Kurt Stemmler is Senior Vice President and Branch Manager of Chubb’s San Francisco, CA office – a position he has held since 2016. In this role, Kurt is responsible for driving growth and profit by working closely with Chubb’s agent and broker partners to deliver tailored product and service solutions to meet the insurance needs of clients throughout the region. Kurt joined Chubb in 1987 as an underwriting trainee in the Boiler & Machinery department in Newport Beach, CA. Over the next 13 years, he held underwriting and leadership positions at branch, zone and home office levels in the Property, Machinery & Marine department. Kurt was named Marketing Manager of Chubb’s Newport Beach and San Diego offices in 2000, and became the San Diego Branch Manager in 2002. In 2005, Kurt became the branch manager for the Chubb office in Pleasanton, with responsibilities for northern California, with the exception of San Francisco.Kurt is a graduate of San Diego State University with a B.S. in Business Administration, and earned his MBA from Chapman University in Orange, CA. He is the Vice Chairperson of the Nevada Insurance Guaranty Association, having served on the board for more than 12 years. Recently, Kurt became a Vice Chairperson on the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, Western Region. Kurt also sits on the Advisory Board of a San Francisco-based nonprofit serving youth within the juvenile justice system, The Beat Within.

Sonia has over 25 years of experience in building strongf oundation, driving growth and scaling organizations. She has experience in all areas of Financial Services Industry including P&C Insurance, Insurance Brokerage, MGA/MGU,  TPA, Banking, Wealth Management, Life Insurance, FinTech.

She has led teams across all areas including strategy,business development, marketing, technology, operations, analytics with large size and public firms such as AIG, Wells Fargo and Farmers Insurance.

Sonia is a visionary leader with expertise in supporting Board of Directors in accelerating growth, improving operating margins and improving business performance. She has played a key role in high growth start up environment with several Private Equity and Venture Capital backed firms.

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With over forty years of experience in the California Workers’ Compensation marketplace, Bryan has been active in underwriting, marketing and administration. During most of his career, he has worked for Zenith Insurance Company in the Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego offices in a variety of leadership positions. Currently, Bryan leads Southern California as the Regional Executive. He has been honored by the Independent Agents and Brokers Association of San Diego as Insurance Company Professional of the year. Bryan received his undergraduate degree in Economics from UCLA, is an Associate in Risk Management and has participated in executive training programs through the University of California and the University of Michigan. Community involvement includes fund raising for a variety of charitable organizations through the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation.

Travis leads customer and broker engagement efforts for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance in their western U.S. region. Based in San Francisco, he joined BHSI in early 2015 following marketing, underwriting, and claims leadership roles at Chubb, Travelers and Allianz. Travis is an active and long-time supporter of the IICF. He is also an active member of the National African American Insurance Association. Travis believes in the importance of mentorship and diversity, equity and inclusion imperatives and maintains productive mentoring relationships with multiple industry professionals. He and his family also volunteer and support various other charities including Junior Achievement of Northern California, Friends of the Children, At the Cross-Roads, and the Alameda County Food Bank. Travis is an alumnus of St. Lawrence University, majored in economics, and minored in African Studies (including study abroad in Kenya and Tanzania). He and his wife love to attend their son's weekend soccer games, play golf with family, friends and colleagues, ski, and travel internationally. In his spare time, Travis also enjoys deejaying, gardening and smoking barbeque.

Sarah has worked on both the agency and carrier side of insurance since 2011. She holds several industry designations and considers herself a true "insurance geek". Sarah is a Colorado native and her true passion is giving back to the community that once gave to her and her family. When Sarah is not celebrating the insurance industry, she enjoys spending time with her husband Christiaan and their two dogs.

Matt Edelheit is President of the U.S. West Zone for AIG’s North America General Insurance business. He oversees the overall operations and is responsible for the execution of AIG’s local go-to market strategy across the zone.

