Ken A. Crerar is president of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, an association representing the top tier of insurance brokers who collectively place more than 80 percent of the commercial property/casualty insurance premiums in the United States each year. He has held the lead job at the association since 1992.
Crerar joined The Council in 1987 as chief lobbyist and director of the political action committee. Previously, he spent five years with the Footwear Industries of America, where he rose through the ranks to the job of vice president and handled the association's lobbying on international trade issues.
Under Crerar's leadership, The Council has expanded six-fold and solidified its position as the leading representative of the largest and most successful insurance brokers in the nation. Among Crerar's initiatives include creation of a for-profit subsidiary offering business services to CIAB members; a research and education foundation; a human resources program; expanded communications services; and expanded state affairs activities.
Crerar also has spearheaded The Council's efforts to create The World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries. Headquartered in Brussels, WFII is a non-profit international organization representing associations of insurance intermediaries from around the world. Crerar also was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to the Industry Sector Advisory Committee on Trade and Services as an adviser on insurance matters.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in May 2006 appointed Crerar to serve on the prestigious Association Committee of 100 (C100). The C100 is comprised of the country’s leading association chief staff executives. He has also been on the Insurance-Letter's annual List of the 100 Most Powerful People in the Insurance Industry since it began in 2001.
Born in upstate New York, Crerar was raised in Hamden, Conn., and attended Connecticut College in New London, receiving a B.A. degree in government in 1977. He spent a year as assistant director of admissions for Connecticut College, then moved to Washington as special assistant to Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Crerar is a member of the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Advisory Board, as well as the board of D.C. Central Kitchen.
Barbara S. Haugen is senior vice president of The Council, serving as key staff liaison to the Council of Employee Benefits Executives and overseeing development of the Employee Benefits Leadership Forum held each May at The Greenbrier. She manages strategic resources for The Council as a member of the senior management team. She also coordinates programs for Council Working Groups that serve member firm international business interests, CFOs, and business process and technology needs, and plans The Councils Strategic Work Sessions. In addition, Haugen manages The Council’s 501(c)3 educational foundation, The Foundation for Agency Management Excellence (FAME), working to build the FAME Scholarship program and designing research projects to advance and improve agency management and education tools.
She came to Washington, D.C., following her graduation from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in journalism and first worked as a business journalist covering regulatory issues. She then moved to the White House, where she served from 1978-1981 as director of communications for a senior adviser to President Jimmy Carter. In February 1981, Haugen joined the staff of the National Association of Insurance Brokers, which merged with The Council in 1998. In representing the interests of the commercial insurance brokerage business for more than 25 years, she also has directed both public affairs and government affairs programs.
Joel Wood is senior vice president of government affairs for The Council, a position he has held since January 1993. He is The Council’s top lobbyist on Capitol Hill and is the chief administrator of the group’s political action committee. Prior to joining The Council, he spent four years as assistant vice president for government affairs for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents. Wood worked for six years on Capitol Hill for Rep. Don Sundquist, R-TN, as press secretary and legislative director. In 1988, Wood and two colleagues from Capitol Hill founded Red Hot & Blue, a Memphis-style barbecue restaurant in Arlington, Va., that has grown to 42 locations in 19 states. In 2002, he and his wife, Dana, formed the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne, a 501c3 organization to speed a treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the world’s most lethal childhood genetic disease. In April 2007, The Hill newspaper named him as one of the top 34 trade association lobbyists in Washington. Before coming to Washington in 1982, Wood, a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a degree in journalism, spent two years as a political reporter for The Jackson Sun, a 40,000 circulation daily in Jackson, Miss.
Alison E. Bowman Jones, senior vice president of member services, is responsible for recruiting prospective firms and ensuring that current members are aware of the full range of Council services that bring added value to their membership. She also serves as the liaison for PAR, The Council’s E&O captive program, and PreFi, The Council’s premium financing program, and oversees meeting and event planning operations. Bowman brings a unique perspective to The Council because of previous work as an insurance broker with Aon Corporation, where she advanced to the position of assistant vice president at Huntington T. Block, the brokerage firm’s Washington, D.C., branch. She specialized in art insurance for high-end museum collections and blockbuster exhibitions, and her clients included the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Dallas Museum of Art. Bowman also worked in the London office of Nicholson Chamberlain Colls as a Lloyd’s placement broker. She began her career in the industry as an insurance analyst at the corporate headquarters of Rollins Burdick Hunter in Chicago. Bowman is a graduate of the University of Georgia, with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in business administration.
