Tara is a partner in EY’s insurance practice with more than 25 years of experience serving property and casualty, life and health insurance companies. Her background includes GAAP, SEC, IFRS, statutory and internal control reporting.  In addition to conducting audits, Tara has assisted her clients with initial public offerings, complex reinsurance transactions, acquisitions and dispositions, and process improvement projects. Tara is a graduate of College of the Holy Cross and the Treasurer of the Project Place Board of Directors.

Anna Beninger is the Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity for AXA XL. In this role, Anna is responsible for designing, positioning and delivering the enterprise I&D mission and strategy in support of the AXA XL global business and in alignment with AXA Group Culture, Inclusion & Diversity strategy. She works to enhance business performance and achieve organizational goals including gender equity in senior leadership by 2023. To achieve these goals, Anna partners with local HR and business leaders to bring the enterprise strategy to life at the regional and local levels, ensuring relevance and appropriate support.

Prior to joining AXA XL, Anna was a Vice President with Catalyst, a Global nonprofit that works with Fortune 500 companies to build inclusive workplaces that accelerate the advancement of women and other underrepresented groups into leadership. While at Catalyst, she worked with senior executives around the globe to develop organizational strategy and initiatives to drive transformative change. She joined Catalyst in 2012 as a Senior Research Associate, where she conducted global longitudinal research on the recruitment, development, advancement, and retention of high-potential employees. Earlier in her career, Anna was a Research Associate at the Harvard Business School where she conducted and published innovative research on human behavior in business. She has also been a guest lecturer at NYU on such topics as “Women and Men in the Workplace,” focused on intersectionality and work-life integration.

Anna received her Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science where she received the U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and her Bachelor of Arts Summa cum Laude from Claremont McKenna College.

Jeff Billingham is VP of Capital Markets with Chainalysis, the leading blockchain analysis partner for cryptocurrency businesses, financial institutions, and government agencies. In his role he works with financial market leaders to help them understand the economics of cryptocurrencies, develop strong partnerships with cryptocurrency businesses, and pursue new crypto market opportunities. Prior to joining Chainalysis, Jeff led blockchain and cryptocurrency partnerships at IHS Markit.

Ms. Boone has over 30 years in the healthcare and insurance industry.  Nina has led large corporate strategy development in the innovative use of insurance capital in private equity transactions, intellectual property and tax. She has been an innovator in her approach to product expansion and new product launch, creating collaborative team play and success. In addition, Ms. Boone’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has been evident as Chair of the US Diversity and Inclusion Board for Aon. While in this position she worked directly with the Chief General Counsel and North America CEO to set US goals for women and racially diverse talent in multiple levels of the organization and led the strategic plan for execution.Inside the Greater New York Region, she led the transformation of the ExecutiveTeam, introduced team based mentoring programs; developed a women’s mentoring program across internal P&Ls; launched and served as one of the catalysts that created a model internship program, transforming the diverse makeup of the entry level and senior level talent pipeline.

Leadership Forum Fellow Class of 2016-2017. An elite women’s executive program that included Executive Education components ofInternational Business At Harvard Business School and Global Executive Leadership at INSEAD. Ms. Boone was named as one of the2018 Women to Watch by Business Insurance, the 2019 Diversity Champion by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation and a June 2019 Elite Executive by Business Insurance America. She has been featured and quoted in multiple publications and is a sought-after speaker on the topic of diversity and inclusion.

Tracy Choka has spent her career in L&H reinsurance, working across multiple areas that include pricing, valuation, operations, client solutions, deal development, and mortality and underwriting research. She joined Swiss Re in 2001 as Senior Vice President of Applied Research & Development and in 2008 became Managing Director for Life and Health Products in the Americas.  Tracy moved into her current role in 2014 as Head of L&H Business Management for the Americas, first focused on its actuarial transformation and now focused on leading across valuation, claims, operations, in force solutions, transaction onboarding and data & analytics for portfolio management across the Americas.  Tracy has been a member of the Americas Management team since 2008, and the global L&H Business Management executive team since 2016.  In 2020, Tracy became the Executive Sponsor of Pathways Americas which is Swiss Re's mental health and wellbeing network for employees.

Prior to joining Swiss Re, Tracy worked at Lincoln Re as Head of the Research & Development. She received her B.S. from Purdue University, and was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni in 2011.  Tracy is an FSA and MAAA.  Tracy and her husband Alex enjoy spending time at their "lake" place in Chicago, and with their daughters, Carla, Andrea and Jessica.

