Spencer Educational Foundation Announces Four New Members on Board of Directors
Alliant and AF Group representatives added to Spencer’s Board while new directors representing Zurich North America and RIMS take their seats
New York, NY (February 8, 2024) – The Spencer Educational Foundation Board of Directors announced the appointment of four new board members, two of whom represent new organizations on the Board.
Alliant Insurance Services will now be represented by Joseph V. LaRocco, Jr., Carrier Relations Leader at Alliant and a 30 year industry veteran. Joe continues his service to Spencer as a board member in this new capacity. AF Group will also fill a seat on the Board which will be held by Michelle McLane, Senior Vice President, Business Development. Her industry experience spans underwriting, broker relations, and territory management, and she worked previously for M3 and Liberty Mutual.
Alban Laloum, Chief Customer Officer and Head of Distribution for Zurich North America, is succeeding Ron Davis, EVP, Head of Customer Management of Zurich, who had served this Board since 2011. Alban’s industry experience began in 1988 with Gras Savoye in Paris. He joined J&H in 1996 which later became Marsh, and held a varied of global account executive roles there prior to joining Zurich in 2014. Alban was named Zurich North America’s Chief Customer Officer and Head of Distribution in February 2022.
Spencer also welcomes RIMS Board Vice President Kristen Peed, Head of Corporate Risk at Sequoia as an ex-officio Board Member. She previously served as Director of Corporate Risk at CBIZ, Inc., and she has held a variety of risk management and brokerage roles. Kristen has also served on the Board of Directors for The Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. since 2018. Thanks goes to outgoing RIMS liaison David Arick, former Assistant Treasurer of Global Risk Management at International Paper Company, who has been named RIMS Board President, for his year of service to Spencer.
The appointments of McLane, Laloum, and Peed are effective January 1, 2024. The Foundation expresses gratitude to outgoing board member Lori Seidenberg, Senior Director, Strategic Client Engagement Leader at WTW, and former Global Director of Insurance of BlackRock, for her five years of service on the Board.
Megan Miller, Executive Director of the Spencer Educational Foundation, said, “We are excited to welcome our new board members and ex-officio member, and we thank our outgoing members for their valuable contributions to Spencer. These new appointments will help us in our quest to provide meaningful support to students as well as educators to ensure a robust and diverse talent pipeline for the risk management and insurance industry.”
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About the Spencer Educational Foundation:
The Spencer Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to fostering the education and professional development of risk management and insurance students. Since its establishment in 1979, the foundation has been the foremost organization helping students succeed by providing scholarships, grants, and internships to support talented individuals pursuing careers in these fields. To learn more about the Spencer Educational Foundation and its programs, please visit www.spencered.org.
Spencer 2024 Board of Directors:
Chair: Teresa Black, Chubb
President: Johnell Holly, FM Global
Vice President: Jeffrey M. Cohen, Zywave
Treasurer: Kristin M. Bessette, QBE
Secretary: Bob Thomas, Liberty Mutual
Immediate Past Chair: Robin Roeder, Sedgwick
Stephen Acunto, Jr., Business Insurance
Jackie Bolig, WTW
Joseph Cellura, Allied World
Dr. Cassandra Cole, FSU
Andrea M. Dudek, Accenture
Duncan Ellis, AIG
Julie Gibson, Lockton
Alban Laloum, Zurich
Chris Lang, Marsh
Joseph V. LaRocco, Jr., Alliant
Dr. Weili Lu, California State University – Fullerton
Michelle McLane, AF Group
Kristen Peed, Sequoia
B. Puckett, Gallagher
Elizabeth Ricciardelli, Travelers
Michele J. Sansone, AXA XL
Matthew Schneider, Aon
Ben Sloop, Amwins
Sue Srinivasan, Arch
Michael VanAcker, RT Specialty
Media Contact:
Tandeka Nomvete
External Engagement Director
Spencer Educational Foundation
Email: tandeka@spencered.org