People & Places

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. named Edmund Shallcross III as chief executive officer and president, effective Oct. 1, 2022.

Shallcross will succeed Robert A. DiMuccio, who is retiring after 31 years of distinguished service, including 17 as CEO. DiMuccio will serve as non-executive chair of the board until Dec. 31, 2022.

Shallcross is currently senior vice president and general manager of Amica Life. Shallcross first joined Rhode Island-based Amica in 2007 as a senior assistant vice president in the accounting department.

Before joining Amica, Shallcross spent 12 years at KPMG’s property/casualty insurance practice.

A direct writer, Amica offers auto, home, life, marine and umbrella insurance, as well as annuities.

Liberty Mutual Insurance named Melanie Foley executive vice president and chief administration officer, effective July 2022.

Foley previously served as executive vice president and chief talent and enterprise services officer.

In this expanded role, she will maintain her current responsibilities in addition to overseeing the company’s corporate administration departments and community and philanthropic investments beginning January 2023.

Foley, who has been part of the insurer’s executive leadership team since 2011, will report to Tim Sweeney, who was appointed CEO of Liberty Mutual beginning in January 2023. Foley has been at Liberty Mutual for 25 years and has held positions in sales, marketing and as distribution.

Jen Ughetta will become chief people officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance, effective July 2022. Ughetta has been at the company since 2018.

In her new position, she will have responsibility for all talent-focused teams, including talent acquisition, total rewards, employee relations, leadership learning and talent, and the business-embedded talent advisor communities, among other areas of focus.

Previously, Ughetta was executive vice president and chief talent officer of global retail markets.

Prior to joining Liberty Mutual, she spent 20 years at Munich Reinsurance in human resources.

Lemonade appointed former New York insurance regulator Scott Fischer as its first head of government relations.

He will provide strategic counsel regarding laws and regulations and guide strategy around relationships throughout the insurance regulatory community. Fischer will also serve as co-general counsel alongside Bill Latza, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

Most recently, Fischer was a partner at global law firm DLA Piper, where he represented international, national and local insurers and producers in their regulatory and compliance activities.

He also spent 10 years at the New York State Department of Financial Services, ultimately serving as the executive deputy superintendent for insurance.

Brethren Mutual Insurance Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Mike W. Brashears will step down from his leadership position on Dec. 31, 2022, after a 44-year career with the company.

Robert F. Glass, currently vice president of underwriting and marketing, will succeed Brashears in the role of president/CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2023.

During the first three months of 2023, Brashears will serve in an advisory role to ensure a smooth transition of leadership until his official retirement on April 1, 2023. He will continue his position as a Brethren Mutual board member in retirement.

Glass joined Brethren Mutual in October 2017 as the director of underwriting. He was promoted to managing director of underwriting and marketing in November 2018 and subsequently promoted to this current position in April 2020.

Brethren Mutual is headquartered in Hagerstown, Maryland, and writes personal, commercial and farm business in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia through independent insurance agents.

Massachusetts-based auto and home insurer, MAPFRE USA, named Dana Whiteley a senior vice president of business development.

Whiteley will oversee MAPFRE’s business development strategy in Massachusetts and the company’s Northeast region.

He succeeds Keith Jensen, who is retiring from MAPFRE, effective June 30, 2022.

Whiteley, a Certified Public Accountant, has served in several leadership roles since joining the company in 2002.

Powers Insurance & Risk Management and sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA) promoted Tim Davis to chief operating officer (COO).

Davis previously served as director of operations at both companies for the past five years. As COO, he will supervise the overall business operations strategies and daily operations for both companies.

Responsibilities include creating IT solutions and overseeing hiring and training, as well as developing and administering the company’s policies and procedures.

Prior to joining the companies, Davis worked for a national online retail insurance agency for nearly 10 years.

Powers is one of the largest family owned and operated independent insurance agencies in the bi-state region.

VIAA is a cohesive family of nearly 150 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois.

Alera Group named John Mollica as chief information and innovation officer (CIIO).