Alan Colberg retired in early January 2022 after seven years as the chief executive officer of Assurant, Inc., and as a director of the company's board of directors.  He is a transformative leader and organization builder with a track record of value creation for all stakeholders.  At Assurant, he led a multi-year transformation of the company which resulted in five consecutive years of strong profitable growth and delivered outperformance vs. the S&P 500.  While at Bain, he founded and led a high growth start-up region and also led a tripling and global scaling of Bain’s Financial Services practice.  In 2019, Mr. Colberg was ranked first by buy-side analysts and third overall (tie) for Best CEO in the midcap insurance sector in Institutional Investor’s annual survey and in both 2020 and 2021 he was ranked second overall for Best CEO.  In 2010, Consulting Magazine named him one of the world's top 25 consultants, recognizing him for demonstrated excellence in the financial services sector.

Mr. Colberg served on the board of directors for CarMax (NYSE: KMX) from 2015-2018, and as chair of the company’s Nominating and Governance Committee. Previously, he served on the boards of the Woodruff Arts Center, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and as chairman of the board of the Atlanta International School.Mr. Colberg was named president of Assurant in 2014 and assumed the role of CEO and director on Jan. 1, 2015. Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) is a leading global provider of lifestyle and housing solutions that support, protect, and connect major consumer purchases in partnership with the world’s leading brands.  A Fortune 300 company with a presence in 21 countries, Assurant offers mobile device solutions; extended service contracts; vehicle protection services; renters’ insurance and lender-placed homeowners’ insurance.

Mr. Colberg led a global transformation agenda for Assurant, which included more than twenty acquisitions as well as divestitures of the company’s health, employee benefits and pre-funded funeral insurance businesses, to focus on and grow its leadership in the connected consumer lifestyle businesses. His transformative strategy has delivered sustained double-digit profitable growth while realigning Assurant’s operating model and business focus to build upon its core capabilities and further capitalize on global trends in the housing and lifestyle protection markets. In 2018, Mr. Colberg led the $2.5 billion acquisition of The Warranty Group, making Assurant the premier global lifestyle solutions provider - further strengthening Assurant’s leadership across the key businesses of mobile and auto.

Mr. Colberg served on the Business Roundtable for seven years and has participated in many of this group’s key initiatives, including his support for the updated Purpose of a Corporation.  Additionally, he has been Assurant’s lead advocate on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), across the globe.  Recent DEI recognition for Assurant includes America’s Best Employers for Diversity by Forbes, inclusion in Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.

Before joining Assurant in March 2011, Mr. Colberg was a consultant for Bain & Company, Inc., for 22 years, serving as an advisor to Assurant during much of this time.  While at Bain he founded and then led Bain’s Atlanta office for more than a decade and served as Bain’s global practice leader for Financial Services.

Mr. Colberg holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance with highest honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Costonis is the Executive Vice President and Global Head of Marketing, Strategy and Innovation. Michael is responsible for our Marketing, Broker Strategy, Channel Solutions, Strategy and Transformation teams, aimed at expanding the business and growth opportunities for CNA.
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He previously served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer where he led a successful transformation of CNA’s technology function which included infrastructure modernization, adoption of the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe), and a cloud first strategy. Michael also built an Enterprise Analytics function, establishing and leveraging a partnership with Google; and he lead CNA’s Operations organization to deliver significant
service level improvements.
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Michael joined CNA in 2018 after a 26-year career at Accenture, where he was a Senior Managing Director and the Global Insurance Industry Practice Leader.
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Michael earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Swarthmore College. He is a member of the Swarthmore College Alumni Council.

Sue is Chief Human Resources Officer for Markel Corporation based at their global headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. As a section 16 officer she reports to one of the Co-CEOs and serves on Markel’s Executive Team, Presidents Steering Committee, Risk Committee and Expense Management Group.

She leads the global HR function with additional responsibility for Markel’s Community Engagement activities and US/Bermuda facilities teams. She is an executive sponsor of Markel’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee. Sue joined Markel in 2016 and prior to her current role managed the compensation and organization design/strategy functions.

Prior to Markel, Sue led the Talent Management team at CarMax and before that worked for MeadWestvaco (now WestRock) in a range of global HR, strategy and marketing roles based in Europe and the US. Her earlier career was spent in a wide variety of global HR roles at AstraZeneca.

Sue completed her education in the UK and holds a Commerce (Honors) degree from the University of Birmingham and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from the University of Portsmouth. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and member of SHRM and a dual citizen on the UK and US.
She serves on the board of directors for YWCA Richmond and in 2021 was recognized as one of the Bold Women of Richmond.

She recently completed the Leadership Metro Richmond Quest program and Harvard Women on Boards program.