Matt has more than 25 years of industry experience. He joined AIG from Lockton Companies, where he was Senior Vice President and Commercial Insurance Vertical Leader for the Mountain West Series. Prior, he led Lockton’s Risk Management Department with a focus on complex global and national accounts. Matt began his career at Arthur J. Gallagher, then moved on to hold client management and brokerage leadership roles at Marsh and Aon.

Matt earned an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and a B.S. from Indiana University Bloomington. He also holds an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation

Debbi has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, both in brokerage and client service. She manages the day-to-day relationship including project management and coordination of Willis Towers Watson services and resources to our clients. She ensures the team delivers prompt responses to ad-hoc questions, as well as adheres to timelines and goals of the client service plan. Debbi is responsible for driving efficiency and best practices to deliver superb client service. Prior to joining the Willis Towers Watson organization, Debbi worked for a major brokerage firm as a Senior Account Executive, Manager in the Middle Market space (2009-2018), and as a Senior Casualty Advisor in Global Risk Management (1996-2009). In these roles, she was responsible for coordinating the delivery of resources to her clients, supervising the client teams, developing and implementing client service plan, keeping abreast of current market conditions and ensuring clients were informed of developments affecting their insurance program and/or their industry, as well as managing and developing junior staff members. A majority of Debbi’s career was spent in the healthcare sector working on complex hospital systems, community hospitals, outpatient facilities and behavioral health facilities. In addition Debbi has had experience in managing, designing and placing programs for Fortune 1,000 companies’ clients across multiple

Myshell Gresham is a risk management and finance professional, a thought leader, a champion for diversity, an advocate for her community, with over 20 years of experience across the United States, and, most importantly, a mother.

In April 2021, Myshell joined Ascot Group, managing the distribution network, and elevatingtheir experience to find client solutions within Ascot‚Äôs suite of products. Before joining Ascot, Myshell took on the role of Account Executive at Willis Towers Watson in the Phoenix market, managing large and complex global clients. She joined AIG in 2000 as a credit analyst and spent eighteen in various roles,all with increasing responsibility. She was a Client Director within AIG's Major Account Practice in San Francisco, responsible for managing the mostcomplex, multi-faceted client relationships for Fortune 1000 accounts withinthe Western Region. She was Vice President in AIG's Property CasualtyCommercial Credit Risk Group, where she monitored 3rd party credit risk in AIG's commercial risk management insurance portfolio, among other specialprojects. She was also responsible for financial analytics and analyst development.  She spent time as anexecutive liability underwriter for public companies. Before joining AIG,Myshell was a commercial banking credit analyst at Summit Bank, underwriting syndicate commercial loans for media and healthcare companies.

Myshellis passionate about serving others and supporting her colleagues to find what motivates them. She displays her support of colleagues through her DE&I work and advocacy for all. She was Business Advisor for the AIG San Francisco Women and Allies Employee Resource Group; she helped relaunch the AIG Black Professionals Employee Resource Group in New York. She also served as President of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA) New York Chapterand spearheaded the inaugural New York conference for NAAIA New York in 2018.As a result of all her industry efforts, Insurance Business America named herto their Hot 100 list in 2019.

Her community is also a crucial part of her purpose. She currently serves on the United Way Valley of The Sun Women United Committee, Chair of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Arizona Chapter (IICF); Junior Achievement Central Arizona Board, and Playworks Arizona Advisory Board. She has many years of communityservice and fundraising for organizations doing impactful work.