Julia G. Kramer , SPHR, senior vice president, office of the president, oversees accounting and finance, meetings, database and IT and is responsible for staffing the Management Resources Working Group and directing The Council's management and talent development programs in support of member firms. Kramer also provides strategic planning and implementation at The Council in the areas of internal operations, process improvement and human resources, and chairs The Council’s mid-level Management Team and Young Professionals groups. She is a columnist for Leader's Edge Magazine, authors the online advice feature "Ask Julia," and is a regular contributor to The Management Series newsletter. Kramer has been with The Council since 2002 and has more than 20 years of executive-level management, operational and human resources experience. She started her professional career as a tax specialist with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells. Subsequently, she joined Dental Benefit Providers, now a United Healthcare dental benefits firm, moving from accounting manager to vice president of human resources in the 13 years she was there. Kramer holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a master's degree in human resources management from Marymount University, and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources.
Nicole L. Allen, senior vice president of strategic resources, serves as the liaison to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and The Council’s Legal Counsels Working Group and works on regulatory and compliance issues. Prior to rejoining The Council in 2007, Allen served as assistant vice president and senior director of government and external affairs for Allianz of America Corp. She also worked for its subsidiary Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, specializing in regulatory and legislative affairs. Allen first joined The Council in 1994, where she spent eight years working in state and federal government affairs. She began her insurance career in 1990 with the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents in Alexandria, Va. Allen holds a law degree, cum laude, from George Mason University School of Law, and a B.A. in communications with university honors from The American University.
Coletta I. Kemper , is vice president of industry affairs for The Council, responsible for program development, strategic resources, and products and services specifically tailored to Council members’ interests. She also is responsible for development of The Council’s international program. She develops the organization’s policy positions on trade issues and works with high-level U.S. trade officials to ensure that multilateral and bilateral trade agreements provide important market access commitments for insurance brokers. In addition, she is the staff liaison with the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries, which was formed in 1998 to monitor regulatory and trade initiatives impacting insurance brokers. In addition, she contributes to the weekly newsletter on industry trends; writes an international column in The Council’s award-winning magazine Leader’s Edge; prepares a quarterly survey on the commercial property/casualty market; and develops executive seminars and programs for members.
Prior to joining The Council in 1991, Kemper spent six years with the National Association of Insurance Brokers and worked in the Washington government affairs office of insurance broker Alexander & Alexander. She has worked on political campaigns at the state and federal level and also spent four years in the legislative department of a public interest organization. Kemper holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Maryland.
Paula Karchner , vice president of meetings for The Council, is responsible for overseeing the management and operations of the Meeting Department, which plans and executes all key Council meetings and events including; vendor and site selection, proposals and contracts, registration, service provider management, on-site logistics. Karchner joined The Council in 1997 and received her Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 2004. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and also spent four years as an air traffic control operator with the United States Air Force. Karchner is currently a member of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and the Financial and Insurance Conference Planners Association.
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Alicia Anderson, The Council’s senior accountant, has more than 16 years experience in the areas of accounting, imports and treasury management. She joined The Council in 2001 after a long career with Hechinger stores, where she advanced from a position handling vendor inquiries and complaints to the job of treasury coordinator analyzing cash management functions, preparing monthly analysis summaries and serving as liaison between the company and banks and vendors. She attended Prince George’s Community College and is currently taking online courses in pursuit of her accounting degree and CPA certification.
