Speaker Bios
Robert Bartolotta
Senior Managing Director
American Portfolios Financial Services
Robert Bartolotta is the Senior Managing Director of American Portfolios Financial Services in Rochester, NY. He has been assisting both individual and corporate investors in establishing and managing their assets for the past twenty years.
Robert is a Graduate of Cornell University, with a BS in Applied Economics. He is a Registered Investment Advisor through American Portfolios Advisors Inc. and holds the following securities licenses: 6,24,26,51,52,62,72 as well as holding a Life, Accident and Health Insurance license.
A seasoned financial advisor, Mr. Bartolotta specializes in retirement and income planning, as well as implementing and consulting on corporate retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), 457 and TSA plans) and individual and corporate insurance plans.
Thomas Blomberg
Assistant Vice President – Commercial Marketing
BCS Insurance Group
Mr. Blomberg has worked for or with BCS Insurance Group – a company with 60 years of experience in group insurance markets – since 1995. Focusing on product development and special risk underwriting has led Mr. Blomberg to become an industry expert in the field of limited benefit medical plans. In fact, Mr. Blomberg has been servicing national and franchise accounts – including restaurants, hotels, retailers, and staffing agencies – since 2006.
An accomplished and prolific writer early in his career, Mr. Blomberg now spends the majority of his time advocating the positives of limited benefit programs as an affordable healthcare solution for hourly and part-time employees. Recognizing the need for low-cost plans with robust outpatient and prescription drug coverage is greater than ever, Mr. Blomberg works with brokers and consultants to help design the appropriate program for their clients.
Mr. Blomberg graduated from St. Cloud State University with a BA and received his JD from William Mitchell College of Law. He also serves on the board of directors as general counsel and secretary for Rock The Cure, a breast cancer charity.
Jodie E. Braner
Account Executive, Life & Employee Benefits Department
Pritchard & Jerden
Jodie brings over 14 years experience in the Life and Health Insurance industry. She joined Pritchard & Jerden in October 2004, following 5 1/2 years at Humana, Inc. of Georgia as a large group sales representative. Prior to Humana, Jodie worked with the PPO Network vendor now called BeechStreet selling to employer groups, reinsurance carriers and third party administrators. Jodie initially started her career at Prudential Atlanta Group Operations in Account Management. Jodie has worked with employers of all sizes and has extensive knowledge of provider networks, managed care alternatives, and ancillary coverages.
George W. 'Coach' Campbell
Senior Corporate Trainer
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace in the Workplace Program
With over 30 years of experience, Coach Campbell, as most of his business clients refer to him, is a graduate of University of Tennessee in Industrial Engineering. He leads the effort to bring the principles of ‘Financial Peace' to the workplace nationwide for the Ramsey organization. He is responsible for the National Certification Program of Workplace Trainers and for helping companies large and small to realize what a huge impact the ‘Personal Financial Wellness Challenge', of their employees, is having on their businesses. For the ten years prior to joining Dave's Financial Peace @ Work Team, Coach Campbell worked as an independent performance consultant and trainer for clients like Coke-a-Cola, Federal Express, the United States Postal Service, US Sprint, and the State of TN, just to name a few. He has presented for numerous national and regional conferences and has been one of the most well attended programs at our conferences for the past three years.
John Cassell
Senior Partner
Spring Consulting Group, LLC
John Cassell is the Senior Partner at Spring Consulting Group, LLC. He is responsible for the strategic focus of the group and for corporate development. John has over 20 years experience in the healthcare and financial services sector.
John is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has contributed articles and papers to a number of publications and journals. He is an associate of the Royal Society of Medicine.
John has recently been involved in assignments including: Creating a unique health insurance program for an employer association; Designing a multinational healthcare benefit funding strategy for a global bank; Building a strategic alliance to offer employers captive based pension funding solutions; Developing a new corporate market strategy for a major insurer; Developing segment focused strategies for a leading mutual fund company; and Designing an HR outsourcing strategy for a leading global insurer
Previously, John was a partner in Watson Wyatt from 1997-2003. During this time, he set up and ran the employer healthcare consulting practice in the UK and headed healthcare industry consulting globally. Most recently he was Executive Vice President of Watson Wyatt’s US Insurance and Financial services consulting practice.
Prior to Watson Wyatt, John was healthcare practice director at Sedgwick responsible for building their employer health consulting and health administration business in the UK. In 1995 he established a Group Strategic development function at Sedgwick which fulfilled the role of a worldwide strategic and organizational advisory group to the board.
In 1994 John set up a new employer healthcare consulting practice for Noble Lowndes and partners, a major UK benefits consultancy. Prior to this he was managing director of Strategic Healthcare Associates (SHA), a leading UK healthcare consulting firm. His U.S. experience also includes six years with American Medical International where he was Vice President and Director of Development.
Jim Castle
Regional Vice President, Group Insurance Sales
Mutual of Omaha
Jim Castle, regional vice president, Group Insurance Sales, Mutual of Omaha. Castle is responsible for the management of the sales efforts for the company's central region.
Castle joined the company in April 2008. He has more than 20 years experience in group insurance sales, serving as a group sales representative for Guardian Life Insurance Company of N.Y. and regional group manager for Guarantee Life Insurance Company; and later promoted to Regional Vice President of Jefferson Pilot Financial Insurance Company. Prior to working for Mutual of Omaha, Castle was the founder and president of Benefit Connection, Inc, a company he started in 2004 that provided employer paid and voluntary products and services to brokers throughout the Southeastern United States.
He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Castle is working toward a Chartered Life Underwriter professional designation.
Mark Combs
Partner / Benefit Consultant
Horne Guest
Mark is a veteran in the employee benefit industry, and by any objective standard, is one of the most educated expert employee benefit advisors in the country. A few of his credentials include the following professional designations: Certified Financial Planner®; Chartered Financial Analyst®; Registered Employee Benefit Consultant; Registered Health Underwriter; Chartered Financial Consultant; and Certified Life Underwriter.
He is the co-owner of a multi-million dollar employee benefit advisory practice in Charleston, SC. His firm is one of the largest employee benefit advisory firm in the southeast, advising some of the most successful corporations in the U.S. He also is a teacher and mentor to many top employee benefit advisors throughout the country.
Mark leverages his experience and credentials to create processes which help employers get the maximum possible benefit out of the employer-employee relationship. He loves to automate processes, through applied knowledge and systems to make life easier for employers, his clients & internally for his employees.
John Conkling
Framework Health Plan
With over a decade of experience working with brokers and their customers on limited medical plans, John Conkling has experienced first-hand the evolution and expansion of the limited medical benefit marketplace. He regularly works with brokers across the nation on cases ranging in size from 10 to 100,000 lives. Fringe Benefit Group sells its Framework Health Plan products exclusively through independent agents and benefits consultants, and has exclusive marketing arrangements with two A-rated carriers.
Frank P. Doherty
Co-Founder, Managing Partner and CEO
National Benefit Partners
Frank Doherty is a Co-Founder, Managing Partner and CEO National Benefit Partners, an independent marketing & distribution company specializing in the worksite marketplace. Frank began his career in the voluntary employee benefits industry in 1970 as a Sales Rep with Colonial Life and Accident, progressing through various sales and agency management roles to VP of Sales Development before leaving in 1990 to join The Copeland Companies as Sr. VP for Copeland Retirement Services. In 1993 Frank was named President of Copeland Healthcare Services. He left Copeland in 1995 to start Frank Doherty & Associates which was responsible for developing and supporting distribution in the Eastern half of the U.S. for Transamerica Worksite Marketing, Averaging 35% compound annual sales growth for the next 10 years and generating more than two hundred sixty million dollars of new premium, FD&A’s success became the impetus and model upon which National Benefit Partners was created with his partner, Dan Jund, former CEO and President of Transamerica Worksite Marketing.
Dennis M. Donahue
Managing Director, National Practice Leader, Employee Benefits
Wells Fargo Insurance Services
Dennis Donahue is responsible for providing Wells Fargo Insurance Services benefit brokers and consultants with solutions for their customers as well as identifying new revenue opportunities for the company and working with field personnel to implement new initiatives.
As the company’s Employee Benefits Practice Leader, he is responsible for the training of 1,000 Wells Fargo and Wachovia benefit professionals, the management of the Practice’s professional standards, marketing, public relations, and the implementation of Web-based technology applications for Employee Benefits.
Donahue has over 30 years in the benefits business. Prior to joining Wells Fargo six years ago, he spent 11 years with Marsh. In his role there, he was the Chicago Employee Benefits Practice Leader and received the Marsh Excellence Award in 2001 as their Best Employee Benefits Practice. More recently, as Senior Vice President, National Practice Leader, Business Development, he worked very closely with Marsh’s benefit technology initiatives to bring cost-effective applications in support of benefit plan administration.
Donahue is the Chairman of the Council of Employee Benefit Executives and has served on the Council’s subcommittee for Industry Affairs and as head of the Council’s Employee Benefits Standards initiatives.
He received a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Lewis University, Lockport, Ill. Donahue is also licensed in 17 states and holds a number of insurance certifications.
Annette Dowdle
Senior Vice President
HUB International
Annette Dowdle is a Senior Vice President for HUB International, one of the top 10 insurance brokers for property, casualty, and employee benefits in the world. She is one of HUB’s top experts responsible for leading client and prospect consulting teams which work with clients on their strategic planning, plan design consulting for all employee benefits (medical, life, dental, disability and other voluntary benefits), and annual renewals. Dowdle also serves as the chairman for HUB International’s Best Practices Committee.
Dowdle has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry including a decade at Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Louisiana as a large account executive for self-funded and fully-insured clients. She has experience counseling clients on employee benefits in numerous industries such as hospitality, healthcare, education, distributors, and financial institutions.
Dowdle holds a BS in Business from University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama and has a Registered Health Underwriter designation.
Dowdle also currently serves as a board member of the Three Rivers Art Festival, the Broker Advisory Council at BCBSLA, is a member of the New Orleans Health Underwriters, alumni of St. Tammany West Leadership program and past chairman of the Leadership Board of Trustees.
Chris Duncan
Consultant
Mercer Health and Benefits
Chris Duncan is a consultant to Mercer Health and Benefits leadership, focusing on business strategy and growth initiatives in the US. He has had a varied career in both small entrepreneurial and large public companies, with leadership positions in senior management, finance, operations, risk management and insurance, as well as serving as a board member in profit and not-for-profit entities. Mercer is the leading healthcare consulting, benefits sourcing and administration firm in the US, part of the MMC family of companies.
His background includes COO/CFO of a regional brokerage, benefits and administration firm, Chief Operating Officer of a public company in the alternative energy arena, Chief Risk Officer at Delta Air Lines, and multiple positions including strategic planning, finance, security and risk management positions within PepsiCo companies of Frito-lay and KFC. He started his career at Ford Motor Company in Detroit Michigan and early in his career, consulting positions with Coopers & Lybrand and Towers Perrin.
Active in the community, he is the Vice Chairman of "Open Hand" (Atlanta based meal delivery non-profit delivering over one million meals annually in the Atlanta metro area to the disadvantaged, sick and recovering needy of the area), and board member of The American Geographical Society, the nation's oldest professional geography organization, based in New York.
Mr. Duncan has a B.A. degree in Business Administration and an M.B.A. in Finance and Risk Management, both from the University of Georgia, and was named Alumnus of the Year (2003) for the Terry College of Business Risk Management and Insurance Program, the University of Georgia. A supporter of continuing education, Chris has been "Risk Manager in Residence" (sponsored by the Risk Management and Insurance Society) or guest lecturer at various institutes of higher education, including the University of West Virginia, Southwestern Missouri State University, Troy State University, University of Hartford, and the University of Georgia.
Steven L. Farish
Senior Vice President, Worksite National Practice Group
Wachovia Insurance
Steve Farish is a Senior Vice President and heads the Worksite National Practice Group for Wachovia Insurance, a Wells Fargo Company. He works with brokers and clients in delivering Core and Voluntary communication and education, technology and best in class products as well as other value added platforms to attract and retain employees.
Steve has been affiliated with Wachovia since 2005, performing in various capacities prior to joining Wachovia Insurance Services. He served as a Managing Partner with Palmer & Cay for 9 years where he was responsible for the management of the health and welfare offices in South Carolina and Palmer & Cay Worksite. Prior to that, Steve served as Regional Sales Manager for Provident Life & Accident Insurance Company where he served in various capacities for 19 years.
Steve is a graduate of Presbyterian College with a BS degree in Biology. He has obtained his HIA from Health Insurance Association of America, his GEBS from CEBS and completed the LTCP program. Steve resides in Columbia, SC with his wife Nancy and their three children.
Kenneth A. Finneran
Chief People Officer – Americas
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics
Kenneth A. Finneran, currently Chief People Officer – Americas, is leading the strategic, human resources function within the region for Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Inc. From January 2006 to December 2008, Mr. Finneran served as VP of Human Resources for Hellmann USA. Prior to that, from 2001 to 2005, Mr. Finneran was Founder, President & CEO of ICM – Intellectual Capital Management, an international consulting firm headquartered in Wroclaw, Poland, specializing in HR and organizational consulting, executive search, interim management, and complex training solutions for multinational companies in Central & Eastern Europe. Previously, Mr. Finneran worked as Consultant to the President for a major, central European pharmaceutical company and as a manager for two large, multinational HR services companies.
Mr. Finneran's client list included companies such as GM/Opel, Bosch, Bridgestone/Firestone, Saint-Gobain, 3M, IBM, and Coca Cola. He has held key roles and led teams in the U.S., Germany, and Poland. Mr. Finneran has also conducted dozens of trainings around the world on leadership, management, corporate social responsibility, change management, and cultural aspects in business dealings.
Elizabeth Galentine
Associate Editor
Employee Benefit Adviser
Elizabeth Galentine is Associate Editor of Employee Benefit Adviser, the nation's most-read business trade publication for benefits brokers, consultants and advisers, covering health, retirement and voluntary benefits, as well as trends in business development, technology and client management. Ms. Galentine also serves as an Associate Editor to EBA's sister title, Employee Benefit News, and oversees EBA's blog, podcast series and weekly e-newsletter. She has several years of experience reporting, designing and producing media for multiple publications. Lately, she has spent many hours on Capitol Hill covering health care reform from the benefit professionals’ perspective.
Nat Garfield
Director of Employee Benefits
American Portfolios Financial Services
Nathaniel (Nat) Garfield is the Director of Employee Benefits for American Portfolios Financial Services in Rochester, NY. He has worked in employee benefits for over 22 years as a company representative, producer and national agency vice president. His knowledge and experience has proven to be a great asset to our agency and its clients.
Nat graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1986 with a BA in English. Originally from Boston MA, he now resides in Pittsford, NY with his wife and three children.
Nat specializes in designing employee benefit plans that help meet the needs of his clients and their employees. He helps communicate and implement everything from health insurance and wellness initiatives to employer sponsored and voluntary benefit plans.
Jonathan Genetelli
Communications Chair
Atlanta Association of Health Underwriters
Jonathan Genetelli's career has focused on the insurance industry. He was an Account Executive for Large Groups at Coventry Healthcare in Atlanta where he successfully generated new business for existing accounts, including underwriting negotiation, preparation of claims analysis, client presentations and implementation. Prior to Coventry, Genetelli was a Sales Representative for CIGNA Group Insurance in Atlanta. While with CIGNA, he was named November 2007's Top Sales Representative in the Southeast Region. Genetelli also exceeded 2007's yearly sales goal by 82%, maintain 114% of established customer's goals and 110% of quote activity per month.
Currently serving at Communications Chair on the Atlanta Association of Health Underwriters, Genetelli is responsible for producing the quarterly newsletters and updating the association's Blog and other social media outlets.
Genetelli earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Administration in Risk and Insurance and Finance and Banking from Appalachian State University.
Pradeep Goel
CEO
Consumer Health Technologies
As CEO of Consumer Health Technologies (CHT), Pradeep Goel brings a passion and dedication to the Consumer Directed Healthcare market space with the goal of leading the delivery of CDHC software products that are technologically superior and afford clients a market dominating position in the healthcare benefit administration industry.
Prior to starting CHT, Pradeep served as Chief Product Architect and Chief Operating Officer for Dakota Imaging where he played a critical role in deploying emerging technologies at nearly all of the major Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer organizations across North America. In 2004, the privately held firm was successfully sold to a public company.
Since launching Consumer Health Technologies in 2006, Pradeep has grown the company into a nationally recognized and award winning company.
Pradeep has a Bachelor of Engineering in Systems Engineering with a focus on operations research from Punjab University in India. He has also completed graduate studies with focus on Very Large Data Base (VLDB) technology in the United States.
Bob Grimes
Vice President of Human Resources
NuStar Energy L.P.
Bob Grimes serves as Vice President of Human Resources for NuStar Energy L.P. where he oversees NuStar's human resources programs, including benefits and compensation, recruiting and employee relations.
Prior to joining NuStar, Mr. Grimes spent 17 years as the Director of Employee Relations & Public Affairs at the Valero Bill Greehey Refinery in Corpus Christi. In that position, he managed all employment activities, employee relations programs, technical training and security, as well as charitable programs and media relations. He also spent 13 years at Valero’s corporate office in San Antonio where he served as Director of Employment and Field Employee Relations and Payroll Manager.
A committed volunteer, Mr. Grimes currently serves on the board of directors of Junior Achievement and is a member of the Rotary Club of San Antonio. He previously served as President of the United Way of the Coastal Bend and President of the Corpus Christi Downtown Rotary Club.
Mr. Grimes holds a B.A. in Finance from Texas A&M University.
Nelson Griswold
President
Cross-Sell Solutions
Nelson Griswold is the insurance industry’s recognized authority on cross-selling and solution-based selling.
A former senior executive and top producer with a national enrollment firm, Nelson founded Cross-Sell Solutions to help brokers succeed at cross-selling worksite voluntary benefits and to transition from being viewed as a mere insurance salesperson into the client’s trusted advisor by following his proprietary Advisory Selling® system.
Nelson consults with brokers, agencies and carriers to help them increase their revenues and market penetration with voluntary benefits.
His innovative approach to cross-selling voluntary benefits is the result of Nelson’s own real-world, trial-and-error search for success cross-selling voluntary. After analyzing the attitudes and cross-selling efforts of hundreds of brokers, from those who refused to cross-sell to those who were highly successful, Nelson took the methods and strategies of the most successful brokers and synthesized them into his own system for cross-selling voluntary benefits that turned him into a top producer. That proven system is the basis for the Cross-Sell Solutions System.
A featured speaker at industry conferences, Nelson’s work has appeared in leading industry publications, including his groundbreaking article “Four Steps to Cross-Selling Voluntary,” which introduced the industry’s first-ever systematized approach to help brokers cross-sell worksite voluntary benefits.
Elizabeth Halkos
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Purchasing Power
Elizabeth Halkos is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Purchasing Power. In this position, Elizabeth manages the company’s marketing, account management, business development, sales and distribution channels. She drives business strategies, manages strategic partnerships and is responsible for prioritization and resource allocation.
Elizabeth has been with Purchasing Power for over 3 years and in that time has become an expert in the Voluntary Benefits Industry, the Digital Divide, and broker and employer challenges. As a leader, she leverages her expertise for her team to provide solutions that align with their clients’ organizational initiatives and objectives.
Elizabeth earned her Bachelor’s in Business Administration as well as her Master’s degree from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia. She remains involved with her alma mater by being a member on the Alumni Board of Directors as well as being a Career Coach and Mentor. Elizabeth stays abreast of business and industry trends by regularly subscribing to the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Economist, Money, Brandweek, Marketing Journal, and Miller Heiman/salesforce e-news. You may also run into her at such trade shows as Inter-Company Marketing Group (ICMG), Professional Insurance Marketing Association (PIMA), Benefit Selling, Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), Benefits Selling, Employee Benefit Advisor, and the CMO Club events.
David B. Hillelsohn
Brokerage Manager
The Haslett Management Group
Brokerage Manager of The Haslett Management Group, an independent general agency that specializes in the Long Term Care marketplace, David has worked with professional insurance agents for over a decade to increase their productivity by providing advice and support on retirement health care alternatives.
He often serves as a consultant/training advisor for Washington-based consumer groups and professional insurance organizations, and is a certified continuing education instructor on health care solutions and Long Term Care State Partnerships.
Barbara Howe
Head of Voluntary Products and Services
Aetna, Inc.
Barbara Howe is the Head of Voluntary Products and Services for Aetna, Inc. In her role she is responsible for strategy, product and service development and implementation of voluntary initiatives across Aetna. In addition to strategic work, she manages the worksite marketing staff in support of customer and member marketing materials and enrollment strategies.
Barbara has over 25 years in the employee benefit and insurance industry working as a benefit manager for 3 Fortune 500 companies prior to joining Aetna in 1991. She has held a variety of positions within Aetna over her career in operations, sales, marketing and product management covering the breadth of all products offered by Aetna including Medical, Dental, Life, AD&D, and Disability.
Barbara received her B.A. from Indiana University Magna Cum Laude and likewise her M.A. from The New School for Social Research. She also completed her CFP designation.
Ed Jette, Jr.
Vice President & Co-Founder
Em-Power Services
Ed Jette began his long- term care career 14 years ago as an agent for Travelers. In 1996 he and his business partner Doug Ross founded ElderCare Insurance Agency with a recent name change to Em-Power Service Inc. A brokerage agency committed exclusively to long term care insurance.
Em-Power has evolved into three areas of expertise. Brokerage, Associations and Mutilife/employer sponsored programs. With over 500 broker’s nationwide and successful marketing association programs like AAA of Southern New England with their 2.1 million members, Em-Power has recently focused tremendous resources into developing an effective turn-key system to market, sell, implement and enroll small to midsize multilife voluntary and employer paid benefit programs successfully.
Ed has spoken at numerous regional and national forums on the topic of multilife long-term care enrollments. From the initial call, to delivering hundreds of policies, Em-Power’s proprietary enrollment technology, along with meticulous attention to detail, allows them the capabilities to assist benefit brokers throughout the country. With successful enrollments from 3- 10,000 lives, Em-Powers expertise specifically helps agents and benefit brokers to succeed in this incredible, un-tapped market.
William E. Jones Jr.
Vice President, Sales
MedAmerica Insurance Company
Bill joined MedAmerica Insurance Company in 2001. He is responsible for the development, growth, and management of MedAmerica’s distribution, and the development of products and services. Since 1991, Bill has held various management and sales positions within the long-term care insurance industry. He is an experienced leader who brings an extensive knowledge of long term care insurance sales, management, and marketing to MedAmerica. Bill began his insurance career in 1978.
Jack Kwicien
Managing Partner
Daymark Advisors
Mr. Kwicien has over 30 years of executive management experience. He has founded several entrepreneurial ventures and has significant experience in insurance, benefits, and worksite marketing, negotiating strategic alliances, financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Kwicien co-founded Daymark Advisors LLC, a Baltimore-based consulting and advisory services firm in 2001. Exclusively serving the insurance, benefits, financial services and workforce management market sectors, Daymark Advisors provides strategic consultancy on a retained basis and is a merger and acquisition intermediary with clients on both the buy and sell side. He is also the co-developer of the SMART Benefits Strategic Planning Toolkit.
He previously founded RewardsPlus; a national employee benefits company that leveraged Internet technology and worksite-marketing strategies to deliver customized core and voluntary benefits solutions to employers and employees. He led RewardsPlus as President and CEO until he successfully exited the company in 1999. In 2007, Hewitt Associates purchased that company.
Mr. Kwicien also was the founder a private equity fund that invested in early stage technology companies. In addition, Mr. Kwicien spent over 20 years in the insurance and financial services industry and held executive positions principally in sales and marketing with Prudential, Crum & Forster and Zurich Insurance Group. While an executive with Zurich, he founded a worksite marketing business unit, Group Sales, that successfully marketed property and casualty insurance using payroll deduction billing. Under Mr. Kwicien’s direction, the business unit grew to $42 million in sales in 2.5 years.
Mr. Kwicien serves on the Advisory Board for the Workplace Benefits Association, is a frequent guest speaker at insurance industry conferences, and writes a monthly column for Employee Benefit Adviser and Employee Benefit News, both Source Media publications. He holds a degree from the University of Notre Dame and serves on the executive committee of the Life and Breath Foundation.
Robert J. Lieblein
Managing Partner
Hales & Company
With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Lieblein has been involved in more than 150 mergers & acquisitions and is known as one of the industry's leading financial advisors. He has written numerous articles for industry publications and is a frequent speaker for industry trade groups and associations. Mr. Lieblein is a Certified Public Accountant and spent 13 years with KMPG as a Senior Manager in the firm's Financial Services practice. Rob also is the co-founder of Wharton Capital Partners, a private equity firm involved in starting and acquiring companies since 1997. Mr. Lieblein earned degrees in accounting, mathematics and computer science from Shippensburg University.
Hiram Marrero
Senior Vice President and Employee Benefits Practice Leader
Willis HRH
Hiram has over fifteen years of experience in the Employee Benefits Consulting and Human Resources Management Arena. As Senior Vice President, Practice Leader of Willis HRH of South Florida, Hiram oversees all operations for the employee benefits consulting & brokerage division including business development, marketing and account management & carrier relations. In addition to these duties, Hiram serves his clients as their advocate for their Health & Welfare Program design and effectiveness.
Prior to joining Willis HRH, Hiram served as the National Director for Sales & Marketing for a leading boutique Employee Benefits Consulting Firm. Before entering the consulting arena, he served in leadership HR positions for several multi national corporations. Hiram holds a B.A. Degree in Business from St. Thomas University. He is a licensed agent with active life, health and variable annuities appointments to most major insurance carriers.
