NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nicole Vasile
Director of Communications
Nicole.Vasile@ciab.com
THE COUNCIL FOUNDATION AWARDS $380,000 IN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS TO 75 INDUSTRY INTERNS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Council Foundation announced today that it is awarding $380,000 in academic scholarships to 75 college students interested in pursuing careers in insurance brokerage. Each intern selected will receive $5,000 toward their college education. Since 2006, The Foundation has awarded $3.23 million to 646 students across the country, including $1.98 million to 409 students in the last five years alone.
The Foundation’s scholarship program partners with leaders of internship programs at Council member firms, with the goal of eventually bringing these students on fulltime, and/or retaining them in the commercial insurance brokerage sector.
“The Council welcomes its own interns each summer, and it’s exciting to watch them discover how dynamic and multifaceted our member firms are, and how many career opportunities exist within the industry,” said Ken A. Crerar, president/CEO of The Council. “The Foundation’s Scholarship Program is an importance piece of our efforts to recruit and develop the next generation of insurance professionals, and we’re grateful to our member firms who continue to support its mission.”
The mission of The Council Foundation is to bring fresh, diverse talent into the brokerage sector. Students must be formally nominated by the respective brokerages at which they interned. In awarding the scholarships, an independent selection committee looks for candidates who have the potential to excel as leaders and contributors to the industry post-graduation.
“Being chosen as a recipient for the CIAB Scholarship is an absolute honor because it is validation for the hard work,” said Joseph Sinicropi, intern at Risk Strategies and student at Providence College. ”I have put into my 10-week internship program at Risk Strategies Company. These past ten weeks have been a great learning experience, and my biggest takeaway is to never shy away from asking questions. I did not know much about the insurance industry before this summer but through asking questions I was able to make the most out of the experience. Thank you to the CIAB Foundation and Risk Strategies for this amazing opportunity!”
“This scholarship means so much to me, and I am so grateful for The Council and what a wonderful experience I have had this summer during my internship,” said Kimberly Santaguida, intern at IMA Financial Group and student at Colorado Christian University. “Having the experience of working full time in a field that is likely to be something that is long term was wonderful, and I’m glad the council provided comprehensive training in insurance education to help my background knowledge improve! This scholarship will help me pay for my last year of school, and I’m so grateful!”
The Council Foundation is a 501c(3) organization administered by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. Contributions made to the Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
The 2022-23 scholarship recipients are listed below. Four of this year’s recipients have also been honored as named scholars (*) – scholarships that are administered by The Council Foundation – Courtney Andersson, Assurex Arther P. Ashlock scholar, Julia Patras, Assurex Arther P. Ashlock Game Changer scholar, Allison Phillips, Franklin Wheeler Scholar, Mary Grace (MG) Browne, USI Insurance Scholar, and Molly Deal, Dave Oberkircher scholar.
