Leaders Elected in Associations| IFNY Elects Howard Mills President
See also: Leaders Elected in Associations
Former State Assemblyman and Superintendent of Insurance succeeds Nick Pearson
The Insurance Federation of New York, Inc., elected its Directors for 2022 at the group’s Annual Meeting held December 17th, 2021. The Directors elected the Officers of the Board led by Hon. Howard Mills, President, and new Vice Presidents, Jeffrey A. Silver, Esq. and K.J. Singh. A new director was also elected, Ms. Denise Campbell.
IFNY Directors:
• President Howard Mills, Sr. Advisor, McKinsey and Co.
• Treasurer, Richard White, CEO, ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company;
• Secretary, Huhnsik Chung, Shareholder, Carlton Fields;
• Vice President, Amy Feller, Regional Chief Operating Officer and NYC Branch Manager, CHUBB;
• Vice President, Jeffrey A. Silver, Esq. Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Applied Underwriters;
• Vice President, K.J. Singh, President and COO, Maya Assurance Company
• Vice President, Michael Fusco, Consultant, FCAS, MAAA, CERA;
• Vice President/Managing Director, Steve Acunto, President, CINN Worldwide, Inc.
• Board Chairman, Nick Pearson, Independent Consultant, Insurance and Reinsurance;
• Immediate Past Chairman, Lance J. Albright, Vice President, Claims Relationship Management, QBE North America
• Kermitt Brooks, General Counsel, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America;
• Denise Campbell, MARSH
• Michael Catina, Assistant Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, Zurich North America;
• Maura T. Clancy, President, Clancy & Clancy Brokerage, Ltd.;
• James P. Corcoran, Esq. James P. Corcoran Insurance and Related Legal Services;
• Regina Degnan, Executive Vice President, The Newman Team, AON;
• Eric R. Dinallo, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton;
• Frederic M. Garsson, Partner, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP;
• Douglas J. Hayden, President, Wright Public Entity, The Wright Insurance Group;
• Daniel F. Maher, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY)
• Roger M. Moak, Esq., Arbitrator;
• Kevin Rampe, General Counsel, CHUBB;
• Raul Rivera, Retired Chairman, President and CEO, National Benefit Life Insurance Company;
• William M. Savino, Partner, Rivkin Radler LLP;
• Francine L. Semaya, Legal Consultant in insurance regulation, reinsurance, and insurance insolvency;
• Wendy R. Shapss, Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting, Inc.;
• Maria T. Vullo, CEO, Vullo Advisory Services, PLLC;
• Hank Watkins, President, Lloyd’s America, Inc.
• James J. Wrynn, Esq., Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting.
Howard Mills will succeed Nick Pearson as President.
Mr Pearson served in that role for six years, marked by substantial new program offerings for membership and by several highl;y successful events and chariable activities. During his tenure IFNY’s Emerging Leaders and Boys Hope / Girls Hope initiatives took root and grew as did its support for the work of the late Mary Lanning who established an intern program with IFNY support.
Former legislator and the State’s top insurance regulator, Howard Mills is a familiar figure in insurance circles in New York and across the country. Mr Mills is an Independent Corporate Director and a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company. He serves on the Boards of Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW), Ensight and The Doctors Company Group. Mr. Mills is a National Association of Corporate Directors Governance Fellow.
As a Senior Advisor to the insurance practice at McKinsey & Company Mr Mills serves clients across Life, Property/Casualty and Reinsurance in the areas of CEO and Board counseling, crisis management, ESG, financial communications, insuretech, M&A, public affairs, regulatory risk and reputational risk. Previously, he was with Deloitte, LLP for fourteen years as a Managing Director and Global Insurance Regulatory Leader. Mr. Mills is widely quoted in the media commenting on the U.S. and global insurance markets and has regularly appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, SNL Financial, The Hill, Politico, Best’s Review and has been a frequent guest on leading business television programs. Mr. Mills is an experienced expert witness in litigation concerning insurance regulatory matters.
Prior to joining Deloitte in 2007, Mr. Mills served as Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department. During his tenure he focused on leading the Department’s transition to conducting risk-based examinations, lobbying Congress to renew the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), concluding settlement agreements with industry and leading on issues at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) such as principles-based reserving for life insurance companies and disaster preparedness. He was active at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), was a member of the Presidential Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee, served as Co-Chair of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, and testified before Congress on matters relating to the insurance industry.
Mr Mills served three terms in the New York State Assembly (1999-2004) and rose to become the Deputy Minority Leader. While in the Assembly he served on the committees on Banks, Housing, Insurance, Ways and Means and was the Ranking Minority Member of the Committee on Corrections. He was a member of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL). Prior to his election to the Assembly, he was elected to three terms as Supervisor of the Town of Wallkill, NY. He began his career serving as the Director of Grants and Federal Projects to Representative Benjamin A. Gilman in Washington, D.C. He has been an adjunct instructor of political science at Mount Saint Mary College and at Orange County Community College.
Howard earned his B.A. in political science from Marist College and his M.A. in public administration from The American University. He completed a one year course of study in PPE (politics, philosophy, economics) at Mansfield College, Oxford University.