Sarah is the Lockton Financial Services Claims Leader and Blockchain Advisory Leader. As the Blockchain Advisory Leader, she is focused on positioning Lockton as a trusted advisor, thought leader and solution developer for insuring blockchain and digital asset companies and the risks they face. Lockton has successfully placed coverage for a number of blockchain companies including trading platforms, lenders, decentralized finance companies, mining companies, wallet providers, market makers, liquidity providers, investment managers, asset managers, private equity/venture capital firms,
custodians, payment platforms, blockchain technology incubators and others.
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As the LFS Claims Leader, she is responsible for developing and implementing Lockton’s national strategy with respect to complex claims overall and with regard to the interaction with colleagues, clients and prospects. She also leads Lockton’s efforts in the creation and delivery of claims-related content for internal and external
distribution and often speaks externally on matters relevant to the D&O and other
financial and professional lines industries.

Cheryl Green Rosario joined Munich Re as Head of D&I and CSR in June 2021 where she leads Munich Re’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and diversity and inclusion in the US, focusing on building an inclusive culture and leveraging internal and external partnerships to strengthen Munich Re’s social impact.  Prior to joining Munich Re, Cheryl founded her own consulting business, CGR Consulting, focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and philanthropy working with corporations, foundations and nonprofits. Before starting her business, she served as Vice President of Social Responsibility at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, where Cheryl led the global social responsibility strategy for the Company, in areas of DEI, Human Rights, Philanthropy and Sustainability.

Cheryl also spent 10 years at American Express as Director, Philanthropy where she oversaw the strategic direction and grantmaking for the Arts & Culture & Historic Preservation portfolios. Signature programs included Partners in Preservation in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Watch with the World Monuments Fund, Lincoln Center Festival and River 2 River Festival.

Prior to joining American Express, Cheryl worked at Morgan Stanley in its Community Affairs division and managed a Board Leadership program for Time Warner. In addition to her corporate and foundation experience, Cheryl has over 12 years of nonprofit experience with an emphasis on women and girls and the differently abled community working with organizations like Family Justice, Girl Scouts and Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic).

Cheryl is on the board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation and Junior Achievement of New Jersey. Cheryl speaks regularly on corporate social responsibility, diversity and inclusion and advocating for the differently abled community. Most recently, speaking for the Institute for Corporate Social Responsibility and a guest lecturer at Columbia University, New York University and University of Pennsylvania on various D&I topics. In 2017, Cheryl traveled to China to speak about CSR in 5 different cities and facilitated a virtual session in 2018 for Malta for the US Department of State. In her spare time, Cheryl writes on issues related to DEI and philanthropy and has been featured in Huffington Post and American Chamber of Commerce in China magazine.

Cheryl lives in NJ with her husband and two children.

Kevin Hannan is Chubb's Vice President of Global Talent Development, bringing 25+ years of experience in developing talent worldwide. He is currently responsible for leadership, management, sales, and personal effectiveness learning at Chubb, and is project leader for the company's Intentional Inclusion learning programs. Kevin is former Chair of Chubb's PRIDE Business Roundtable where he drove LGBT leader development and ally outreach campaigns. Kevin holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

CynthiaHardy is internationally recognized for building and shaping companies and leaders.  Her career has included founding and leading an innovation and change management firm, managing profit and loss of multi-billion-dollar divisions in domestic and international publicly-traded companies, practicing as an attorney in law firm and corporate settings, and advising growth stage technology companies. 

Cynthia is Founder & CEO of Pivot Global Partners, a global professional services firm that guides clients through people and process driven pivots—innovation pivots, leadership pivots, and equity, inclusion, and diversity pivots—to innovate, scale, and grow. Previously, Cynthia wasGlobal Head of Agency for AIG, President of Encompass Insurance, andPresident of Hanover Insurance’s Personal Lines Division. She also held variousP&L roles at The Hartford and Progressive Insurance and was a litigation associate at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.
As a thought leader, speaker and lecturer, Cynthia shares her insights on innovation, leadership, and race-related catalysts.  In her newly released book, Crossing Meridians:Engineering Disruption to Become a More Effective Leader, Cynthia speaks to aspiring to mid-career leaders and uses storytelling, anecdotes and reimagining as she shares her step-by-step leadership development mindset and method, which calls for learning through discomfort and disruption.  Kirkus Reviews hails Crossing Meridians as “[c]ohesive and impassioned; a bold, engaging path to effective leadership.”  It goes on to say, “this excellent work shows novice and experienced leaders alike how to chart a course through a deftly organized process of discovery, planning, and acting—with the ultimate goal of sustaining personal leadership excellence." Cynthia is Director Emerita of the National Womens’ History Museum inWashington, D.C. where she was Governance Chair. She is an AdvisoryCouncil Co-chair of the Women's Business Collaborative. Cynthia also has served on national and local boards of education focused organizations, including the Harlem Boys & Girls Club, the Institute for Student Achievement in New York City, and Communities in Schools ofChicago.  Cynthia holds aB.S., summa cum laude, in Economics from Xavier University ofLouisiana.  She earned her J.D. from the University of Notre DameSchool of Law where she studied in the Notre Dame Mathias Concannon International Law Program in London, England.   A native of Meridian,MS, Cynthia has lived in three continents, worked in dozens of countries, and mentors young professionals and entrepreneurs around the world. 