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Hank is the President of Worldwide Programs for Amwins and a member of the executive leadership team of its Underwriting Division, which underwrites over $2 billion in annual premium and is responsible for insurance programs and insurance product development.Hank began his insurance career in 1980 as a wholesale broker, specializing in biotechnology, product and professional liability, alternative risk and environmental liabilities with Stewart Smith West, Inc. where he became Vice President and Director. In 1986, Hank took on the Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President and Branch Manager roles at Henry Ward Johnson & Co., responsible for the Western states operations of the wholesale broking subsidiary of Johnson & Higgins. Hank joined The Sullivan Group in 1997 where he rose to group Executive Vice President and served as the President of Sullivan Wholesale Holdings Company and G.J. Sullivan Co. Reinsurance, until the April 2018 sale of The Sullivan Group to Worldwide Facilities where he became President of Worldwide Programs. In April 2021, Worldwide Facilities merged with Amwins, Inc.Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. Political Science, Cum Laude 1975Affiliations/Associations: Surplus Line Association of California (SLA): Executive Committee & Chairman of the Legislative Committee; Chairman, 1996-1997; Chairman, Legislative Committee 2009-Present California Insurance Wholesalers Assoc. (CIWA): President, 2003-2005; Board of Directors, 1997 - 2014. Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) (formerly National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices Ltd. (NAPSLO)): President, 2014-2015; Executive Committee, 2010 – 2016; Board of Directors, 2008-2016; Legislative Committee Chair, 2009-2012. Insurance Industry Charitable Fund (IICF): Executive Committee, 2010 – 2016; Board of Directors (Western Region). Weingart Center Association: Board of Directors, 1994 – 1999; Vice Chairman, 1997-1999; Founding Member, Weingart Center Partners. AAMGA-NAPSLO Merger Committee: Chairman, 2016-2017.

Margaret Hartmann is Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer for Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies- Workers Compensation Division. In this role, Margaret is responsible for National Marketing as well as Client Services and CA Loss Control. She began her career in Claims and joined BHHC 25 years ago as the Northern California Claims Manager. In her tenure at BHHC she has worked in many capacities: Claims, Client Services, Marketing, Underwriting, even a short stint leading Human Resources. She has enjoyed being a part of the company’s growth and expansion into a leading national provider of workers compensation.Margaret graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in Liberal Studies. She and her husband live in the Bay Area and have two daughters that are both in the insurance industry.

Marc Hickman is the Market Leader for Aon’s Pacific Southwest offices. He oversees all aspects of financial management, personnel management and client relationships for the Pacific Southwest operations.  His major functions in this capacity include best practices development, strategic risk management planning, sorting through challenging insurer discussions and management of the Pacific Southwest’s financial performance across all of Aon’s solution lines.

In additional to Marc’s management responsibilities, he also serves as an Executive Client Contact for several Pacific Southwest accounts.  His core function in this role includes understanding and interpreting client needs, coordinating the delivery of appropriate Aon resources, and ensuring the appropriate delivery of all of Aon’s services.

Marc joined Aon in July of 2007 and has worked in Business Development, the Account Executive Practice and led Aon Southern California Account Executive Practice until 2017. Prior to joining Aon, Marc worked at Marsh & McLennan where he was a member of their Business Development Practice.

Marc’s background centers around large complex accounts providing solutions and solving problems for unique risk exposures.  His account experience represents a broad range of industries and exposures including several Fortune 100 and Fortune 1,000 clients.

He is involved in the community and sits on several boards including the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and Chapman University Alumni Board of Directors.

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Hale Johnston has over 30 years of commercial insurance experience, with a focus on workers‚ compensation. He joined Alaska National inSeptember 2015. Prior to Alaska National, Hale was responsible for the western U.S. region for EMPLOYERS. His career also includes time with Meadowbrook Insurance Group and Dodson Insurance Group, serving in a variety of senior executive roles.

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Hale has served multiple terms on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee for the Workers‚ Compensation Rating Bureau (WCIRB) of California, and the California Workers‚ Compensation Institute (CWCI).

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He is a founding trustee of the Command and General Staff College Foundation, Inc. for the US Army at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy.

