NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nicole Vasile
Director, Communications
(202) 756-5627
nicole.vasile@ciab.com
THE COUNCIL FOUNDATION AWARDS $380,000 IN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS TO 76 INDUSTRY INTERNS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 7, 2021 – The Council Foundation announced today that it is awarding $380,000 in academic scholarships to 76 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 $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 internship programs at The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ member firms, with the goal of hiring these students back into those firms and/or retaining them in the commercial insurance brokerage sector.
“There is so much opportunity within our industry, and internships are crucial to introducing young professionals to commercial insurance and the impact they can have within a brokerage firm,” said Ken A. Crerar, president/CEO of The Council. “We’re grateful to our member firms who continue to invest in efforts to recruit and develop the next generation of insurance professionals.”
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.
“I am truly humbled and extremely appreciative to receive such a prestigious honor. I cannot thank The Council Foundation and Brown & Brown enough,” said Andrew Dunigan, a student at Temple University and an intern at Brown & Brown. “The work I performed this summer, the people I met and the knowledge I gained has excited me and thoroughly prepared me for a career in the insurance brokerage industry.”
Oumalkaire Omar, an intern at Cross Insurance, said The Council Foundation scholarship will help cover her tuition at Howard University for the fall semester. “My internship at Cross Insurance Agency this past summer helped me realize that I am interested in pursuing a career in the insurance industry. This scholarship will play a role in helping me further my education to prepare me to enter the workforce when I graduate in 2023.”
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 2021-22 scholarship recipients are listed below. Five 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: Raniesha Colebrook, named the Assurex Global Robert P. Ashlock Scholar; Maricela Lopez, named the Assurex Global Robert P. Ashlock Game Changer Scholar; Shannon Lind, named the Dave Oberkircher Future Leader Scholar; Seth Reynolds, named the Franklin Wheeler Scholar; and Varun Patel, named the USI Insurance Scholar.
| NAME | UNIVERSITY | MAJOR |
| Jon Alessandro | Embry Riddle Aeronautical University | Finance/Accounting |
| Arianna Alexander | University of Florida | Business Administration |
| Camryn Anonson | Iowa State University | Marketing |
| John Babicke | St. Johns University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Julia Berdzik | St. Joseph’s University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| August Bernsten | Colorado State University | Finance |
| Ryan Boffeli | University of Iowa | Finance |
| Ally Bordelon | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | Strategic Communications |
| Mimi Cabot | Tulane University | Legal Studies; Management |
| Tatyana Carmack | Georgia State University | Finance |
| Alexandra Chapdelaine | The Pennsylvania State University | Psychology |
| Ashley Chipokas | The University of Iowa | Political Science, Ethics & Public Policy, Pre-Law |
| Kaden Chumbley | Texas Tech University | Public Relations |
| Raniesha Colebrook | Georgia State University | Risk Management & Insurance, Finance |
| Will Corbin | University of Iowa | Finance |
| Juan Coste Delvecchio | Florida State University | Finance and Risk Management/Insurance |
| Matthew Crepeau | Bentley University | Finance |
| Morgan Daniels | The University of Texas at Austin | Economics |
| Andrew Dunigan | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Joe Eichhorn | Loras College | Finance |
| Ryan Farese | University of Pennsylvania | Mathematical Economics |
| Carina Fuentes | California State University Chico | Business Administration Accounting |
| Daniel Gamba | San Jose State University | Justice Studies |
| Jake Gardner | University of Mississippi | Marketing with an Emphasis in Sales |
| Courtney Gifford | Florida State University | Professional Sales/Marketing and Advertising/Communications |
| Jace Glenn | Wartburg College | Business Administration |
| Nicole Groteguth | Chico State University | Agriculture Business |
| Dylan Hammond | California State University, Chico | Business |
| Juan Henao | University of Florida | Business Administration- International Business |
| Cameron Houde | University of Maine | Marketing & Management |
| Lizbeth Huertas | University of Wisconsin – Madison | Risk Management & Insurance and Management & Human Resources |
| BaoNgoc Huynh | University of Oregon | Business Administration |
| Trevor Imm | University of Iowa | Finance |
| Francine Jackson | Coe College | Business Administration |
| Kristen Joseph | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance, Human Resource Management |
| Kaitlyn Leckband | McNeese State University | Marketing |
| Shannon Lind | Temple University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Marie Louise Livanec | Baylor University | Economics and Management |
| Lauren Loef | California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo | Business Administration – Marketing Management |
| Kinley Longest | Butler University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Maricela Lopez | Miami University | Public Health |
| Elijah Lucas | University of Tulsa | Management |
| Trey Lucas | University of Missouri | Finance |
| Sienna Lyford | University of California, Irvine | Business Administration – Finance |
| Taylor Martin | Purdue University Northwest | Finance & Accounting |
| Bryce McCumber | Davenport University | Human Resources Management |
| Maxwell Muehring | Iowa State University | Marketing |
| Hunter Mulkey | Troy University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Margaret Murdock | University of Notre Dame | Mathematics, Business concentration |
| Evan Neufeld | Townson University | Marketing |
| Abigail O’Brien | Florida State University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Mazeed Oluewu | University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | Communication and Media Studies |
| Oumalkaire Omar | Howard University | Finance |
| Caralynn Orbell | St. Norbert College | International Business and Spanish |
| Lily O’Sullivan | University of Delaware | Economics |
| Noah Reinstein | Butler University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Seth Reynolds | University of Georgia | Finance |
| Anthony Russell | Bowling Green State University | Insurance and Economics |
| Grace Searing | Temple University | Risk Management & Insurance |
| Laura Shoopman | Belmont University | Marketing |
| Maya Sobchuk | Macalester College | International Studies, Political Science, Legal Studies |
| Mallory Sprehe | University of Louisiana at Monroe | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Shannon Stolte | Missouri State University | Finance – Corporate & Investments |
| Maia Thompson | Florida State University | Risk Management and Insurance |
| Tina Tran | Drake University | Health Science Service Management (3+2 MBA Program) |
| Wentzel van der Berg | Colorado State University | Corporate Finance and Organization and Innovation Management |
| Brady Vanover | University of North Texas | Finance |
| Jonni VanRite | St. Norbert College | Business Administration and Integrative Studies |
| Abigale Vomastek | Miami University | Marketing |
| Zoie Walters | Olivet College | Insurance/Risk Management, and Financial Planning |
| Jia En Wang | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Econometrics & Quantitative Economics |
| Olivia Whitten | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach | Aviation Business Administration |
| Kayla Winfrey | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Statistics & Econometrics |
| Megan Witte | The Ohio State University | Finance |
| Tingzi Zhang | Babson College | Finance |
| Varun Patel | The University of Georgia | Risk Management and Insurance |