As E&S President, Sabrina Hart
leads our talented team of product line heads and underwriters to continue Munich Re
Specialty Insurance’s (MRSI) goal of building a leading E&S offering of property, casualty, healthcare, and financial lines solutions, as well as primary Surety. She is focused on solving
the risk placement challenges of our select broker partners, and ultimately commercial insureds across North America.
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Sabrina joined MRSI following a 25-year career with Zurich North America, the last seven years as
Executive Vice President, Midwest Region, responsible for the market execution and operations of the company’s commercial lines business across the region.
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She also served as Chief Underwriting Officer
for Zurich Global Corporate in North America, where she oversaw the underwriting of all corporate lines of business.
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She has also held roles as GCiNA Chief
Operating Officer, the Head of Risk Operations
for Group Risk Management at Zurich Financial Services in Switzerland, and Chief Underwriting Officer for Specialty Products. Sabrina was the co-founder of the Women’s Innovative Network in Zurich North America in 2008.
Sabrina currently serves on the Board of Governors at St. Joseph’s University Haub School of Business Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management and the Advisory Board of the Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University.
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She has also served on the board of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Visitors at the University of North Carolina and chaired the board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Midwest.
Sabrina was selected as a Woman to
Watch in 2013 by Business Insurance and was inducted into the Insurance Hall of Fame in 2020 by Insurance Business America.
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Sabrina earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She also has a certificate in strategic management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mr. Hussain is the Head of Risk for Gemini TrustCompany, LLC. Prior to joining Gemini, Mr. Hussain was a VicePresident/Executive Director at Goldman Sachs in the Risk division. Prior to that time, Mr. Hussain was a Manager at Ernst & Young in the Risk Advisory practice. Mr. Hussain earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Macaulay HonorsCollege from the City University of New York.

Susan Johnson is the Chief Diversity,Equity andInclusion Officer at The Hartford, responsible for leading enterprise-wideDiversityEquity and Inclusion initiatives and aligning them with business strategies. She partners with leaders across the organization to ensure that The Hartford's workforce reflects their customer base, that they drive successful acquisition, development and retention of talent, and that they focus on the right internal and external business and operational activities related to diversity.

Susan has HR and Talent/Diversity leadership experience at severalFortune 500 companies and has worked on political campaigns and on policy and management issues in the public sector.

Previously, she was the Board Chair for the Harriet Beecher StoweCenter in Hartford, and isa member of the Board of Directors for theNational African American Insurance Association. She has received public recognition for her professional accomplishments and community service.

Susan received her BA degree from Spelman College and a Masters inIndustrial and Labor Relations fromCornell University

Gayle King is co-host of CBS MORNINGS. An accomplished television journalist, King interviews top newsmakers and delivers original reporting to CBS MORNINGS and all CBS News broadcasts and platforms. She is also editor-at-large of Oprah Daily and hosts a live, weekly radio show titled “Gayle King in the House” on SiriusXM.

Since joining CBS News in 2011, King has conducted revealing and news-making interviews with world leaders, political figures and celebrities, including former President Barack Obama; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Bruce Springsteen; Dave Chappelle; Dylan Farrow; Chris Rock; Elon Musk; Billie Eilish; R. Kelly; and Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, in their first TV interview together. She also conducted the final interviews with Representative John Lewis and Cicely Tyson before their passing.

King has landed a string of exclusive and competitive interviews. In October 2020, King spoke exclusively with Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, about the night Taylor was fatally shot by police in her own home.

King's 2019 interview with embattled singer R. Kelly made international headlines when Kelly exploded during their extended sit-down. The interview aired on all broadcasts and was featured in a primetime special. King followed the Kelly interview with exclusive interviews with Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage, two young women who lived with Kelly in Chicago at the time, and were at the center of the controversy surrounding Kelly.

She has also handled a number of high-profile assignments, including leading CBS News’ on-the-ground coverage from the Texas border to report on the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy. She reported from Newtown, Conn. in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. She co-anchored CBS News’ special coverage of several breaking news stories, including the Paris terrorist attacks, the San Bernardino shootings, the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage and the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. She co-anchored live broadcasts from Cleveland and Philadelphia for the 2016 Republican and Democratic Conventions, from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. prior to the museum’s opening, as well as moderating CBS News’ 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate in Charleston and co-anchoring CBS News’ election night 2020 coverage. She also co-anchored CBS News coverage of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

King has anchored multiple primetime specials, including “The Gayle King Grammy Special,” which included a slate of interviews with nominees such as Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Jonas Brothers, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Lil Nas X; “BET News and Facebook Present: COVID-19: Black America’s Fight”; CBS News’ special on racism and police brutality “Justice for All”; “John Lewis: Celebrating a Hero”; BET’s “Say Her Name: The Untold Story of Breonna Taylor”; the BET primetime exclusive special “Cicely Tyson: In Her Own Words,” honoring the life and legacy of the iconic actress; “Meghan and Harry Plus One”; “The Queen Carries On: A Gayle King Special”; “The Chauvin Verdict”; and “Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy.”