Jennifer Knox is Corporate Risk & Broking Leader for WTW in Southern California. Having been in this marketplace for over 15 years, Jennifer is responsible for leading the delivery of exceptional client and colleague experiences at WTW and accelerating its growth and impact. Jennifer brings with her nearly 30 years of Commercial P&C experience spanning multiple geographies, disciplines and responsibilities. Most recently Jennifer launched the West Coast expansion of PMA, an Old Republic Insurance Company, as the Vice President and West Regional Officer. Prior to PMA, she was a Senior Vice President at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions leading their West Region growth and operations. Jennifer enjoys a marriage of 28 years and is the mother of two teenaged daughters. She is an active volunteer in the Catholic Church and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, in addition to being a member of the Executive Committee of the IICF Western Division Board of Directors. Her hobbies include watching her daughters play sports and traveling with her family, in addition to exploring new epicurean adventures, hiking and reading.

Garrett acts as the co-President of Brokerage for CRC Group. He is responsible for operations in excess of $8 billion in written premiums annually and strategy relating to international markets, fintech, diversity and inclusion and executive lines of insurance. Garrett is also a Director of Corona Underwriters, an underwriting subsidiary of CRC Group. Previously he was a Senior Executive with Crump and Tri-City Brokerage and responsible for their Western operations and the head of their financial/professional lines practice. Garrett’s insurance brokerage expertise is centered on professional lines and specifically Directors and Officers, Private Equity, Cyber, and Intellectual Property. In addition to brokering responsibilities, Garrett has underwriting authority from A-rated carriers for multiple areas, including Cyber Insurance, Private Company D&O, and Intellectual property. As a broker, Garrett has completed over 200 IPO transactions. Garrett started his career at Marsh, where he developed their first Directors and Officers insurance liability exposure model for public companies in 1994. Since that time, he has developed many exposure tools for complex areas of insurance. More recently, with CRC, Garrett developed tools to analyze severity and susceptibility exposures for companies looking to understand their Cyber risks. Garrett has a working relationship as a mentor with many technology startup ventures, including Lloyd’s of London Lab, 500 Startups, The Batchery, Barcelona Ventures, Brown University Lab, and Funder’s Club. Garrett is frequently quoted in the media and speaks on issues related to insurance, cyber risks, crypto and intellectual property.He holds an MBA from Brown University / IE Business School (Spain), a BA in Finance from the University of Puget Sound, and a BA in Politics from the University of Puget Sound.

I have been with Heffernan Insurance Brokers since 2001. In my current role of Philanthropy Director of Heffernan Insurance Brokers and the Executive Director of Heffernan Foundation, I am responsible for all facets of Social Responsibility within our company (Volunteer Events, Grants, Scholarships, Dollars-for-Doers, Employee Matching, etc.) I also run our Wellness Division and Corporate Events at Heffernan Insurance Brokers. I feel lucky I get to do what I love for a company I feel honored to work for.

Adam McDonough has worked in the insurance industry for over 30 years, representing clients in a broad array of industries, including financial services, high technology, real estate, retail, and manufacturing. He specializes in Directors & Officers Liability, Errors & Omissions, Fidelity/Crime and Cyber Liability insurance.At Lockton, Adam is responsible for solving complex risk and insurance problems for large clients with specialized needs, as well as leading the day-to-day service and business development teams.Lockton is the largest private, independent insurance brokerage and risk management consultant in the world, with 7,500 associates serving over 52,000 clients globally.Education: BS, Fordham University, New York, NY (1988)MBA, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley (1995)Affiliations: Board Member, Leadership San Francisco Board Member, Insurance Industry Charitable FoundationLicenses: Fire & Casualty (All 50 States) Life & Health (All 50 States)

Ben McKay is the CEO & Executive Director of the Surplus Line Association of California (SLA), the largest association of its type in the country. Prior to leading the SLA, Ben spent eight years with the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) as its Senior Vice President for Federal Government Relations. In that role, Ben was named one of Washington D.C.’s Best in the Business for Business five times by The Hill, one of the city’s leading political newspapers. Before his time at PCI, Ben served as Chief of Staff to a member of United States Congress in Washington, D.C. where he worked on financial services and international relations issues. While in Washington, Ben also taught a class to MBA candidates entitled Business and Government. Ben is a coauthor of the book Annotations to Surplus Lines Statutes.

