NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Rushford
SVP, Marketing & Communications
202.662.4436
susan.rushford@ciab.com
The Council Foundation Awards $250,000
in Academic Scholarships to 50 Industry Interns
WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 26, 2020 – The Council Foundation announced today that it is awarding $250,000 in academic scholarships to 50 college students interested in pursuing careers in insurance brokerage. Each intern selected will receive $5,000 toward their college education. Since 2006, the Foundation, formerly known as the Foundation for Agency Management Excellence (FAME), has awarded $2.85 million to 570 students across the country, including $1.6 million to 333 students in the last four years alone.
The Foundation’s Scholarship Program partners with the internship programs of member firms of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers in an effort to hire these students back into the firms they interned with and/or retain them in the commercial insurance brokerage sector.
“In a challenging year, we are very pleased with the number of firms who remained committed to their internship programs and ongoing mentorship of new talent in an all-virtual environment,” said Ken A. Crerar, president/CEO of The Council. “It’s critical that we continue to work together to invest in the next generation of leaders and promote the important work we do for millions of people and businesses around the world.”
The mission of The Council Foundation is to bring fresh, diverse talent into the brokerage sector by way of internships with Council member firms. Students must be formally nominated by the respective brokerages at which they worked. 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.
“If I have learned anything from this experience, it is that the insurance industry is able to adapt to any situation. It is amazing that The Council was still able to offer an opportunity for students already interested in insurance to stay engaged with the industry, even through a global pandemic,” said Logan Morehouse, a summer intern at M3 Insurance.
Noting the financial support, Yasmeen Zoheir, a summer intern at Johnson Kendall & Johnson, Inc said, “This scholarship means so much to me! It represents being able to further pursue my education without thinking about the cost. My internship taught me a lot about the insurance industry, and solidified my career goals.”
“As a firm, we are thrilled with how the scholarship program has evolved along with a refined focus on intern training. Our industry desperately needs to engage the next generation. The Council is a leader in this effort, and we are appreciative of its investment in our interns,” said Jennifer Borislow, Principal & President at Borislow Insurance.
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 2020-21 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 – and three of which are permanently endowed: Thomas Tigges, named the Assurex Global Robert P. Ashlock Scholar; Rebecca Shagrin, named the Assurex Global Robert P. Ashlock Game Changer Scholar; John Reilly, named the Dave Oberkircher Future Leader Scholar; and Alexandra Carty, named the Franklin Wheeler Scholar.
| NAME | UNIVERSITY | MAJOR |
| Simisola Adedunni | DePaul University | Accounting and Finance |
| Tristen Aguilar | Illinois State University | Risk Management & Insurance and Finance |
| Arianna Alexander | University of Florida | General Business with a Pre-Health Specialty |
| James Baumann III | University of Kentucky | Economics and Management |
| Michael Berrian | University of Denver | Finance |
| Aidan Boppel | Merrimack College | Financial Planning and Marketing |
| Anne Bowen | Indiana State University | Insurance & Risk Management and Financial Services |
| Callisa Briggs | University of Wisconsin, Whitewater | Finance |
| Kayla Carlson | University of Alabama | Finance and Economics |
| Alexandra Carty* | Florida State University | Marketing and Professional Sales |
| Kaitlin Chrzanowski | University of Cincinnati | Finance |
| Audrey Dunn | University of Georgia | Risk Management & Insurance and Finance |
| Erica Dutch | Michigan State University | Finance |
| Bradley Ekonen | Kalamazoo College | Business |
| Samantha Garza | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Finance and Supply Chain Management |
| Devin Gilbertson | University of South Dakota | Accounting |
| Benjamin Godfrey | California State University, Chico | Business Administration – Finance |
| Kallie Goggin | University of Connecticut | Actuarial Science and Finance |
| Ann Green | Miami University | Communications and Psychology |
| Luke Gurak | University of Georgia | Risk Management |
| Shawn Hakimi | Florida State University | Risk Management & Insurance and Finance |
| Zach Hammil | Stephen F. Austin State University | Business Management |
| Alondra Jimenez | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Natalie Kinney | California State University, Chico | Agriculture Business |
| Natalie Kojababian | University of Southern California | Business Administration |
| Natalie Lopez | University of Iowa | Business Analytics |
| Bria Martin | Clemson University | Spanish and International Business |
| Gabriel Mire | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | Finance |
| Logan Morehouse | University of Wisconsin, Madison | Finance, Investment, and Banking; Risk Management and Insurance |
| Choice Mostellar | Saint Joseph’s University | Business Intelligence and Data Analytics |
| Claire Mullee | John Carroll University | Marketing and Supply Chain Management |
| Katelynn Pankhurst | Illinois State University | Risk Management & Insurance and Finance |
| Bryson Pritchard | Stetson University | Entrepreneurship |
| John Reilly* | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Carson Riddle | Culver-Stockton College | Business Administration and Marketing |
| Emily Roemer | Texas Christian University | Finance |
| Keenan Roznowski | Olivet College | Insurance & Risk Management |
| Emily Ruggiero | University of North Texas | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Rebecca Shagrin* | University of Denver | Business Administration – Marketing |
| Rahul Sharma | University of Massachusetts Amherst | Biomedical Engineering |
| Thomas Tigges* | Iowa State University | Finance |
| Myrlana Valdivia | Emporia State University | Business Administration |
| William Vermillion | Texas Christian University | Finance |
| Claudia Vevera | Florida State University | Actuarial Sciences and Risk Management & Insurance |
| Andrew Walters | Beloit College | Business Economics |
| Jenny Wick | Loras College | Kinesiology |
| Jenna Woodall | Iowa State University | Management |
| David Young | Mississippi State University | Finance |
| Joshua Zack | University of Michigan | Economics |
| Yasmeen Zoheir | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance |