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Kathy Ryan, SPHR, is an award-winning author and owner of Pinnacle Coaching Group, LLC.  Over the last 30 years, Kathy has influenced thousands of people in the business and non-profit sectors through her coaching, consulting, speaking and on-site training. Her expertise covers a wide range of subjects including leadership, communication, human resources management, team dynamics, and performance management.

Kathy earned her B.A. degree in psychology and history from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and has been awarded a lifetime certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Society for Human Resources Management. She has experience working with diverse industries including insurance, hospitality and entertainment. She is certified in the use of the Myer-Briggs Type Assessment (MBTI), as well as a number of other assessments and tools to support development.

Kathy is author of the book, "You Have to Say the Words" An Integrity-Based Approach for Tackling Tough Conversations and Maximizing Performance, which won a Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association.  Her interactive training program based on the book has helped thousands of managers to improve their coaching skills and drive performance. Her articles on leadership and other personal development topics have been published in numerous magazines including the Insurance Journal. You can follow Kathy’s blog, Inspired Leadership, at www.CoachKathyRyan.com .

Frederick J. Fisher, J.D. is currently the President of Fisher Consulting Group, Inc. and was the Founder of E.L.M. Insurance Brokers, a Wholesale & MGA facility specializing in Professional Liability and Specialty Line risks. He is a Member of the Editorial Board for Agents of America;  a Faculty Member of the Claims College, and Member of the Executive Council, School of Professional Lines sponsored by the Claims & Litigation Management Association and Instructor for the Academy of Insurance.

Since his career began, Mr. Fisher focused on one vision: providing financial security to the client. The result was a successful 40-year career in Specialty Lines Insurance. In 1975, Mr. Fisher began his career on the service side, as an Independent E&O claims adjuster. In 1982, he bought the Company, continued with claims, while expanding the firm’s services to include qualitative claim auditing, risk management & loss control services, and acting as a TPA. In only 4 years, the annual billings increased by 400%. His claim auditing techniques and recommendations resulted in substantial client savings (including the SCRTD now known as the Los Angles MTA). Many Insurers and self-insureds adopted not only the performance standards raised in the audits but adopted his recommended Attorney Management Guidelines as a base, which are still in use today by many major insurers. 

In 1995, he formed what is now known as ELM insurance Brokers, a firm that has acted as an MGA and Wholesale Broker of Professional Liability Insurance and Specialty Lines. From nothing, the firm grew rapidly to a $30 Million dollar facility when sold in 2008. He has lectured extensively on professional liability issues since 1978 and authored over 64 articles in trade journals and periodicals. He is the author of BROKER BEWARE, Selling Real Estate within the Law. He designed a program to conduct on-site pre-underwriting risk management assessments of a clients' professional liability exposures. In 1993, he was elected to the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) Board of Trustees. After serving in all Officer capacities, he was elected President in 1997. He remains a Special Materials Expert for several RPLU courses and is the Senior Technical Advisor for The Professional Liability Manual, first published by the International Risk Management Institute in 1990. He has taught over 100 CE classes and lectures. He testifies regularly as an expert witness in cases dealing with the duties and obligations of professionals as well as on coverage and claims-made issues.

Nancy Germond is the Executive Director, Risk Management and Education, for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, the “Big I.” She is located in Phoenix, Arizona. With almost four decades of risk management experience, her unique insights and abilities help businesses better understand and manage their risk. Nancy has authored scores of risk management-related articles, and white papers and has consulted and presented to public-sector and private-sector insurance organizations. She is a licensed P&C agent and adjuster.

A second-generation insurance professional, Nancy was the first risk manager of the City of Prescott, Arizona, and has worked in the private and public sectors as a claim and risk manager. Nancy holds a B.A. in Communication from Mills College and a Master’s degree in sociology from Lincoln University. She also holds the Associate in Risk Management, the Associate in Claims designation from the Insurance Institute of America, the Insurance Training Professional Designation from the Society of Insurance Trainers and is a Senior Professional in Human Resource Management.

Chris Burand is the Owner/Founder of Burand & Associates, LLC.  Chris is the only insurance agency consultant with an Institute of Business Appraiser’s Certified Business Appraiser Accreditation and one of the very few who are certified by the two largest E&O carriers to provide audits for agencies.  With more than 35 years of experience in the insurance industry, Chris is acknowledged as a leading consultant and is a nationally recognized speaker and author.  His broad experience and wealth of knowledge have enabled him to work with hundreds of agencies, taking great care to learn the client’s goals and understand their needs while developing a solution for their specific situation.