Prior to his work in Washington, D.C., he served a tour as a regulator at the Florida Department of State, where he served as Deputy Secretary for International and Legislative Affairs and later as the youngest Chief of Staff in the history of the 750-employee department.

Additionally, he serves as the Chairman Emeritus for First Capital Finance, the nation’s largest certified development company. He serves as a member of the board of the California State, Fullerton, School of Risk Management and Insurance, and the Advisory Council of the University of Colorado School of Risk Management. Also, Ben is a member of the Western Division Board of Directors for the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation.

Ben received his Bachelor of Science from Florida State University, his Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, and his Juris Doctor from Catholic University. He is a Lifetime member of the FSU Alumni Association and member of their national board of directors.

Troy serves as Senior Vice President for California, New Mexico and Arizona. He is responsible for driving profitable growth by deepening relationships with agents and brokers, developing and implementing local market strategies, and developing operational efficiencies. Additionally, Troy serves as the Executive Broker Manager for one of CNA’s largest trading relationships. He is responsible for developing strategy to drive enhanced engagement and profitable growth across the US. Troy joined CNA in 2020 with more than 30 years of diversified leadership experience and has led successful teams across sales, operations, claim and underwriting departments at the local and national levels. Prior to joining CNA, Troy ran the national sales and Risk Management for American Technologies Inc. Prior to this role, he spent nearly 20 years at AIG with increasing levels of responsibility during his tenure.Troy earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Human Resource Management from Northern Arizona University, and holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He’s been married to Dena for 30 years, has two children and two grandchildren.

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Lindsey Rey has been with Hartford for 11 years, after 4 years in marketing for the media industry. Lindsey’s Hartford career has been in middle market P&C, originating as an underwriter in San Francisco, relocating to Seattle with Hartford as an underwriting manager in 2015, and most recently returning to the Bay Area as a Managing Director for the Hartford Northern California Regional Office General Industries team, based out of Hartford’s Walnut Creek office. Lindsey is most passionate about mentoring and establishing strong, lasting partnerships with business partners. Throughout her career, she has been committed to networking and being an advocate for involvement in professional organizations. Lindsey has enjoyed being part of IICF in both San Francisco and Seattle, and was fortunate to be part of the founding IICF Western Division Associate Board as well as the founding IICF WA Chapter. Outside of work, Lindsey is an avid USC football fan, and lives in Walnut Creek with her husband, Nick, daughter, Taylor, and son, Jackson.

Charlie Rosson is executive vice president and Greater Bay Area Property & Casualty Practice Leader at USI insurance Services. He has over 24 years of experience in the insurance industry, holding numerous leadership positions. Charlie has served on the Board of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB), and was the chairman of the CIAB’s Council of Employee Benefits Executives. Charlie currently serves on the Board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation—Western Division (IICF) and the Surplus Lines Association of California Stamping Committee.Prior to joining USI, Charlie was Executive Vice President of RT Specialty from 2017 to 2021. He was the CEO of Woodruff-Sawyer & Co, one of the largest insurance brokerage and consulting firms in the US, from 2008 to 2016. He was also named as Chairman of Assurex Global, the world’s largest privately held commercial insurance, risk management, and employee benefits brokerage group. Before his time with Woodruff-Sawyer, Charlie served as a benefits practice leader for Marsh. He began his insurance career as a benefits consultant for Sedgwick.Charlie received his Bachelor of Arts in history from University of California, Los Angeles.

