Joe Connelly serves as President of the South Central Zone for the General Insurance operations of AIG. General Insurance is the business division that serves the Commercial Insurance markets. Joe is responsible for leading the strategy, execution and delivery of General Insurance’s core businesses and service capabilities to its clients, brokers and agents. The South Central Zone is comprised of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Through his tenure in the insurance industry, Joe brings experience in leadership, regional operations, energy, major accounts and distribution in Texas and the surrounding markets. He joined AIG in June 2018 from Chubb, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President in the North America Major Accounts Division.

Prior tohis role at Chubb, and ACE Group’s acquisition of Chubb, he held the position of Regional Executive Officer, Houston Region for ACE USA. Before joining ACE in 2008 he worked in the downstream energy industry for 17 years.

Mr. Connelly earned a BA in Business Administration from Texas Lutheran University and an MBA in Finance from the University of St. Thomas (Houston). And, Mr. Connelly serves as a Board Member for Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, as well as the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) for the Southeast Division.

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Ross Conner, CIC, CRM, is a partner at Hotchkiss Insurance in Dallas/Fort Worth. Prior to joining Hotchkiss, Ross gained more than 20 years of experience in the construction industry. Today, he serves clients in a range of industries, including trampoline and adventure parks, real estate, construction, manufacturing, energy and franchise operations. Further, his expertise extends to include captive placements. Ross is passionate about serving his community, and is the chairman of Hotchkiss Helps, Hotchkiss Insurance’s charitable arm, serves on the board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), the Greater Fort Worth Builders Association, the Aledo Education Foundation and is a founding advisory board member of the Fort Worth Minority Professional Task Force.

His designations include General Lines Agent for Property, Casualty, Life and Health. Ross has earned the insurance industry’s prestigious Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM) designations. Originally from Tyler, Texas, Ross received his BBA in finance from Texas A&M University.

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Richard Gergasko is President and CEO of Texas Mutual Insurance Company having joined the company in February 2013. Texas Mutual is a single state mono-line workers’ compensation insurance carrier headquartered in Austin, TX. Texas Mutual is the largest workers’ compensation insurer in Texas writing over 42% of the insured market. Prior to joining Texas Mutual, Gergasko was President and COO of Sea Bright Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Sea Bright Holdings, Inc. His insurance career spans 41 years having worked for several insurance companies and actuarial consulting firms prior to joining Texas Mutual.

 Rich serves on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association – SouthwestRegion and the American Heart Association – Austin Chapter (past Board Chair).He is a past Board Chair of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Texas– Southeast Division and he serves on the Texas Business Leadership Council, the only CEO-based public policy research organization in Texas which has a limited membership of 100 CEOs and Presidents.  Rich was named by the Austin Business Journal as the Best Large Company CEO in Central Texas for 2016and he was named the 2019 Philanthropic Leadership Award Honoree by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation.

 A New Jersey native, he holds a B.A. in Statistics from Rutgers University, is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. 

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Enya He is Regional Director and National Practice Leader in Risk Management at Lloyd’s.  In her role, she leads Lloyd’s business development activities in the South Central Region and manages Lloyd’s client engagement activities in the US.   She also leads the design, planning and execution of the Tuesdays with Lloyd’s series.  Prior to Lloyd’s, Enya was an associate professor in risk management and insurance at University of North Texas. She obtained her PhD in risk management and insurance from University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, MBA from University of Miami (Florida), MAand BA in insurance from the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE)in Beijing China.  She is also a fellow of the Chartered InsuranceInstitute of Britain.  Born and raised in China, Enya moved to Texas in2006 and now considers herself a proud Texan. 

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As VP of P&C Marketing at USI Dallas, Whitney specializes in market identification, program design, market relationships and negotiation.  Whitney also works to manage carrier relations and overall market appetite and fit for insureds.  

Since joining USI in November 2017, Whitney has been successful in helping Producers win and retain business.  She collaborates with all account teams and Producers to identify markets and create best-in-class programs for insureds through strategic negotiation with key carrier partners on pricing, structure, terms and conditions.   Whitney also leads the efforts to foster existing and develop new market relationships.  

Prior to joining USI, Whitney spent six years at Lockton Dallas, working on large, complex, national and international accounts.  

With over a decade of industry experience, Whitney has  worked within a wide range of client verticals, an array of complex national,  international and small to middle market accounts, and developed an extended  network of carriers, wholesalers and other trading partners.

Whitney graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from  the University of Texas at Austin.  

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Dan Kennedy is the Mid South Regional President for Markel Specialty, the US insurance operations for Markel Corporation. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, and founded in 1930, Markel is a Fortune 500 company with insurance, reinsurance, and investment operations around the world.

Dan leads the Mid South Region, one of Markel Specialty’s six regions. Markel Specialty is a diversified specialty insurer offering products in the casualty, property, professional lines, and surety segments of the business. Insuring businesses from Main Street to Wall Street, Markel Specialty offers innovative admitted and non-admitted solutions to individuals, small businesses, Fortune 1000 companies, and everything in between. Products are distributed through appointed retail agents, wholesale brokers, and intermediaries including underwriting authority delegated to managing general agents (MGAs) and managing general underwriters (MGUs), as well as insurtech and other alternative distribution platforms.  

Dan began his career in the insurance industry with a monoline workers compensation carrier which was acquired by Markel in 2010. He has held various ascending positions since starting as a field sales associate in 2005, relocating six times for new opportunities.  

Dan graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in business administration and a concentration in marketing. He holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI), and Associate in General Insurance (AINS) designations and is a licensed property and casualty producer. He serves on the board of the Southeast Division of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation and on Markel’s Diversity & Inclusion Global Steering Committee. Dan lives just north of Dallas in Prosper, Texas, with his wife Mandy and their three children: Ashton, Aubrey, and Avery.

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Tim Rau is Regional Executive Officer - SouthwestRegion for Chubb.  He is responsible foroverseeing Regional Operations and representing the entire Chubb Global Enterprisefor Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado, Utah, SouthernNevada and Wyoming.

Tim joined Chubb Global Casualty in 2004 as SeniorVice President and Branch Manager of the Dallas Major Accounts operation. Hewas responsible for all aspects of the operation including underwriting, clientrelations, recruiting and retaining the top talent in the business.

Tim has over 30 years experience in the insurancebusiness holding various underwriting management, business development and branchmanagement positions at CIGNA Special Risk in New York and Dallas and CNA RiskManagement in Dallas, Chicago and Denver.

Tim received his BBA and MBA from The College ofInsurance (now St. John’s University School of Insurance and Risk Management) andholds his CPCU designation from the American Institute of Property and CasualtyInsurance.

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Jessica Soufrine is the Vice President of Field Marketing & Underwriting (FMU) for Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company.

 In this role, Ms. Soufrine is responsible for Amerisure’s underwriting operations and relationship management activities. Asa member of the company’s operational leadership team, she leads the FMU department in driving profitable growth with Amerisure’s Partners For Success^®agencies.

Since joining Amerisure in 2008 as a Marketing Underwriter, Ms. Soufrine has held roles of increasing responsibility, including Senior Marketing Underwriter, FMU Manager and Assistant Vice President of FMU. Most recently, she served as the Regional Vice President of FMU for the company’s west region. Prior to joining Amerisure, she worked for Travelers in its claims department.

Ms. Soufrine earned her Bachelor of Science degree in communication and advertising from Appalachian State University. She currently serves as on the Board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation.

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