King previously hosted “The Gayle King Show,” a live, weekday television interview program on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. The program, which featured a discussion of a broad variety of topics that included politics and cultural developments, was also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio, where it premiered in 2006.

Before that, King worked for 18 years as a television news anchor for CBS affiliate WFSB-TV in Hartford, Conn., during which she also hosted her own syndicated daytime program. Prior to joining WFSB, King worked at several other television stations, including WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Mo., WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Md., and WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C.

King has received numerous awards for her extensive work as a journalist, including three Emmys. In 2018 she was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and in 2019 she was selected for the TIME 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the hundred most influential people in the world.

The mother of a daughter, Kirby, and a son, Will, she currently resides in New York City.

Joan is the Chair of the Boards of Directors of Equitable Holdings, Inc. and AllianceBernstein Holdings LP. She also serves as an Independent Director on the Boards of Element Fleet Management Corp., Ambac Financial Group, Inc., Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. and The Institutes. In addition to her work in corporate governance, Joan is a Senior Advisor to Helios Investment Partners, a U.K. emerging market focused private equity firm providing financial and risk capital to socially responsible businesses throughout Africa. She is a Senior Advisor to Brewer Lane Ventures, an early stage venture fund, and Tenney 110, a division of American Family Insurance that builds, buys and incubates fintechs / insurtechs. Joan is the executive expert on resilience and sustainability for the International Insurance Society and author/ commentator on environment, social and governance (ESG) matters.
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Joan was the Founder of Blue Marble Microinsurance Ltd. and was served as its Chief
Executive Officer from 2016 to 2020. Blue Marble develops solutions and technology platforms enabling socially impactful, commercially viable insurance protection for the underserved in emerging markets. From 2007 to 2016 Joan was the Global Chief Economist and Risk Strategist of Guy Carpenter, the reinsurance and risk advisory
operating company of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, and held an interim assignment as Marsh McLennan Head of Enterprise Risk. After awarded a sabbatical from an academic career in 1999, Joan joined General Reinsurance and was the founding President of GenRe Capital Consultants where she served until 2007.
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In addition to her roles in governance, entrepreneurship and business, Joan was an
Adjunct Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2016 and held the Laurence and Susan Hirsch Chair in International Business. She was a tenured Professor at Villanova from 1989 to 2000 and was awarded the Thomas Labrecque Chair Professorship in Business in 1999.
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Joan holds a Ph.D. in Finance and Investments from the University of Texas, Austin, an M.B.A. in Finance from St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas and a B.B.A. with Honors in Accounting from St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas.

Nelba Márquez-Greene is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in grief, loss, trauma and their impact on individuals and systems.

Nelba holds a Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School and a Master of Arts in Marriage andFamily Therapy from St. Joseph College. Nelba taught and supervised at the Family Therapy program at the University of Winnipeg’s Aurora Family Therapy Centre and later worked as the Coordinator for Klingberg Family Therapy Center’s outpatient child and adolescent psychiatric clinic. She also served as adjunct faculty at Central Connecticut State University.

Nelba founded the CTAMFT (Connecticut Association for Marriage and Family Therapy)Diversity Committee and served on the CTAMFT Board of Directors. For her advocacy, she received the 2004 Minority Fellowship Award by the AAMFT, the 2004 DistinguishedProfessional Service Award, and the 2013 Service to Families Award by the CTAMFT.

In 2018, she was profiled as one of“100 Women of Color”and a YWCA (CT) Women’sLeadership Award recipient. She was featured in People Magazine’s October 2019 issue as one of Ten Women Changing the World and also recognized by Chelsea Clinton and Hillary Clinton in their Book of Gutsy Women.

Nelba has testified and advocated at the state and federal levels on many different mental health initiatives, hosted TEDx talks, and is a nationally sought after speaker. In the many years that have followed, stints in advocacy, public policy, community care, etc. have affirmed her core belief that in order to change the world we must take care of people. First-that grief, trauma and loss must be allowed in the room. Second-that tools, language, skills, resources and acceptance should be available to live a full, grieving life

Danielle joined USAA in 2020 to develop & lead the underwriting team as a part of our emerging Small Business Insurance (SBI) division.  Helping connect businesses and the people who own them with customized insurance products to meet their needs for over 14 years, Danielle’s unique perspective toward underwriting small business insurance is derived from her past experiences in diverse carrier roles and as an insurance agent.  Prior to USAA, Danielle spent time in varying carrier underwriting & product development roles at Nationwide Insurance, United States Liability Insurance, and Westchester, a Chubb Company (formally ACE Group).  Passionate about people, Danielle is an accomplished leader who is driven each day to support engaged & diverse teams.  Danielle earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Government & Political Affairs from Millersville University; she also has earned an Associate in General Insurance (AINS) and Associate in Insurance Services (AIS) from The Institutes.