| Full Name | University | Major |
| Kristina Abraham | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | Finance |
| David Agbi | Georgia State University | Quantitative Risk Analysis & Management |
| Courtney Andersson* | Colorado Christian University | Business Administration & Marketing |
| Christopher Barton | University of Louisiana at Monroe | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Liv Barwinska | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Creative Writing |
| Mary Grace (MG) Brown | University of Georgia | Risk Management and Insurance Major |
| Alexis Buglione | University of Central Florida | Accounting |
| Mackenzie Byrd | University of Mississippi | Managerial Finance, Real Estate, and Risk Management & Insurance |
| Carter Cappon | Olivet College | Insurance and Risk Management |
| Davina Chang | Florida State University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Sofia Chiang | University of Wisconsin – Madison | Economics and Communication Arts |
| Sean Christy | Stephen F. Austin State University | Finance |
| Gianpaolo Colannino | Providence College | Mathematics |
| Cooper Craiger | Western Illinois University | Marketing |
| William DaRocha | Saint Anselm College | Finance |
| Emma Davis | Ramapo College of New Jersey | Business Administration (Marketing Concentration) |
| Oliver De Croock | Lawrence University | Economics |
| Molly Deal* | Temple University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Jennifer Dean | University of Maine | Finance |
| Mitchell Dimunah | University of Massachusetts Lowell | Business Administration: Marketing |
| Elizabeth Fleming | University of Mississippi | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Julia Frerk | University of Wisconsin-Madison | International Studies-Global Economics |
| Kaeja Garner | University of Iowa | Communication Studies |
| Jana Hindiyeh | University of California Santa Barbara | Actuarial Science |
| Madison Homovich | University of Georgia | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Will Hunt | Washington State University | Finance |
| Mihika Jain | Cornell University | Computer Science |
| Madison Johnson | University of Southern California | Business Administration |
| Roderick Johnson, Jr. | University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | History (Honors) |
| Aaron Kim | University of Connecticut | Finance |
| Michael Kurtenbach | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Agriculture and Consumer Economics |
| Hayley Lazo | Tusculum University | Political science |
| Bianca Leal | The University of Texas at Austin | Actuarial Science |
| Derek Lee | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Risk Management and Insurance; Management and Human Resources |
| Paige Leonard | Georgetown University | International Business Regional Studies |
| Caitlin Mahoney | University of Florida | Marketing |
| Abigail McCarthy | Florida State University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Grant McCoy | Creighton University | FinTech |
| Kena McDaniel | Berea College | Communications |
| Alexandra McGrogan | Bentley University | Marketing |
| Claire Michel | University of Iowa | Enterprise Leadership |
| Elizabeth Moreland | University of Louisiana Monroe | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Olivia O’Hare | University of South Carolina | Risk Management and Insurance with a concentration in Business Analytics |
| Julia Patras* | DePauw University | Psychology |
| Reagan Phillips | University of California, Berkeley | Legal Studies and Media Studies |
| Allison Phillips* | Florida State | Professional Sales |
| Delaisha Phillips-Davis | Southern University & A&M College | Business Management |
| Mayte Porragas Paseiro | University of Colorado Boulder | Strategic Communications |
| Olivia Prouty | Creighton University | Healthcare Administration and Policy/Spanish and Hispanic Studies |
| Mark Rapp | Iowa State University | Marketing |
| Chet Redstone | Kansas State University | Finance |
| Camrynn Referente | Temple University | Marketing |
| Mattye Richardson | University of Texas at Austin | Human Dimensions of Organizations |
| Gabrielle Ricklefs | University of Iowa | Marketing |
| Cayman Rigdon | University Of Mississippi | Finance/Real Estate |
| Daniel Rodriguez | Illinois State University | International Business and Risk Management & Insurance |
| Nathaniel Roffman | Bowling Green State University | Business Administration Specializations in International Business & Data Analytics and Intelligence |
| Kevin Rybka | Hillsdale College | Finance |
| Kimberly Santaguida | Colorado Christian University | B.S. Business Administration – Dual Degree, B.A. Music Composition |
| Devon Shelton | Florida State University | Finance & Risk Management/Insurance |
| Joseph Sinicropi | Providence College | Finance and Marketing |
| Julia Sonntag | Indiana State University | Insurance/Risk Management |
| Kiara Tejada | University of Denver | Finance |
| Blake Ternan | University of Texas at Austin | Economics |
| Cole Thompson | San Francisco State University | Business |
| Blake Todes | The University of Texas at Austin | Economics and Plan II |
| Isabella Trave | Saint Joseph’s University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Masengu Tshitenge | Southern Utah University | Accounting |
| Bret Wang | Indiana University | Supply Chain Management |
| Anna Wang | UC Davis | Economics and Psychology |
| Sarah White | University of South Carolina | Finance and Management |
| Andrew Witt | University of Cincinnati | Insurance and Risk Management |
| Daija Worley | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Arfa Zahid | CUNY Brooklyn College | Accounting |
| Gabrielle Zielke | University of Texas at Austin | Advertising & Communications |