Diane Iannone, director of marketing and creative development for The Council, manages production of all printed and electronic materials. Her responsibilities include program brochures, e-mail newsletters and event materials. She also manages the organization’s web site and maintains a production calendar for all Council communications vehicles and promotional products. Iannone is an experienced copyeditor and writer who joined The Council in December 2001. Previous work experience includes two years as director of content development for Solutions Factory, Inc., in Reston, Va., and various editorial positions including internet content editor for Columbia Energy Services; editor of an in-house newspaper for the American Association of Community Colleges; and caption editor for the National Captioning Institute in Vienna, Va. Iannone holds a B.S. degree in mass communications/news editorial, with a minor in sociology, from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Kerone Jones first joined The Council as an intern in August of 2009 and is now the marketing and communications associate, responsible for electronic media maintenance and distribution. She is a 2009 graduate of Cornell University where she majored in Design and Environmental Analysis with a concentration in Human Factors and Ergonomics. While attending college, she was elected to the board of several student associations for which she designed and coordinated publicity campaigns and promotional materials.
Joel Kopperud is The Council’s director of government relations. He focuses on legislative activity impacting employer-provided benefits, reforming insurance regulation, and working on federal natural catastrophe policies. Kopperud was previously with Global USA, Inc., where he directed the group’s political, legislative and regulatory advocacy on international trade and export control issues. Kopperud also lobbied at the Financial Services Roundtable, where he represented the financial services industry on Capitol Hill and worked on a number of policy initiatives and lobbying campaigns relating to insurance and financial services.
Janet Linkins, an accountant for The Council, joined the staff in July 2010. A graduate of the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Accounting, Linkins has strong fundamentals in accounting and finance from her more than 20 years of tax accounting experience, specializing in business including not-for-profit entities. Prior to joining The Council, she also held several accounting positions of increased responsibility in the finance department of a local, publicly traded, utility company.
Brianne Mallaghan joined The Council as the director of communications in May 2010. Serving as the organization’s primary media contact, she is also responsible for assisting in the development of The Council’s overall communications and media strategy and overall public position and strategies. Prior to joining The Council, she spent two years as Director of Public Affairs for the Northeast Region of the American Insurance Association. Mallaghan also worked for two years as a general assignment news and sports reporter at a New England Cable News affiliate, and spent two years as the Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations at the College of the Holy Cross. Mallaghan holds a Master of Science in Broadcast Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/minor in Communications from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. Mallaghan is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
Cheryl Matochik is the director of initiatives in the Office of the President. Her primary role is to develop and direct the mission, goals, objectives and implementation of The Council’s new programs and initiatives. A 2001 graduate of West Virginia University with a B.S. in journalism and a second concentration in international and comparative politics, Matochik worked at a technology solutions firm in New York and at an international advertising firm in Atlanta before joining The Council.
Kelly Miller, a 2008 graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., joined The Council in June 2008 as a strategic resources associate. Miller graduated with summa cum laude honors and received a bachelor's degree in psychology with a second concentration in sociology. While attending college, Miller volunteered as a third grade teaching assistant, served meals at homeless shelters and took part in a number of other volunteer projects in the Washington, D.C., area.
Rick Pullen is editor in chief of Leader’s Edge magazine. An award-winning investigative reporter and editor, Pullen has covered the insurance industry since 1989, first as Washington editor for BestWeek and Best Review, and then as editor in chief of Independent Agent magazine. Previously, Pullen worked for The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., and Fairchild News Service in Washington, D.C. Among the stories he covered during his newspaper career were investigations of military corruption, an international munitions scam, political campaign law violations, a bank scam and illegal land deals.
Danny Roach, The Council’s government affairs associate, joined the staff in May 2010. A Southern California native, Roach graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, Roach served as the Purchasing & Accounts Payable assistant for the UCLA Intercollegiate Athletic Department. Roach also interned in the office of Congressman Heath Shuler, D-N.C., in early 2010.
Christy Schmidt is the director of meetings for The Council. She previously held the position of assistant director for meetings, since February 2008. Schmidt joined The Council after nearly three years with the Corporate Executive Board in Washington, D.C., including two years as the group’s meeting manager. In that position, she planned and executed 40 annual global corporate training and networking meetings for representatives of Fortune 500 companies. Schmidt is a 2004 graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., with a bachelor’s degree in human and organizational development. In 2002, she spent six months studying global economics and Pacific cultures at the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand.
