVENT VCIA Conference GIS Leadership Symposium 1st General Meeting Shift Profile Mgt. Student/Alumni Golf Outing Volunteering Intern Fair VCIF Career Fair Captives 101 Clean the Quad Meet the Firms Gamma International Conference Actuarial Club Officer Presentation Career Fair Volunteering Gamma International Career Fair Katie School/FIL Career Fair 2nd General Meeting How to Pass Actuarial Exams WSIA Presentation Volunteering CAS vs SOA Internship Panel Acuity Virtual Hangout Leadership Development Workshop #1 State Farm Presentation Volunteering Volunteering Leadership Development Workshop #2 Pinnacle Pet Insurance Liberty Mutual on Wildfire Risk Intro to International Insurance Programs Medical/Health Insurance Presentation Emerging Issues 3rd General Meeting CPCU All Industry Day Volunteering Reinsurance 101 American Family Career Panel Leadership Development Workshop #3 Communication Workshop 4th General Meeting
DRESS Casual Bus. Professional Casual Casual Casual Casual Bus. Professional Bus. Professional Bus. Casual Casual Bus Professional Bus. Professional Bus Casual Bus. Professional Casual Bus. Professional Bus Professional Casual Smart Casual Casual Bus. Professional Smart Casual Casual Casual Smart Casual Smart Casual Bus. Casual Bus. Casual Casual Bus. Casual Casual Smart Casual Smart Casual Smart Casual Smart Casual Casual
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
STUDENT/ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT KATELYNN PANKHURST (Senior) Katelynn joined Gamma in Spring 2018 because she wanted to learn more about different opportunities and areas of the industry. She was also interested in the variety of events available. During the 2018-2019 school year, she was the Director of Publicity, and this year she is serving as the Vice President of Internal Affairs. Katelynn has enjoyed meeting professionals and students across the country and traveling to locations she never thought Gamma would take her. In fact, her first time ever flying on a plane was to the 2019 GIS International Conference in Dallas, TX. Her favorite memory has been the WSIA Extreme Risk Takers in Chicago, IL. She mentioned that she really enjoyed learning more about Lloyd’s of London and the E&S space as a whole. In her free time she enjoys golfing, boating in the summer, and playing her ukulele. After graduating in May 2020, she plans on beginning her career at a wholesaler and working her way toward becoming a broker.
AARON AUGUSTYNIAK (Class of 2012) Aaron graduated in 2012 after being a part of Gamma Iota Sigma for three years and holding the president role in the 2011-2012 school year. Aaron particularly enjoyed Gamma Games because of the valuable student/alumni interaction it offered. Getting real life examples on what it was like to be in the insurance industry was very beneficial for him. His most memorable moment was being the GIS international student representative. He enjoyed working with different schools of varying sizes to assess what schools did well and what our chapter could do to help. Upon graduating, Aaron accepted a job at Gen Re as a property facultative underwriter. After 8 years in that position, he transitioned into his current role as treaty account executive that handles multiline business. His hobbies include adult fastpitch softball, hiking with his two dogs, golf, and being a foodie. Aaron is happily married to his high school sweetheart who attended Illinois Wesleyan University.
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FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
ALUMNI RECOGNITION We recently had 5 Katie School alumni identified as Rising Stars by Insurance Business America!
LAUREN MELZER (2008) Senior Manager National Market Relations and Branch Programs Gallagher Early in her career, Lauren Melzer worked as a commercial accounts underwriter for two major insurance companies. As the director of technology for The Hanover’s Midwest region, Lauren led the P&L for a sixstate territory. She also co-founded the company’s Women’s Networking Group and was awarded the Community Hero Award for her work with the Junior League of Kane & DuPage Counties. Lauren joined Gallagher’s national market relations team in 2017 and currently oversees several of the company’s top carrier partnerships, providing oversight on strategic initiatives and driving profitable growth. Earlier this year, she was promoted to manage Gallagher’s US branch programs. “As we continue to adapt to our new environment, I hope to see inclusion and diversity continue to be a top priority for insurance companies,” Lauren said. “We need to attract more women and people of color to the insurance industry, and it starts by creating a culture of change and making diversity and inclusion a priority.”
VANESSA CONTRERAS (2009) Senior Vice President US Deputy Team Leader, Professional Lines SCOR Reinsurance Company At SCOR Reinsurance,Vanessa Contreras assists with the strategy and direction of the casualty treaty portfolio by coordinating efforts among underwriters and managing client relationships. Prior to being promoted to her current role earlier this year, she served as vice president and senior underwriter. Contreras was inspired to get into insurance by her mother. “She helped low-income families understand their healthcare insurance options and utilize resources they otherwise may not have realized were available to them,” she says. “Seeing how her work positively impacted so many families made me want to understand the industry better. It drove me to seek a career that would challenge and fulfill me in the way that her job did for her.” For six years, Contreras served on the Reinsurance Under 40s board. She is currently a member of the Association of Professional Insurance Women and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) and has successfully completed the LAMP program through PLUS and the ASPIRE Leadership Program through SCOR.
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FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
DOUG JOHNSON (2010) Senior Vice President, Property Underwriting Team Lead Munich Re US
As a property underwriting team lead at Munich Re US, Doug Johnson works with underwriters to provide property treaty reinsurance solutions to regional insurers, MGA programs and national writers. He also is responsible for strategy development and execution, as well as team training and development. Over the past 10 years, Johnson has worked with a wide variety of clients, which has taught him the importance of proactive risk mitigation and making good on the promise of paying claims. “I was recently given the advice that a lot more can be accomplished through your team than what you could ever take on individually,” Johnson says. “Previously, as an individual contributor, much of my work had to be completed by me. As a manager, however, I need to get things done through my team. The shift in mindset to embrace delegation was important. My team grew our portfolio over the past year and completed multiple projects led by my team members. It was the power of the team and the collective work effort that moved us forward.”