Linda Matzigkeit
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Linda Matzigkeit is Senior Vice President, Human Resources of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Her primary focus is to develop and execute Children's People and Service Strategies
She provides executive oversight, vision, and support in the following areas: Recruiting, Retention, Volunteer Services, Total Rewards, Internal Communication, and Learning Services. Additionally, she has responsibility for the oversight and vision of the Customer Service Function.
Matzigkeit began her career in human resources more than twenty years ago in the healthcare industry. After ten years as a human resources consultant with Hewitt Associates, Matzigkeit brought her career full circle when she joined Children's in January 2003. Originally from central Illinois, she earned a Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, and an MBA with a focus in human resources. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of becoming an employer of choice.
Carletta Neal
Senior Consultant
The Omnia Group
Carletta Neal is a senior consultant with The Omnia Group, an employee selection and management consulting firm. Carletta provides employee hiring and retention guidance to the senior-level decision-makers for hundreds of domestic and international businesses. Her scope encompasses a wide range of industries, with particular emphasis in the fields of insurance, legal, banking, automotive, recreational vehicle, powersports, communications, staffing, health care and printing.
Carletta also possesses 18 years of experience in the mortgage, finance and print brokerage industries as a business developer, manager and owner.
Robert G. Relph, Jr.
Co-owner and CEO
Relph Benefit Advisors
Robert G. Relph, Jr., CLU, REBC, RHU, HIA, is co-owner and CEO of Relph Benefit Advisors, the largest independent employee benefits advisor in Upstate New York. Mr. Relph has been at the forefront of innovation since he joined the company founded by his father in 1966. From introducing Flexible Spending plans shortly after their creation to developing a full-service benefits administration operation to establishing the truly unique Lead²Health platform, Bob has built his company by always seeking to provide employers relief from the burdens associated with offering employee benefits. “Today, as the leader of a growing company, currently with over 75 employees, and recent recipient of the Wealth of Health Award which recognizes companies for excelling in the area of worksite wellness, Bob is more excited than he has ever been about the opportunities to provide relief to employers all across New York State.”
Mel Schlesinger
President
The Rainmakers Group, Ltd.
Mel has more than 30 years of commission-only selling experience. Mel entered the insurance business in 1984 selling life insurance at the kitchen table. In 1986 Mel’s focus shifted to the employee benefit arena selling group health insurance and voluntary benefits. In January 1991 Mel sold his health business and focused solely on voluntary benefits. Having discovered how to create a great income and lifestyle with voluntary benefits Mel’s practice shifted once more in 1993. With a desire to help group agents earn more money and provide better service to their clients with less effort, Mel became a National Managing General Agent. That same desire to help benefit professionals led Mel to add a Sales Success Coaching and Training dimension to his business and in 2002 graduated from both CoachU, the premier coach training program in the country as well as the Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach program.
Today Mel helps Benefit Professionals grow their business through his Get More Group Clients sales program. This program provides Benefit Professionals with a proprietary online employee wellness program, marketing systems and several innovative voluntary products.
Believing that it is important to give back to the insurance industry, Mel joined and became active in the National Association of Health Underwriters. He has served as a local chapter president, NCAHU state president and numerous committee chair positions. Today Mel serves on the Executive Committee of NAHU as the Vice President.
He is a Registered Health Underwriter and a Registered Employee Benefits Consultant.
Bill Sims, Jr.
President
The Bill Sims Company, Inc.
Bill Sims, Jr., is President of The Bill Sims Company, Inc. For more than 40 years, the Bill Sims Company has created behavior based recognition programs that have helped large and small firms to inspire better performance from employees and increase bottom line profits. Bill is currently writing a book entitled Green Beans & Ice Cream-The Definitive Recipe for Employee Engagement, Motivation and Recognition, which is based on this seminar and his experience having built more than 1,000 recognition programs since. More than 1,000 firms have benefited from consulting with Bill, including Dupont, Siemens VDO, Coca-Cola, and Ford, to name a few.
Mike Sullivan
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Digital Insurance
Mike Sullivan utilizes more than two decades of insurance experience to manage sales, marketing and strategic distribution activities for Digital Insurance. He also is responsible for creating partnerships with premier insurance brokerage firms, banks, financial services companies and insurance carriers. Since 2000, Sullivan has helped position Digital as the largest and most efficient manager of small group employee benefits business in the United States.
Sullivan began his career with MassMutual where he spent 13 years, most of them as regional vice president of sales in the mid-Atlantic region. In 1997, he joined NYLCare, and later Aetna, as vice president of east coast national account sales. Briefly before joining Digital, Sullivan worked with a Colorado Springs-based VC-funded technology infrastructure company.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in history from Amherst College, Sullivan earned a master’s degree in business administration from George Mason University, which included international course work at Oxford University in England. He is on the board of Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health Foundation and the advisory board of Freedom Bank of Virginia.
Curt Tiedeman
President
HomeBenefitIQ
As President of HomeBenefitIQ, one of the nation’s leading providers of workplace education and real estate benefits, Curt has mentored and trained hundreds of mortgage and real estate professionals. HomeBenefitIQ provides a voluntary benefit that serves over 5,000 employers, associations and groups and their 2 million employees/members.