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 assist clients of underrepresented demographics understand the benefits of insurance being an asset protection and wealth generation tool. Ako Brokerage Services is a full-service brokerage and consulting firm.
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Although Ako Brokerage Services offers products and services that help individuals and their
families, the agency specializes in working with minority-owned businesses 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 and creating inclusive cultures in an industry that has historically struggled to do so. In response, Ngozi launched Ako Insurance Consulting, a recruiting and retention firm focused on BIPOC Talent in the insurance industry.
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Through the consulting firm, Ngozi and the Ako Syndicate (a team of consultants who specialize in the various faucets of diversity, equity, and inclusion) help employers understand that there must be a focus on recruiting AND retention to increase representation. Additionally, Ako Insurance Consulting assists insurance clients with developing strategies that integrate diversity into all the operational and functional areas of their
organization (i.e., underwriting, pricing, claims administration, etc.).
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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.
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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.
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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, MA, ME, and NY, pending RI, NH, and GA).
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Currently, Ngozi serves on the National Board of the National African American Insurance
Association (NAAIA) where she has held the position of Chair of the Agent Engagement
Committee since January 2020. Under her leadership, NAAIA has doubled its number of
members who are considered Agents / Producers. She created the monthly Agent Round Table Series and established the NAAIA Affinity Program, focused on increasing the number of Black Agents that have direct appointments with global and regional insurance companies. Ngozi was previously the inaugural President of
the Greater Hartford Chapter increasing the Chapter’s membership to over 70 in less than 3 years making it one of the fastest growing Chapters in the organization.
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In 2019, 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. Over the last two years, Ngozi has been recognized numerous times by Insurance Business America. In 2020 she received the Leading the Change and Hot 100 Awards where she was nominated by her peers in recognition for her work to help build a more diverse and equitable industry and for her overall impact. In 2021 she awarded the Elite Woman of the Year recognition for her advocacy for women, particularly women of color, in a male-dominated field. And in 2022 she was honored with the Global 100 award for being one of the most influential persons across the global insurance industry.
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Ngozi’s Board responsibilities also extend to Oli Insurance Services, a firm providing support
services to help small independent insurance agencies grow, and Business Insurance’s Diversity
and Inclusion Institute, the non-profit arm of the independent journal of record for the risk
management, employee benefits and commercial insurance communities dedicated to
promoting and advancing diversity and inclusion in every facet of the commercial insurance
industry.
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Following in her parents’ footsteps, 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. Her efforts are rooted in her passion to bring more diverse talent
into the insurance industry by exposing them to the many career opportunities that exist. In
collaboration with three of her colleagues, Ngozi founded HBCU I.M.P.A.C.T. TM, a non-profit
organization focused on developing the next generation of Black Insurance Professionals. Ngozi also works with Junior Achievement
of Southwest New England, where she previously served on their Board of Directors. She is passionate about educating students
about the benefits of insurance at a young age to help close the racial wealth gap. During the COVID pandemic, Ngozi launched three insurance industry-wide initiatives,
#1000blackinterns, Black Women of the Insurance Industry and Black Men of the Insurance Industry. #1000blackinterns is a two-year initiative aimed at hiring 1000 Black interns in the insurance industry to a collective partnership with employers who wish to display their commitment proudly and publicly to diversity. Black Women of the Insurance Industry and Black Men of the Insurance Industry look to rally the Black Women and Black Men in the insurance industry to create an organic pipeline of Black male talent from entry level to executive positions within organizations as well as identify and implement strategies that directly Black ownership within the industry and the community. In 2021, Ngozi also co-founded The Trilogy, a platform that explores the intersectionality between allyship, mentorship and sponsorship, individually and corporately.
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In recognition of the work that she continues to do insurance industry to create equity, Ngozi
was appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney to serve on the Task Force to
the Study the Insurance Costs Borne by Businesses Located in Distressed Municipalities in
Connecticut.\
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, her oldest son who attends Louisiana State University and her other two teenage sons

Michelle Silverthorn believes that diversity and inclusion needs a new voice for a new generation. A recognized expert in organizational inclusion, Michelle has worked with Fortune 500 companies, tech start-ups, non-profit organizations, universities, and numerous companies across every industry. From thousand-person conferences to twenty-person workshops, Michelle equips all of her audiences with the knowledge and skills to finally move forward on diversity and inclusion.