Keith Schuler entered the insurance industry as an Underwriter with Chubb Insurance prior to joining InterWest’s predecessor organization, Lindo Hanna & Abbott, in 1987 where he became a partner in 1991. He developed an expertise in self-insurance and risk transfer programs for medium to large businesses and focused his sales strategy around providing risk management and claims mitigation solutions. In 1992, Lindo Hanna & Abbott merged with 2 other large successful brokerage firms to form InterWest and in 1995, Keith accepted the role of Northern Division President. Having demonstrated strong management & leadership skills, he was asked by the InterWest Board of Directors to accept the position of President/Chief Executive Officer in 2008.Keith is an officer on the Board of Directors of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers based in Washington DC. He also served on the National Advisory Board of the PGA Tour (1995-1999) and as a board member for De La Salle High School in Concord, CA. Keith is known for his dedication to Philanthropy and Community Support and willingly severed on a number of nonprofit boards. He is currently a Board Member for the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Western Division and was instrumental in creating the Annual InterWest Gives Back Champaign.Keith is a graduate of California State University, Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management/Finance and a minor in Biology. He played intercollegiate football at the University of California, Davis, as well as California State University, Sacramento. He is a native of Walnut Creek and resides in Lake Tahoe and Chico with his wife Chelle. Outdoor enthusiast’s Keith and Chelle spend the majority of their time in mountains skiing, backpacking and enjoying water sports, and spending as much time as they can with their three children.

Vandana Sule is a Principal in Ernst& Young’s Consulting Services practice and leads the Insurance sector growth strategy in west region. She is primarily focused on the property & casualty Insurance sector leading large transformation programs and serving as trusted advisors to C-level executives of large tier Insurance Clients. Vandana has more than 22 years of experience in business transformation, operational efficiencies, technology enablement and delivery management primarily in insurance and finance services. Areas of expertise include business & IT transformation specializing in financial services, revenue and resource forecasting, contract negotiations & vendor management and client relations development & management.

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Pilar Summerville is Senior Vice President in RT Specialty’s Burbank, CA office, leading a diverse RT ProExec team dedicated to delivering creative solutions and exceptional service to clients. Pilar has been with RT Specialty since the company began in 2010 and has experience in all lines of professional and management liability, focusing on complex risks including financial institutions, healthcare services and cyber liability. Pilar has been a wholesale professional and executive liability broker since 2003. Previously, she was a broker with CRC Insurance Services, playing an integral role in leading the largest professional / management liability production team in the CRC Chicago office. Pilar began her insurance career as an actuarial analyst, where she gained experience in actuarial modeling and commercial lines rating. A graduate of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Pilar earned a degree in actuarial science with a concentration in finance.

Damion Walker is an Executive Vice President and Client Advocate providing strategic risk mitigation solutions and thought leadership to key Willis Towers Watson clients across their global operations. With over 20 years of financial and insurance experience, Damion’s expertise encompasses a broad portfolio of critical business development and organizational risk categories for large-sized organizations, especially those with high-profile and international exposures. Prior to re-joining Willis Towers Watson in 2016, Damion was a Senior Vice President at HUB International. Prior to HUB International, Damion led Willis North America’s Financial Solutions practice for seven years and prior to Willis, he was the West Region Manager for Marsh Enterprise Risk. Damion’s experience prior to broking includes underwriting for AIG, Controller for an international glass manufacturer, and Financial Analyst for a global consumer goods manufacturer, where he maintained multiple financial designations including Chartered Financial Analyst. Damion also worked as a UFCW Union member in the retail grocery industry for ten years during high school and college. Damion has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and a MBA in Finance from California State University, Long Beach. Damion is also currently serving as Board Chair for Insuring the Children, West Region Board Member for Insuring the Children Foundation, and is actively serving on boards for the Orange Spirit Nation and coaching for Matt Leinart and Tustin Cobra Football.

As Regional Executive, Adam is responsible for the direction, distribution, and performance of all commercial property, casualty, and specialty lines business in the West Region. Adam joined Liberty Mutual through the Ironshore Acquisition in 2017 where he held a similar role.Adam started his career at AIG in New York as a D&O underwriter and moved with AIG to Los Angeles in 2000. He later became a broker at Gallagher where he worked for several years prior to making the move to Ironshore in 2010.

Adam holds a Bachelors Degree in Finance from Lehigh University, and currently resides in Encino, CA. When not working, you will normally find him spending his free time with his wife and two small children, but on the off chance he is able to get away, there is a good chance you will find him golfing or quietly enjoying a Red Sox or Patriots game.