Mr. Tiedeman has over 15 years of executive management experience. He developed and founded HomeBenefitIQ in 2003. Curt is currently working on a large project that will bring financial literacy education into the workplace that will engage, educate and empower the employees of hundreds of companies nationwide.
Curt holds an active insurance license and a business degree from the University of Nebraska. In the past he has held a committee position or served on the board of several non-profits and associations in Washington State.
Martin Traynor
Vice President, Voluntary Benefits
Mutual of Omaha
Martin Traynor, vice president, Voluntary Benefits, Mutual of Omaha. Traynor is responsible for managing the company's Voluntary Benefits products and services.
Traynor joined the company in June 2007. With more than 40 years in the insurance industry, Traynor has held key leadership positions covering product development, administration, marketing and sales support at organizations such as National Worksite Benefits, Inc., Alexander Hamilton Life, Capitol Bankers Life and General Life of Wisconsin. His most recent prior position was vice president of Voluntary Benefit Solutions for Trustmark Insurance Company.
Traynor was inducted into the Worksite Marketing Hall-of-Fame in July 2008, recognizing his contributions impacting the products and services offered in the worksite marketing landscape. He is a regular contributor to Benefits Selling magazine through a monthly column, “Competitve Edge”. He also is well known as a speaker on voluntary benefits at various insurance industry meetings and conferences.
He received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y.
Traynor holds professional designations as a Chartered Life Underwriter and Fellow, Life Management Institute.
Hendrikus E.J.M.L. van Bulck
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
USC Sumter
Born in the Netherlands, Hendrikus (Hennie) van Bulck is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at USC Sumter. He teaches a variety of courses including Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Small Business Management, Financial Management, Accounting and Strategic Management.
Hennie is also a member in Van Bulck and Company, CPAs, LLC in Sumter, SC, where he is responsible for corporate planning, medical practice consulting and business valuations. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (SCSCPAs), Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants (GSCPAs), Physician's Viewpoint Network (PVN), the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and the South Carolina Tax Council.
Hennie earned a cum laude undergraduate degree from the Netherlands Institute for International Business - NOIB Nijenrode, as well as a MBA and Ph.D. in International Business and Marketing from the University of Georgia. His professional credentials include his CPA certification and he is accredited in business valuation (ABV) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has over 26 years of experience in private practice and he has served on the faculties of the USC Sumter, Clemson University and St. Andrews Presbyterian College.
Hennie has published 46 scholarly and professional articles in the United States and Europe. His current research and publications focus on business valuation and effective business communications.
Jennifer G. Walsh
Partner & Senior Vice President, Employee Benefits Practice Leader
Woodruff-Sawyer & Co.
Jennifer drives the direction and development of our Employee Benefits Practice
and has strategic oversight of our service to clients. She works with our account teams on
strategy, benefits placements and ensuring we have appropriate resources to meet client
needs. Those resources include Compliance, International Benefits Consulting, Retirement
Plan Services, Executive Benefits, and more.
Jennifer’s background includes 19 years of experience in the group benefits industry. She joined
Woodruff-Sawyer as an Account Executive in 2004 and became Practice Leader in 2008. Prior
to our firm, Jenn was a client service manager for ProBusiness, where she was responsible
for national accounts. She has also held positions with Lincoln National and PM Group Life
Insurance Co.
In addition to serving on the Assurex Global International Benefits Advisory Committee,
Jennifer is a past board member of the International Society of Employee Benefits Specialists
(ISCEBS)-Northern California Chapter and the Northern California Employee Benefits Council
(NCEBC). She has been a panelist at the NCHRA/NCEBC Annual Benefits Symposium and
a featured speaker on various issues affecting the Employee Benefits industry. In 2008, she
attended the International Benefits Network (IBN) Partners meetings in Canada and Ireland
to collaborate on ways to deliver quality results for mutual clients.
Jenn earned her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist
(CEBS). In 2009, Jenn initiated and continues to lead the development of Woodruff-Sawyer’s
Employee Benefits Podcast Series.
Nick Walter
CEO
Walter Advisory Group
Nick Walter has created a unique niche in the market place and
is becoming a nationally known Wealth Strategist. The Walter
Advisory Group advises clients on how to properly manage
assets and liabilities in the context of a sound financial plan,
providing safety, liquidity and rate of rcturn.
Nick has built an excellent reputation providing financial
strategies and expertise for his clients to maximize their
financial future utilizing a unique consultative approach to
Liability management. Nick and his Team use their extensive knowledge
and understanding of the real estate and financial markets to provide
customized solutions serving the needs of their clients.
His accomplishments include: Founder, Source Business Solutions - financial and operational
consulting firm; Founder, Wealth Management Institute - provides continuing
education and workshops for Realtors, Financial Planners, CPAs,
Insurance Agents, and Attorneys; Founder, Source Financial Solutions - provides hard money financing for rehab projects; Partner, 1St Patriot Companies - Land Development and Commercial
real estate; Publisher - Millionaire Homeowner Magazine; and Co-authoring a book with Top Producer, two-time Inc. 500 winner, a three time KPMG Fast 50 winner, Todd Ballenger
Woody Waters
Vice President
ELAP, Inc.