A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School, Michelle practiced for two large law firms in New York and Chicago. She then transitioned into the education field where she trained thousands in-person and online. She has been featured on NPR, PBS and in several publications including Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune and Fortune Magazine. She is aTEDx speaker and the author of the best-selling book, Authentic Diversity, How to Change the Workplace For Good. Michelle previously worked as an arts and entertainment journalist inTrinidad and Tobago, a researcher in Puno, Peru and Geneva, Switzerland, and a volunteer teacher in Gaborone, Botswana and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Michelle grew up in the Caribbean and now lives in Michigan with her husband Daniel and their two daughters.

Macy Steers currently serves as the Head of Executive Assurance Financial Institutions at Markel Corporation. Macy joined Markel through the Alterra Capital acquisition and previously served as Senior Director, Financial Institutions. He has over 14 years of industry experience, predominantly in the executive liability underwriting field, focusing specifically on the financial institutions sector throughout the majority of his career. He has held a variety of positions in both underwriting and management while continually providing creative solutions for our clients and building longstanding relationships that are so important at Markel. Macy received a B.A. in economics and history from St. Lawrence University, NY, in 2008. Macy resides in New York with his wife, Jaime, and two children, Will and Sloan.

Michelle Silverthorn believes that diversity and inclusion needs a new voice for a new generation. A recognized expert in organizational inclusion, Michelle has worked with Fortune 500 companies, tech start-ups, non-profit organizations, universities, and numerous companies across every industry. From thousand-person conferences to twenty-person workshops, Michelle equips all of her audiences with the knowledge and skills to finally move forward on diversity and inclusion.

A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School, Michelle practiced for two large law firms in New York and Chicago. She then transitioned into the education field where she trained thousands in-person and online. She has been featured on NPR, PBS and in several publications including Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune and Fortune Magazine. She is aTEDx speaker and the author of the best-selling book, Authentic Diversity, How to Change the Workplace For Good. Michelle previously worked as an arts and entertainment journalist inTrinidad and Tobago, a researcher in Puno, Peru and Geneva, Switzerland, and a volunteer teacher in Gaborone, Botswana and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Michelle grew up in the Caribbean and now lives in Michigan with her husband Daniel and their two daughters.

Dr. Jay Van Bavel is an Associate Professor of
Psychology and Neural Science with an affiliation at the Stern School of Business in Management and Organizations at New York University. Prior to coming to NYU, Jay completed his PhD at the University of Toronto. He is the author of “ The Power of Us: Harnessing our social identities to
improve performance, increase cooperation, and promote social harmony ”
(with Dominic Packer).
‍
Jay’s is the Director of the NYU Social Identity & Morality Lab and has won several awards for his research on how collective concerns shape the brain and behavior. From neurons to social
networks, he has published over 100 academic papers on the psychology and neuroscience of bias, diversity and inclusion, group identity, team
performance, cooperation, decision-making, and public health. His research has been cited in the US Supreme Court and Senate, the White House, and United Nations. Jay has written about his
research for the public in the BBC, Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Scientific American.
‍
He has appeared on Through the Wormhole (with Morgan Freeman), Why We Hate (by Stephen Spielberg), CBC News, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC News, been interviewed on NPR, WNYC, and
Bloomberg News, and had his research featured in international me dia. He also writes a career advice column for Science Magazine. Jay teaches one the largest courses at NYU and recently received the Golden Dozen Teaching
Award. He has given invited talks and
keynotes at many of the top psychology
departments and business schools (e.g.,
Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Oxford),
international conferences (e.g., TEDx,
World Health Organization, World Science
Festival), and numerous Fortune 500
companies (e.g., Amazon, General Mills,
Uber, Merck, Gilead).

Michelle Silverthorn believes that diversity and inclusion needs a new voice for a new generation. A recognized expert in organizational inclusion, Michelle has worked with Fortune 500 companies, tech start-ups, non-profit organizations, universities, and numerous companies across every industry. From thousand-person conferences to twenty-person workshops, Michelle equips all of her audiences with the knowledge and skills to finally move forward on diversity and inclusion.

A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School, Michelle practiced for two large law firms in New York and Chicago. She then transitioned into the education field where she trained thousands in-person and online. She has been featured on NPR, PBS and in several publications including Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune and Fortune Magazine. She is aTEDx speaker and the author of the best-selling book, Authentic Diversity, How to Change the Workplace For Good. Michelle previously worked as an arts and entertainment journalist inTrinidad and Tobago, a researcher in Puno, Peru and Geneva, Switzerland, and a volunteer teacher in Gaborone, Botswana and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Michelle grew up in the Caribbean and now lives in Michigan with her husband Daniel and their two daughters.

