People
Michael Crafts has joined The Woodlands Financial Group as vice president of Sales and Marketing. Crafts has more than 15 years of all lines insurance experience. He started his career with Farmers Insurance Group. Most recently he led Gateway Insurance Group, a full service independent agency licensed in 10 states.
Dallas-based Lockton Dunning Benefits expanded its senior leadership and health risk management teams with the addition of Jeff Miller, Christian Moreno, Rich Allen and John Goodner. Lockton also promoted Steve Brooks to senior vice president.
Miller, senior vice president/director, comes to Lockton Dunning Benefits from Aetna where he most recently served as senior vice president of sales for the mid-America region.
Moreno joins as vice president. With more than 10 years of experience, Moreno served previously as vice president and executive director of Cooper Benefits where he developed the business model for Cooper Aerobics Center’s entrance into group employee benefits and corporate wellness consulting.
Allen joins as senior account executive and team lead. He most recently served at Cooper as the vice president of risk and group benefits for Cooper Corporate Solutions.
Goodner joins as senior account executive and team lead. Goodner has more than 12 years of employee benefits consulting experience. He previously worked as a healthcare consultant for Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company as well as Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
Brooks was promoted from vice president to senior vice president. He has more than 24 years of experience in employee benefits.
Dianne Morris, former president of the Association Casualty Insurance Co., was presented with the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award by the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT). Morris becomes the 14th recipient of the prestigious award and the first woman to receive it.
Morris began her career in Dallas in 1967 with Continental Insurance Co. She spent five years in commercial underwriting at Northwestern National Insurance Co., and later joined Austin Surplus Lines.
Morris became vice president of Association Casualty Insurance in 1984; she was promoted to president in 2001 and recently retired after working 33 years at Association Casualty. Morris was also the first woman president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Insurance Companies of Texas (AFACT) from 2006 to 2008.
The ICT presents the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award at its Mid-Year Property and Casualty Insurance Symposium each year.
Lubbock, Texas-based risk and insurance consulting firm The Gibraltar Group has added Pepper Grey as vice president of risk management.
With more than 25 years of risk management and claims experience, Grey will oversee the firm’s claims and risk management team, applying her knowledge of workers’ compensation, human resources and insurance to meet the unique needs of The Gibraltar Group’s clients.
Prior to joining The Gibraltar Group, Grey served as insurance director for Lowe’s Food Stores Inc.
Ian Williams of Jennings, La., and Lynden Lyles of Monroe, La., are recipients of the 2011 Stephen W. Cavanaugh Scholarship established by the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC). Each will receive the $8,000 scholarship over a four-year period.
The Stephen W. Cavanaugh Scholarship Fund was created in honor of Cavanaugh’s leadership and lasting contributions to the insurance industry in Louisiana.
Williams plans to major in Insurance and Risk Management at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.Lyles majors in Risk Management and Insurance at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.