Woody joined Aldwyn Group as VP in September 2001 and subsequently co-founded ELAP, Inc., to provide consultative fiduciary services to employers that self-fund their health plans. He is a principal in both firms. Previously, Woody worked for nine years as a P&C producer at one of the largest insurance brokerages in America. He graduated in 1990 from the University of Georgia with a BBA in Risk Management & Insurance, and he received an MBA in Marketing from Georgia in 1992.
Kyle Williams
The Williams Group
Kyle has been in the financial services and real estate industries since graduating from UNC Chapel Hill in 2002 with a BA in Economics. He has since founded three companies, which include Eastern Omni, LLC - a land acquisition and development company with operations in Greenville and Charleston, South Carolina, Capital Equity Management, and the North Carolina Institute of Education – a facilitator of both public and private workshops on fiscal literacy and financial education. Kyle is a NCREC approved instructor for Realtor® continuing education, and is approved nationally to facilitate workshops for Certified Financial Planners®, Insurance Agents, CPAs, and Mortgage Lenders for their continuing education requirements.
Kyle is considered an industry expert in the area of capital market and credit market convergence. He is the first in North Carolina to earn the credentials of Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist™, and has also obtained the designations of Registered Financial Consultant®, Certified Liability Advisor®, Certified Mortgage Advisor™, and is currently participating in the Certified Financial Planner® curriculum. He takes a lot of pride in teaching advisors and other professionals how to provide concepts, strategies and transformational dialogue to their clients and thrives to be a leader amongst his peers in areas of personal and professional development and education.
Kyle was recently chosen as one of 40 top advisors (both asset and liability) from around the country to participate in the inaugural ground-breaking Mentor Program by Kendall Todd. In September of 2007, this unique group of industry transformers founded the National Institute of Financial Education®, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to unbiased consumer education. Kyle is also engaged in Dan Sullivan’s world renowned entrepreneurial coaching organization, The Strategic Coach®, which meets quarterly in Chicago, Atlanta and Toronto.
Andrew Windham
Founder & CEO
Insurance Georgia
Andrew Windham is a dynamic entrepreneur whose expertise and passion is assisting small business owners and entrepreneurs in growing their businesses, and consulting on issues related to wealth management. He is currently rolling out a new concept that he calls a "wealth team" approach, bringing together key professionals, i.e., financial planner, attorney, insurance consultant, tax consultant, et. al., who take an integrated team approach to helping their clients achieve their ultimate wealth goals. The "wealth team" serves as the client's group of trusted expert advisors whose function is to assure that all aspect of foundation, protection, growth and wealth acceleration are always in focus.
Andrew uses his wealth team concept with personal clients and in coaching fellow insurance and financial professionals, enabling them to assist their wealthy and ultra-wealthy clients (and those who aspire to wealth) in creating and managing their ultimate wealth teams. This eliminates the need for clients to be experts in specific areas and empowers them to successfully pursue and achieve their ultimate wealth goals with ease and grace. Andrew believes that this big-picture, integrated team approach will be an essential part of the transformational approach needed to move out of our current troubled economy and into a space of accelerated growth and protection of wealth.
Because of his ongoing success, Andrew's expert opinions have been published in several industry magazines. He is a lead author in Attaining Leadership Brilliance, part of The Power of Coaching Series by Machen MacDonald.
Andrew is a frequent guest expert on traditional and Internet radio shows on issues related to insurance coverage and wealth management, and he is currently working on his own Internet radio program for launch in early 2009. He is a highly sought-after consultant and national speaker for his innovative wealth team approach, and he has presented alongside such noted entrepreneurs as John Assaraf, Jim Bunch, Jack Canfield and Murray Smith, among others.
As the founder and CEO of Insurance Georgia and TUF Advisory Group, Andrew acquired a national reputation for his companies' approach to insuring entrepreneurs, small business start-ups and the self-employed. Insurance Georgia is known for its innovative, creative approach to protecting people's lifestyles and finances. Each year, the company assists 11,000 agents in 47 states in bringing their cutting-edge business model to the hundreds of clients that they serve.
Patsy Writesman
CEO
Company CoPilots.com
With nearly twenty years' experience in leadership, management, marketing, customer service and sales, Patsy Writesman understands your workplace challenges in a way only a veteran executive, businessperson, and leader can.
She served as an Executive Director of Electronic Data Systems and Unisys Corporation, and led dynamic and winning teams while directing Medicaid Programs and Student Loan programs in Hawaii, Florida, Arkansas, Kansas and Tennessee.
In short, she's been in the trenches, felt the pressure of meeting CEO and company expectations through her staff of 350. She was successful in meeting corporate goals, sales quotas and customer expectations. She knows what it takes to succeed as a leader in business, and she is a master at helping leaders understand how to deliver.
She has worked with groups across the nation on such issues as improving leadership and management practices, creating processes that work, building teams and sharpening communications, project management and mentoring and coaching.
Whether you need to build your business, serve your customers better or be a more effective leader and communicator, Patsy Writesman delivers. She and her associates specialize in helping leaders and organizations translate their visions and values into actions that produce increased results.
Patsy has a gift for sharing her considerable knowledge with others. Combining solid business sense and tested tactics with fascinating personal anecdotes gathered during her impressive career, she holds the audience's attention and drives home her points in a way that attendees remember.
Patsy is a member of the International Federation of Speakers, National Speakers Association and Past President of the National Speakers Association, Tennessee Chapter.