Mr. Mills has 30 years of experience serving on the Boards of not-for-profit organizations serving his community in New York State including the Orange Regional Medical Center, The Greater Hudson Valley Health Care System, the United Way of Orange County, the United Way of New York State, the Orange-Sullivan Alzheimer’s Association, Orange County Hospice, the Orange County Community Foundation and Orange County Cornell Cooperative Extension. Currently Howard serves as a Director of the Insurance Federation of New York and as an Advisory Council Member of The Institutes Griffith Insurance Education Foundation.
He lives in the Town of Hamptonburgh, Orange County, New York, with his wife Erin and their children H. Jack, Cooper and Kathryn.
Jeffrey A. Silver, Esq. was elected Vice President.
Mr. Silver serves as Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of Applied Underwriters, Inc. (AUW) and its related companies from the group’s Opertaions Center is in Omaha, Nebraska. His responsibilities include oversight of legal affairs for AUW and its six licensed property casualty insurance companies including all regulatory matters and all litigation including bad faith claims and other issues. The companies write primarily workers’ compensation insurance throughout the country in more than 40 states.Mr. Silver, who has enjoyed a distinguished career in law, is admitted to practice before Nebraska State Courts, United States District Court for the District of Nebraska; United States Tax Court; United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Silver has to his credit leadership in successful defense decisions in several landmark level insurance cases in California, Nebraska, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.A native New Yorker, Mr Silver was graduated from St. John’s University in 1972 with a B.A. in political science; he received his law degree with honors from Creighton University School of Law, Omaha, Nebraska in 1975; He is member of the Nebraska State Bar and American Bar Associations.
K.J. Singh was elected Vice President.
Mr. K.J. Singh is President and COO of Maya Assurance Company, a commercial auto carrier based in Long Island City, NY. Mr.Singh joined the company at its inception in 2005 and has been instrumental in setting up the infrastructure while leading the operations, strategy and growth of the business. Starting with 3 employees, under Mr.Singh’s leadership, the company has grown to over 35 employees and is further expanding its services and geographic reach. Prior to joining Maya Assurance, Mr. Singh was the I.T. Director for one of the largest electrical construction companies in the country. He was responsible for guiding the company’s I.T. department and supported over 300 employees across 7 remote offices, as well as the company’s headquarters. Mr. Singh has over 20 years of experience in the information technology field and was instrumental in converting Maya Assurance to a digital and paperless environment. Mr. Singh received his Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Atlantic University. He received his Master’s in Business Administration and Masters in Technology Management from Stevens’s Institute of Technology. Mr.Singh current resides in Chatham, NJ with his wife and son.
Denise Campbell was elected to the Board of Directors.
Denise Campbell started her professional journey working in the A&R department of Atlantic Records after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Music Technology at NYU. She joined AIG’s multinational department as an administrative assistant and advanced to Business Analyst and then a Sr. Communication Specialist in the same department. In 2015, Denise moved over to the market facing side of the firm as a Business Development Manager. She was promoted again to a Client Director before leaving the firm to join Marsh as a Client Executive in late 2020.
At AIG, Ms Campbell became very involved with the Black Professionals Employee Resource Group at AIG, eventually leading the New York organization for two award winning years, where they were recognized for excellence in Business Integration. She currently served as Business Advisor to the ERG along with her former Co-Chair until 2020.
Ms Campbell serves as the President of the National African American Insurance Association New York Tri-State Chapter. She held a position on the Insurance Federation of New York Advisory Council until 2019 and is currently serving on the Board of the Water Street Club. Through these organizations she works tirelessly to bring young and diverse talent into the insurance industry and provide them with the exposure and knowledge they need to enter, advance and stay in the industry. She’s been acknowledged by Insurance Business America in their Leading the Change and Hot List editions in 2020, and had a profile done on her by Advisen during Black History Month, 2020.
Denise also has a Certified Project Manager Designation from the Project Management Leadership Group, Inc.
Insurance Federation of New York
The Insurance Federation of New York, Inc., since 1913, has been a force for communicating ideas among all sectors of the insurance industry, bringing public and private interests together for the benefit of all. The Insurance Federation of New York’s prestigious Free Enterprise Award—presented to some of history’s legendary entrepreneurs—continues to salute risk takers and leaders whose creativity and initiative has enabled the expansion of business throughout New York, across the country and around the world. In the insurance industry, it is the commitment and vision of these leaders that has created and refined the risk transfer mechanism to spur economic growth and contribute to personal and business financial security for countless millions.
Today, the Insurance Federation of New York’s annual calendar of events brings together the “best and brightest” to ensure that industry intelligence is shared and that support for best practices in insurance business, law and regulation earns the understanding of leaders across the spectrum. This shared goal draws business executives, legislators and regulators to our Annual Luncheon, our “Breakfast with…” programs, professional seminars, and other events. We also note the establishment of the IFNY Intern Summer Program. Federation members have given most generously of their time and finances to support this program that reaches out into the community and gives highly motivated teens, from challenging backgrounds, an in-depth opportunity to learn about the insurance industry in all its facets and to consider a career in insurance.
The Insurance Federation of New York, Inc., does not engage in lobbying activities and is open to professionals in every segment of the field. [IA]