Katherine Jarvis Smith is executive assistant to the president of The Council. She has spent nearly 20 years in the insurance industry. Prior to joining The Council, she was executive assistant to the COO and a top government relations executive at the American Council of Life Insurers were she worked for 17 years. She also has extensive administrative, industry and political experience through her work in Washington at such firms as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering; architects HOK; and Kaiser Permanente. She attended the University of Maryland.
Patricia Wade is member services director and Leader's Edge business manager, for The Council and circulation and business manager of Leader’s Edge. She is responsible for the membership database, magazine circulation and primary liaison for technology support for the association. Previous work experience includes insurance licensing, financials, meeting planning, grassroots communication, computer software analyst and newsletter production. Prior to joining The Council full time in 2000, Wade did contractual work for six years for various non-profit associations, including The Council. She spent 18 years at American Cyanamid in their Washington government affairs office. Wade holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fayetteville State University and state certification in early childhood day care management from Prince George’s Community College.
Cory Washington is The Council's office services clerk. A 2007 graduate of Charles Hebert Flowers High School in Springdale, Md., Washington joined The Council in 2008 after gaining extensive experience in retail sales and customer service. He came to The Council from Pitney Bowes Management Services, where he was a customer service associate, and he also worked for Best Buy and Marshalls in retail sales and customer service. Washington lives in Upper Marlboro, Md.
Jacquetta Williams, who is The Council's database and advertising associate, is a 2002 graduate of Morris College in Sumter, S.C., where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in English. Williams joined The Council as a receptionist in 2004. Her previous experience included work as a receptionist and customer service specialist with George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C., and as an administrative assistant for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.
Frank X. Sentner is director of technology for The Council, a position he has held since 1997. Sentner consults with insurance agencies and carriers, agency management system vendors, and other software vendors. He is frequently interviewed by the news media on technology issues affecting the insurance industry. Sentner has been a consultant to the insurance industry since 1976. In 1996, he founded his current company, Soulware, Ltd., to specialize in technology solutions that improve business process integration between insurance carriers, brokers and agencies. Sentner began his insurance technology career working for Insurnet, Inc., as a senior consultant. He founded CISCO Technologies, Inc., in 1984 where he designed and developed the agency management system now known as Sagitta. In 1992, CISCO Technologies merged with the Gemini division of Aetna to form CISGEM, which was acquired by AMS Services in 1995, where Sentner was senior vice president of technology.
Scott A. Sinder is a member of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Steptoe & Johnson, LLP and he is the Chair of the firm’s Government Affairs & Public Policy Practice Group. Scott is both a litigator and a legislative advocate. Scott actively represents trade associations and companies on a wide range of issues in state and federal trial and appellate courts, in state legislatures and Congress, and before regulatory agencies. Current projects include legislative and regulatory work on a wide range of issues affecting insurance agents and brokers including post-enactment regulatory work related to the implementation of the recently enacted Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act.
Scott also is an experienced commercial and public law litigator. His work in these areas has included involvement in class action, anti-trust, copyright, redistricting and other complex civil litigation cases, including serving as lead counsel in a series of successful constititutional challenges the Council asserted against state “countersignature” laws. He is a member of the bars of the United States Supreme Court and of numerous United States district and appellate courts, as well as in the District of Columbia and Colorado. Scott received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1988, his M.P.P. from the University of Michigan Institute of Public Policy Studies in 1987 and his A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1984.
Ann Garver Steadman is director of the Leadership Circle, The Council's corporate sponsorship and marketing program. She has managed this initiative since 1998 when she relocated from Washington, D.C., to Roanoke, Va. She works as a consultant to develop and implement an annual partnership program to raise non-dues revenue for The Council and offer year-round branding opportunities for member firms, insurance companies, reinsurers and selected vendors. Steadman began work with The Council in 1988 as a legislative representative and advanced to the positions of director of legislative affairs, director of meetings and conferences, and director of membership and meetings prior to assuming her current responsibilities. She spent three years working for a Virginia congressman and two years as a legislative assistant for the American Textile Manufacturers Institute prior to joining The Council. She is a graduate of Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa., with a double major in Business Administration and English.