Chris combines education, experience, and knowledge from multiple perspectives at proven levels that few other consultants or educators can provide.  This enables Chris to provide holistic solutions.  Chris’s services help agencies, individuals, and carriers identify strengths and opportunities, optimize productivity and profits, implement real-world strategies, leverage resources, and develop realistic plans of action in order to maximize profitable growth.

Chris established Burand & Associates in 1992 (originally known as Growth Planning).  As a consultant, Chris has consulted with hundreds of agencies and many major insurance carriers.  He built and now facilitates two insurance agency networking associations.  He is also a featured speaker across the continent.  To date, he has presented more than 400 seminars and educational programs, and his articles have also been published more than 500 times.  He is a monthly columnist for The Insurance Journal, a past columnist for American Agent & Broker for eleven years, and his articles have appeared in Rough Notes, The National Underwriter, A.M. Best, many regional insurance publications, and many other trade publications.  He also publishes Burand’s Insurance Agency Adviser for independent insurance agents.

Areas of Expertise

Insurance Agency Appraisals:  Chris Burand’s professional services include appraisals for Acquisitions and Sales, Buy/Sell Agreements, Mergers, Dissolutions, and Perpetuation Planning.

Contingency Contract Analysis:  Contingency contracts offer opportunities to increase compensation through negotiations and strategically placing business.  Chris Burand’s Contingency Contract Analysis® service provides the information agents need to take advantage of those opportunities.

Note:  Chris Burand and Burand & Associates, LLC are advocates of agencies which constructively manage and improve their contingency contracts by learning how to negotiate and use their contingency contracts more effectively.  We maintain that agents can achieve considerably better results without ever taking actions that are detrimental or disadvantageous to the insureds.  We have never and would not ever recommend that an agent and/or agency implement a policy of, or otherwise advocate, increasing its contingency income ahead of the insureds’ interests.

PEP® (Productivity Enhancement):  Chris’s innovative statistical algorithm method for identifying procedural consistency, compliance, activity cost, and opportunity cost savings.

Carrier MD® Stability Analysis:  A unique analytical method for creating opportunities to learn negotiating points and insurance carrier stability from an agency’s perspective.

Producer Compensation Plans:  Chris Burand develops plans that increase profits and motivate producers.

Chris Christian stumbled into insurance in 1985 as a temporary employee at GAF Insurance Services, a bank-affiliated insurance agency in San Diego.  After six years with GAF, Chris moved to the carrier side, opening the San Diego branch office of RLI Corp, an underwriter of specialty lines of insurance.  The San Diego office was dedicated to Directors and Officers Liability coverage, and was the launching pad for Chris’s specialization in professional liability.

Chris left RLI in 1997 to establish her own underwriting facility at London American General Agency and branched out thereafter into professional liability broking.

Chris joined U.S. Risk in November of 2005 and six months later relocated herself, her significant other, and 26 animals to Tennessee, where she continues her pursuit of the art and science of professional liability broking, and contributes to the industry as a frequent speaker, author and association participant.

Chantal M. Roberts, CPCU, AIC, RPA is dedicated to providing trustworthy, valuable assistance in order to give her clients a clear understanding of claims standards and practices. She has over 20 years’ experience as an adjuster. As an expert witness, she strives to turn this complex topic into an easy-to-understand concept.

Chantal’s background also includes educating claims departments and overseeing adjuster training. Due to her excellent reputation in the industry, Chantal had the privilege of speaking at the Western Zone Committee Meeting of the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) and three CPCU Society chapter meetings. She routinely speaks at universities and at continuing legal education credit events discussing claim handling practices, standards, and procedures. She’s published 12 articles in national insurance journals. Her first book, The Art of Adjusting: Writing Down the Unwritten Rules of Claims Handling, was released in July 2021. 

Joseph Junfola has spent over 40 years as an insurance claims professional. He has specialized in long-term exposure, or continuous property damage/bodily injury/toxic tort claims on a national basis for close to 30 years. He has specialized in construction defect, product liability, and design professional liability claims, including construction accident claims, particularly third-party-over actions in New York.

In his early days, he handled automobile bodily injury claims, both on a primary and umbrella basis, in the State of New Jersey. He first qualified as an expert in the evaluation of automobile bodily injury claims in Federal Court in the early 1990's.

He has since formed Junfola Claim Consulting Services to provide coverage and claim analysis, policy language review, litigation support, and more. He has also joined the Insurance Risk Management Institute as an Expert Commentator.