JON PERRY (2009) Underwriter, Executive Risk Beazley As an underwriter for the US executive risk team at Beazley, Jon Perry is responsible for growing a profitable book of business. Perry entered the insurance industry in Travelers’ underwriting professional development program after graduating from college, then worked on the D&O team at Allied World before taking on his current role. In addition to his work as an underwriter, Perry is passionate about recruiting and developing young talent in the industry. He is a member of Gamma Iota Sigma’s board of trustees and volunteers as a mentor to students, helping to foster their interest in insurance and providing them with shadowing and networking opportunities to kickstart their careers in the industry. Perry was named the Katie School of Insurance Young Leader in 2018 and was also a Gamma Iota Sigma Alumnus of the Year.
JAKE TIMMINS (2011) Senior Vice President RT Specialty Jake Timmins credits his mother with inspiring him to get into insurance. “I grew up in a blue-collar small town, and my mom – a broker in the recycling industry – was a tremendous mentor to me,” he says. “She often brought me along to work dinners, and those experiences fueled my desire to get into the business.” After studying insurance at Illinois State University’s Katie School of Insurance, Timmins began his career at Westrope, which RT Specialty acquired in 2013. Early on, he learned the ropes through the guidance of mentors on a large property team at RT before creating his own property team in 2018. In its first year, the team wrote more than $14 million in premium. In 2019, Timmins doubled his book, and he is on pace to finish 2020 with nearly $50 million in premium. Jake was recognized as the Katie School of Insurance Young Leader in 2016. PAGE 10
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
RISK & INSURANCE POWER BROKER 2020 A Risk & Insurance Power Broker is an individual who stands out among their peers for the exceptional client work they delivered over the past year. While brokers play many key roles in the insurance industry and risk profession, a Power Broker award recognizes problem solving, customer service and industry knowledge. We have two alumni who were recently recognized!
MATTHEW YODER Senior Vice President at Marsh Analytics are one thing and they are important. But what about those soft skills, the traits that build trust in people and cement business relationships? Marsh’s Matthew Yoder has them by the bucketful, according to his clients.
“Matt is very personable. He is a lovely person to work with,” said Vicki Telford, the director of global risk management for Hanesbrands. With the D&O markets hardening,Yoder was instrumental in helping Telford communicate the news about changing markets in a transparent way to her company’s CFO. When it came time to do dinner with representatives from her lead insurance markets,Yoder hosted a catered event at his condo in Chicago. “Not only was it a delightful occasion, but it gave us the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations,” Telford said.
Stephen Harwell, a vice president of corporate operations for Francesca’s, said Yoder helped him navigate a very tricky situation. “We had an extremely challenging D&O renewal.” The rub? Part one was that the board was accustomed to a very comfy depth of coverage. Part of it was selling the company’s board on the idea of providing them less D&O coverage, not more. The trick was showing the board benchmarking stats showing where its desired level of D&O coverage stacked up against its peers. Once the coverage was right-sized in the mind’s-eye of the board, there was still the task of binding it.Yoder delivered a program that Harwell described as the “best possible” outcome in a market that is very difficult.
RYAN DOYLE Area Assistant Vice President at Gallagher When the success of a business relies on donated and distributed products, insuring the giving journey from start to finish can be a gamble. With the help of Ryan Doyle, it is just the opposite. When it comes to insuring food banks, successful coverage is particularly difficult due to the specific needs of each location, but Doyle gets it done. “It’s not like you’re doing a group-buying program for McDonald’s. Everyone has different needs. To get everyone to hop on is like herding cats,” said Marshall Aster, CFO, Food Bank of the Rockies. Doyle was able to leverage a group buying program and dramatically cut costs for the nonprofit. “Not everyone can do what he did,” said Aster. The Food Bank of Santa Barbara County also enlisted Gallagher when it was in search of a group insurance program. “What’s really important is the complexity of our relationship with Ryan,” said Carrie Wanek, CFO. “We have expectations, and he had to figure out how to meet the requirements of all 15 of our food banks.” Doyle managed the task at hand, but he also resolved a difficult claim that resulted from a delivery truck accident. “Not only did he get the claim resolved, but he set up a training session with the carrier,” explained Wanek. “We had someone in our corner.” PAGE 11
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
KATIE SCHOOL GOLF CLASSIC
Eric Mutch and Kevin Maess
Nate Yanz, Michael Savanelli and Courtney Guzzino
Tom Ear and Bill Jones
Trevor Smith and Eric Pan
Allen Kus
Sean Powers, Thomas Klingner, Trey Kolenda and Kevin Maess
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HaLL🎃WEen CONTEST FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
PHOTO
DOW RAGAN
JON PERRY & KATIE
CORINNE MCCARTER BROADWAY
KATIE HYC FAHRNER
earn some COB swag!
SAL D’ACQUISTO
JEAN CELESTIN
TREY KOLENDA
VOTE Favorite:
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for your
forms.illinoisstate.edu/forms/gis_halloween_photo (voting closes march 1)
FA L L S E M EST E R 2020
ALUMNI BABY PHOTO CONTEST
Who is that Baby?
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to submit your guess, visit:
forms.illinoisstate.edu/forms/gis_alumni_baby_photo (voting closes march 1)
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lauryn appelbaum aaron augustyniak sal d’acquisto jean celestin katie dalo
katie fahrner adam johnson christy johnson matt murphy jon perry
sean powers jake timmins amanda vanecko