ACAS - May 1989
Candidate Information
Education:
University of Illinois – Urbana, B.S. Actuarial Science 1985
University of Chicago, Executive Development Program,
The Transition from Functional to General Management, November 2004
Current Employment:
Retired, April 2023
CAS Activities and Publications:
Member of Examinations Committee, 1993 - 1995
Casualty Actuarial Society sponsored high school outreach day, Featured Speaker
DePaul University, Chicago, March 2018
Other Actuarial Organizations:
The Actuarial Foundation Board of Trustees
- Immediate Past Chair Jun 2025 – present
- Board Chair Jun 2024 – May 2025
- Board Chair-Elect Jun 2023 – May 2024
As Immediate Past Chair, Board Chair, and Chair-Elect, I have concurrently served on the following committees: Executive Committee, Governance & Leadership Committee, Finance Committee, Strategic Planning Task Force, Corporate Fundraising Task Force
- Program Committee Chair and Executive Committee member Jan 2020 – May 2023
- Program Committee member, Audit Committee member Jan 2019 – Jan 2020
International Association of Black Actuaries
- Member, 1992 - present
- Member, Board of Directors 2002 - 2016
- President 2000 - 2002
American Academy of Actuaries
- Member 1989 - 2023
- Member, Sub-Committee on Medical Malpractice 2003 - 2006
Employment History - Prior Employers:
Zurich North America, Schaumburg, IL
- Senior Vice President & Chief Pricing Actuary, Zurich North America 2017 - 2023
- Vice President & Actuary, Business Insights 2010 - 2017
- Vice President & Division Actuary 2008 - 2010
CNA Insurance Companies, Chicago
- Vice President & Actuary-Pricing, CNA HealthPro 2001 - 2008
- Assistant Vice President & Actuary-Large Account Pricing, CNA HealthPro 2000 - 2001
St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company
- Regional Actuary – St. Paul Commercial Lines Group, Chicago 1994 - 2000
CNA Insurance Companies, Chicago
- Director, Commercial Lines Pricing 1993 - 1994
- Various roles progressing in responsibility from Analyst to Director 1985 - 1993
Membership and Activities in Other Organizations (professional and industry):
- Menttium 100 Chicago, Advisory Council Member 2001 - 2003
- Menttium 100 Chicago, Participant 2000 - 2001
Awards and Recognitions:
Business Insurance Women to Watch Award 2020
Recognizes female leaders reshaping the insurance industry and paving the way for others
International Association of Black Actuaries,
- Lifetime Achievement Award 2023
- Superior Service Award 2004, 2007, and 2008
- Robert J. Randall Pioneer Award 2005
Other Relevant Information:
Guest speaker for industry forums including…
- IABA Annual Meeting, Co-Presenter 2023
Winning the Communication Battle
(Recognized for being the highest attended concurrent session of the Annual meeting)
- Instagram Live With The Maverick, featured guest 2023
Career Progression - SCOR, Women’s History Month Panel, Guest Panelist 2022
- Society of Actuaries Annual Meeting, 2020
- Panelist, Women’s Leadership Forum: Managing Your Career Through Disruption
(Winner of the Outstanding Session Award) - Moderator, Diversity and Inclusion Panel 2020
- Actuarial Research Conference (Virtual), University of NE-Lincoln, College of Business
- Women in Actuarial Science panel participant, North Central College 2019
- Casualty Actuarial Society sponsored high school outreach day, Featured Speaker
DePaul University, Chicago 2018 - IABA Annual Meeting, Mentoring Panel Participant, Washington DC 2017
I retired from professional employment in April of 2023 following a distinguished career in property & casualty insurance. However, I did not retire from my enthusiasm and advocacy for the actuarial profession and my desire to see it thrive now and into the future. I have a demonstrated commitment to serving the profession through volunteerism that has spanned my entire career. My focus is on bringing awareness of the profession to diverse audiences and serving support networks to retain those that choose an actuarial career path. Through my long-standing commitments to the International Association of Black Actuaries and The Actuarial Foundation, I have been engaged in bringing a wide breadth of support mechanisms to under-represented and under-resourced individuals through scholarship programs, professional development opportunities, and access to professional networks and mentoring, all aimed towards sharing with others the profession I love. I am honored by the opportunity to expand my work through bringing my experiences and insights to serve on the CAS Board.
My work experience includes a long history in business partnering roles. I have a particular passion for seeing actuaries holding highly influential roles that drive profitable business strategy and outcomes while respecting corporate responsibility to serve the public with fairness. My satisfaction in successfully influencing business strategy blends into my enjoyment of the strategic role of board membership. I enjoy the collaboration and the substantive, impactful work of the non-profit boards I’ve engaged with. My background includes a very broad range of insurance products and markets in standard commercial and specialty insurance, almost entirely focused in pricing. In addition, my roles have included extensive people management responsibilities, internal governance of my function, executive communication, participation on cross-functional teams, and external interaction with parties such as insurance regulators, customers, and agents/brokers.
The success of the profession has always required foundational and balanced training to prepare for problem solving in often rapidly changing environments. Today we face the realities of the rise of competing professions in data science/analytics. I want to be part of ensuring that the actuarial profession continues to be held in high esteem in the midst of other advancing STEM careers.
I believe my natural and earned skills in a number of areas make me well suited for CAS Board service including:
- Strong leadership experience in both corporate and non-profit roles.
- Consensus builder who values and encourages collaboration, team environments, and consideration of multiple perspectives.
- Results oriented with a track record of concrete, measurable accomplishments.
- Successfully and repeatedly initiating, embracing, and navigating change
Building Skills for the Future and Reinforcing our Differentiated Brand: My work experience in business partnering roles gives me a keen interest in seeing actuaries equipped to become business leaders; individuals who are highly influential in strategic decisions, and with the business acumen and expertise to lead across any number of areas of insurance and risk management. As such, I am particularly interested in our strategies to reach the marketplace with thought-leadership content and to differentiate our brand in ways that will resonate with executives.
We must overcome dated perceptions of actuarial capabilities and demonstrate to the broader insurance and risk marketplace that our skills are more than keeping pace with the needs of the industry. We must elevate demand for the CAS credential and encourage employers to invest heavily in actuarial resources when weighing decisions on their workforce of the future and which professional disciplines they need to address the complex risks of today and tomorrow.
The on-going implementation of the vision that is modernizing education and credentialing is excellent. We are building the skills for the future and we need to advertise the message to the highest levels of leadership across the insurance and risk industry so that the capabilities of the latest generation of actuaries are widely known and elevated above competing alternatives.
Fostering Strategic Expansion: One consistent theme to my volunteer work is outreach to groups that are underrepresented in the actuarial profession. Diversity and inclusion is central to my life’s work, to expose others to the profession and to retain them in the profession.
This is demonstrated in my long-term commitment to IABA, cultivating a network of professional support to students and actuaries at all career stages, and also in my work with The Actuarial Foundation. Across both organizations I’ve worn multiple hats.
My work contributed to the early development of IABA’s Corporate Advisory Council. I’ve served in formal and informal mentoring roles and influenced the career advancement of others. I have advanced programs that promote inclusive workplace environments to attract and retain top talent. I’ve leveraged my personal lived experiences to advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace through numerous public speaking forums. I was a recipient of the Business Insurance Women to Watch award in 2020, recognizing my professional accomplishments, leadership, and my demonstrated commitments to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The work is not yet complete. I would love to bring my experience and insight to the CAS Board. CAS strategic expansion encompasses a broader field than underrepresented groups within the U.S. I can leverage my experiences to impact this vision for new markets and new industries served by a globally diverse CAS membership.