A staunch believer in continuous learning and improvement, Joe has earned the following professional designations: CPCU, RPLU, RPLU+, SCLA, AIC, ASLI, ARe, AU, ARM, CRIS, AIS, MLIS, AIC-M, and AIDA. His continual drive for education has seen him earn these additional certificates: Executive Certificate in Negotiations from the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, the Home Inspection Certificate through Rutgers University and the National Institute of Building Inspectors, and the Certificate in Law and Legal Process from Southern New Hampshire University.

He has published several articles and an eBook, Construction Defect Claims, A Handbook for Insurance, Risk Management, Construction, & Design Professionals.

Precious Norman-Walton is the President of Lovejoy Risk Management Corp, out of Dallas, TX. With over 15 years of insurance industry experience, she has served in Personal Lines Claims, Commerical Underwriting, and Agency Management.

Prior to her current role, Precious was Vice President of Account Management for Insureon, Vice President of Agency Operations of Lucky Truck, and Chief Operating Officer for Diamond National Insurance Advisors. She has also served as the President of the Dallas Chapter CPCU Society in 2020.

Precious Norman-Walton holds active licenses as a Risk Manager, Property & Casualty Agent, Life & Health Agent, and All Lines Adjuster, as we as six insurance designations and is a SHRM Certified Professional in Human Resources.

Brennan Quintus is the Chief Executive Officer of the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund (NDIRF), the source of risk services for North Dakota’s cities, counties, school districts, and other political subdivisions. Prior to being appointed CEO, Brennan led the NDIRF’s underwriting and loss control departments.

Brennan holds an undergraduate degree and an MBA from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND and is currently pursuing a law degree from Concord Law School, an affiliate of the Purdue University System. He also holds many insurance designations, including the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designations.

In addition to his role at the NDIRF, Brennan also serves as the President of the ND Roughrider Chapter of the CPCU Society and as an Executive Committee Member for the ND HR Collaborative.

Betsey L. Brewer, CPCU is a Partner and Senior Vice President of The Rule Company, a regional broker in Pasadena, CA. She received her CPCU designation in 1981 and has served the Los Angeles Chapter as President. She served as a CPCU Society Governor and as the national President of the CPCU Society in 2007.

Betsey’s insurance career started in 1973. She joined a small local agency in 1976 that 25 years later had transformed into Aon. A survivor and beneficiary of 7 mergers and acquisitions along the way she is uniquely able to help you understand the tools you need to survive in today’s marketplace and why the CPCU Designation and volunteering in CPCU turned into a huge growth opportunity for her.

Betsey is a Secretary and Trustee of the CPCU-Loman Education Foundation and a past Trustee of the American Institute for CPCU/Insurance Institute of America. Betsey is past president of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Association of Los Angeles and has served on the Insurance Skills Center Board of Directors and the Board of Directors for IBA-West. Currently she serves as Strategic Planning Chair for IBA-West.

Along with her other activities, Betsey is Chair of the Board of Directors for the Girl Scout of Greater Los Angeles Council serving 41,000 girls and 22,000 volunteers. Betsey has been honored by her peers with the1998 Rie Sharp Insurance Person of the Year and with the CPCU Society Leadership Recognition Award in 1999.

Betsey and her husband Don reside in Los Angeles.

Michael is an Inside Broker with CRC’s Executive Professional Practice Group, primarily responsible for placing and managing Cyber & Data Privacy Liability across many industry sectors.

Michael earned his Bachelor of Science from California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo in 2019. There, he began his insurance career with Evolve MGA, a cyber-specialty market, as an associate underwriter focused on building an extensive knowledge of cyber policy wording, the cyber market, and how to properly assess a cyber-risk. Upon graduation, he joined Evolve MGA full-time as a production underwriter where he established an in-depth understanding of how to analyze a risk associated with the looming threats of cyber-attacks across all industry sectors. Among his responsibilities at Evolve MGA was the management of a Cyber and Tech E&O book of business along the West Coast.

Michael soom became a full-time Producer for Evolve and lead the West Coast Division in Los Angeles, CA. He generated an extensive client base of retail broker agencies throughout 10 states while simultaneously maintaining a comprehensive knowledge of competitive cyber markets and their fluid trends. His emphasis was on establishing himself as a direct cyber resource for retail brokers to identify key risks and facilitate the implementation of best practices to better protect their insureds against a future cyber-attack.

Michael joined the CRC Cyber Risk team in 2021 as an Inside Broker, providing the best possible outcome for CRC’s well-established retail insurance partners through innovative risk analysis, reliable service, top market access, and more.