Dr. Nina Vasan is a psychiatrist, entrepreneur, and pioneer in digital mental health innovation. Dr. Nina Vasan is the Chief Medical Officer at Real, a mental health care company building a new therapy model. Outside of her work at Real, Dr. Vasan is a psychiatrist and professor at Stanford, where she is the founder and Executive Director of Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health and Innovation. Brainstorm is the world’s first academic laboratory dedicated to transforming mental health at scale through clinically-informed consumer tech products. Brainstorm’s experts worked with Pinterest to design the “compassionate search” experience which provides treatments for anxiety, depression, and self-harm for Pinterest's 450 million users. This work was named by Fast Company as the “Most Innovative Wellness Projects” and “Best Designs for Social Good”.

Dr. Vasan has worked as a healthcare advisor to the UN, the WHO Director-General’s Office, and the Obama and Biden presidential campaigns. She majored in Government at Harvard, graduating as one of Glamour Magazine's Top 10 College Women, and received an MD from Harvard Medical School, where she was voted by classmates as a commencement speaker. She graduated from Stanford's Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program, where she was a Chief Resident, and received an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business. She co-authored the #1 Amazon Best Selling book "Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation" and was named by Business Insider as one of their 30 Under 40 in Healthcare in 2021.

Michelle Silverthorn believes that diversity and inclusion needs a new voice for a new generation. A recognized expert in organizational inclusion, Michelle has worked with Fortune 500 companies, tech start-ups, non-profit organizations, universities, and numerous companies across every industry. From thousand-person conferences to twenty-person workshops, Michelle equips all of her audiences with the knowledge and skills to finally move forward on diversity and inclusion.

A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School, Michelle practiced for two large law firms in New York and Chicago. She then transitioned into the education field where she trained thousands in-person and online. She has been featured on NPR, PBS and in several publications including Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune and Fortune Magazine. She is aTEDx speaker and the author of the best-selling book, Authentic Diversity, How to Change the Workplace For Good. Michelle previously worked as an arts and entertainment journalist inTrinidad and Tobago, a researcher in Puno, Peru and Geneva, Switzerland, and a volunteer teacher in Gaborone, Botswana and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Michelle grew up in the Caribbean and now lives in Michigan with her husband Daniel and their two daughters.

Tracey Waller is the director for small commercial underwriting at Verisk. She is responsible for the strategy and execution of small commercial and casualty underwriting products, focused on powering automated underwriting and digital transformation in the industry.

Michelle Silverthorn believes that diversity and inclusion needs a new voice for a new generation. A recognized expert in organizational inclusion, Michelle has worked with Fortune 500 companies, tech start-ups, non-profit organizations, universities, and numerous companies across every industry. From thousand-person conferences to twenty-person workshops, Michelle equips all of her audiences with the knowledge and skills to finally move forward on diversity and inclusion.

A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School, Michelle practiced for two large law firms in New York and Chicago. She then transitioned into the education field where she trained thousands in-person and online. She has been featured on NPR, PBS and in several publications including Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune and Fortune Magazine. She is aTEDx speaker and the author of the best-selling book, Authentic Diversity, How to Change the Workplace For Good. Michelle previously worked as an arts and entertainment journalist inTrinidad and Tobago, a researcher in Puno, Peru and Geneva, Switzerland, and a volunteer teacher in Gaborone, Botswana and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Michelle grew up in the Caribbean and now lives in Michigan with her husband Daniel and their two daughters.

George Woods is the Head US P&C Broker Sales Management for Swiss Re America.

Woods has over 25 years of (re)insurance industry experience. In his present role he leads and executes Swiss Re's US reinsurance broker sales engagement strategy. He works jointly with Swiss Re's Business Unit Leaders to drive business development and deliver Swiss Re's go-to-market initiatives.

Prior to joining Swiss Re, Woods was a Senior Vice President in Treaty Broking for Guy Carpenter & Company. He focused on identifying and evaluating start up technology firms to partner with Guy Carpenter (GC) and their clients. He regularly met with startup tech companies, visited technology innovation hubs, and spoke about emerging technology at insurance industry conferences. He was also the General Manager of GC Genesis, Guy Carpenter’s InsurTech advisory service and a senior member of the InsurTech Center of Excellence (CoE) team.

Prior to Guy Carpenter, Woods served as Vice President, Business Development for Aon Inpoint, the consulting firm and subsidiary of Aon Benfield. Prior to Inpoint, Woods worked at Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB) holding a variety of leadership positions, with P&L responsibility, including: Director of Treaty Reinsurance for Latin America and Branch Manager, of the Chicago and Baltimore offices.  

Woods holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lafayette College, in Easton, PA. He completed HSB’s Executive Development Program, which was created by the Harvard Business School and their excellent faculty taught the courses.

Woods is presently the Vice Chairman of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA). While at GC, he also held a leadership role in their Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Council (ERG) for ten years.

Woods is also an artist who enjoys sketching and painting.