Mike Koscielny is a visionary leader with nearly 45 years of experience in building and leading effective teams in underwriting, sales, product development, and operations. With a profound passion for sharing his real-life experiences and fundamental principles for success, Mike has become a beacon of inspiration and mentorship for aspiring leaders.

As the CEO and Founder of Born2Lead, LLC, Mike's mission is to empower individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in both business and life. His innate ability to teach and coach has earned him the reputation of being a "builder of people," as he openly shares his wisdom and insights with others.

Since July of 2023, Mike has served as the Director of Field Marketing for The University of Olivet, where he plays a pivotal role in connecting with emerging leaders in the insurance sector. Leveraging his extensive industry experience, he recruits top talent for the university's programs, shaping the future of the insurance industry through education and mentorship.

In addition, Mike is currently serving as the President of The Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators (SITE) since 2023. Mike plays a crucial role in providing opportunities for growth and networking to society members. The Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators is committed to enhancing the skills and knowledge of its members through various programs, networking opportunities, and services. Under Mike's leadership, SITE continues to be a valuable resource for professionals seeking to advance their careers in the insurance training and education sector.

In addition to his roles in education and leadership development, Mike is a respected instructor for both The National Alliance and The Institutes, where he imparts his expertise to aspiring professionals seeking advancement in insurance and risk management.

A prolific writer and presenter, Mike has authored numerous articles and delivered impactful presentations on topics ranging from leadership development to underwriting best practices. His acclaimed book, "Born2Lead: Lessons in Leadership," published in 2023, has reached readers across three continents, further solidifying his reputation as a thought leader in the field. Mike followed his first book with “Layoffs Suck! How to Survive a Layoff!” in 2024.

Mike's impact within the CPCU Society is legendary, characterized by his engaging presentation style and captivating storytelling. His ability to inspire meaningful connections and action stems from his unwavering commitment to lifelong learning and self-awareness.

Genuine, authentic, and influential, Mike embodies ethical behavior both professionally and personally. He resides in suburban Chicago with his wife, Deborah, and their beloved dogs, Wiley, and Teddy, finding joy in their companionship and spending quality time with family.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Mike continues to pursue his passion for writing and sharing knowledge, inspiring the next generation of leaders in the insurance industry and beyond. His ability to connect with people from all walks of life has earned him the admiration of many, as someone once said, "he does not know a stranger and he could talk the leg off a chair."

Ladda Love Hawkins is a Risk & Resilience Strategist, Marketing Mentor, and Programs President at the African American Women Trucking Association (AAWTA). As a former independent retail agency owner specializing exclusively in transportation risks, Ladda brings direct expertise in trucking insurance, cargo liability, risk transfer, and DOT compliance strategies. Today, through her firm My Own Lane Consultants and her upcoming podcast platform Mental Freight, she helps small fleets and owner-operators identify hidden exposures, close coverage gaps, and build operational safeguards that protect both their balance sheets and mental bandwidth.

In her leadership role at AAWTA, Ladda drives nationwide initiatives that support minority and women-owned carriers — providing education on loss prevention, FMCSA compliance, and financial protections that turn traditional vulnerabilities into competitive advantages. Known for her candid, action-focused approach, Ladda equips trucking businesses to navigate everything from cargo claims and audit risks to the silent pressures that lead to burnout and costly mistakes. Whether addressing underwriting teams, speaking at transportation safety summits, or training owner operators, she ensures audiences leave with clear strategies to keep cash, cargo, and calm intact.

She may best be reached via email at info@myownlaneconsultants.com.

Marty Frappolli is a risk management and insurance consultant with Longhorn Knowledge Resources, headquartered in Austin, Texas. Longhorn offers custom individual and group insurance training, research, writing, and analytical services.

Previously, Marty served 18 years as Senior Director of Knowledge Resources for The Institutes in Malvern PA. His experience there includes the design of educational courses and safeguarding the academic integrity of Institutes curriculum. His national presentations and articles include showcases at RIMS, PLRB, IDMA, CAS, ACORD, NAPIA, and the CPCU Society. His specialty areas include claims, the IoT, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, cyber risk, and data management.

He is the author of these Institutes courses: Auto Claims Practices, Managing Cyber Risk, Claims Handling Principles and Practices, CPCU 530 - Business Law for Insurance Professionals, Principles of Workers Compensation Claims, Liability Claims Practices, and Claims Leadership & Organizational Alignment.

Before joining the Institutes, Marty led the Data Management group at NJM Insurance. Marty earned his B.A. at Rutgers University and his Masters in Organizational Leadership at Quinnipiac University. He was awarded the Fellow in Insurance Data Management (FIDM) designation by the Insurance Data Management Association (IDMA).