In this role, Mollica will lead the vision, strategy and operations of Alera Group’s technology teams. He will partner with Alera Group’s senior business leaders to evaluate and implement technology solutions that continue to drive innovation and operational excellence.

Prior to this role, Mollica served as Alera Group’s vice president of business intelligence and transformation.

Before joining Alera Group, Mollica held senior management and product roles in insurtech. He has also previously held senior finance and transformation roles at Citigroup, AXA XL, and Marsh & McLennan.

Holmes Murphy added Ryan Anderson as property/casualty specialty practice leader in the company’s expanding Minneapolis market.

Anderson joins the Holmes Murphy team with nearly 20 years of industry experience. His knowledge, expertise and industry relationships will be key assets to Holmes Murphy, not only in Minneapolis but across the enterprise, the company said.

Prior to joining Holmes Murphy, Anderson was a senior vice president at Hays Companies, now Brown & Brown, for nearly 14 years. Anderson also spent time as a senior executive risk underwriter at Travelers.

Hylant hired veteran Carman Baines as client executive.

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baines will play a critical role in driving new business wins for the family-owned full-service insurance brokerage and delivering outstanding service to existing client partners.

With more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, she will serve within the sales arm of the company — a key area accelerating new and organic growth for Hylant’s services.

USG Insurance Services Inc. named AJ Perez as producer/broker: commercial lines in the Houston branch office.

Perez joins the USG team with 16 years of insurance industry experience, most recently with CRC Insurance. In his new role at USG, Perez will focus on expanding his book of business and developing USG’s Southern footprint.

This move is the most recent change that USG has implemented in its plan to continue expanding its operations nationally as a leading wholesaler brokerage firm, the company said.

One General Agency, a managing general agency and surplus lines broker based in Oklahoma City, added five people to the underwriting team.

Kraig Rosenow was named underwriting manager. He leads a team of surplus lines and cannabis underwriters over a four-state market. Rosenow, who has 27 years of experience, began his career in personal lines at American Family Insurance and recently transferred from CapSpecialty, where he was an underwriting leader.

Tammie Darter joins OGA as a commercial lines underwriter. Darter brings 30 years of industry experience to the OGA team.

Rachel McCoy was hired as an OGA commercial lines underwriter. McCoy has worked in the industry for over eight years.

Kelly Marshall brings six years of industry experience to OGA in her role as an associate underwriter.

Beverly Miner joins OGA with over 13 years of experience in the insurance industry, including extensive experience on retail side.

The Florida Association of Insurance Agents installed new board members at its annual convention in Orlando in June. The board comprises 14 members, elected on a staggered basis to three-year terms.

Garrett Butler, with Butler, Buckley & Deets, was named chairman. He takes over for outgoing Chairman Steven Clein, with C&C Insurance.

Karyn Roeling, president of the Seibert Insurance Agency in Tampa, was elected vice chair.

Jeff Schlitt was named national director of the association. He has been with the Schlitt Agency in Vero Beach since 1994 and became co-owner in 2001.

Other new directors include Jason Cloar, with Brown & Brown Insurance in southwest Florida; Patricia Clawson Hamilton, with Clawson & Co. in Miami; and Mary Katherine Lawler, president of Doug Croley Insurance Services in Tallahassee.

Bob Rollins, president of the Beacon Group in Boca Raton, was named chairman-elect, to take over the chair after Butler. Rollins has been active in the FAIA for years, was on the board from 2015 to 2018, and is currently vice chair.

IMA Financial Group Inc. named Lauren Karagozian Colorado market president.

Karagozian succeeds Sandy Harvath, who will remain in a leadership role with the company.

During her 14-year tenure at IMA, Karagozian has served as a contract administrator and account executive contract administrator, vice president of contractual risk and certificates, and most recently, senior vice president and managing director of contractual risk.

IMA Financial Group is an integrated financial services company with more than 1,800 associates.

IIABCal named Jill Epstein CEO.

She will be the first female executive of the independent insurance agents and brokers trade association. Epstein succeeds long-time CEO Clark Payan.

Epstein is an experienced attorney and association executive. She comes to IIABCal from the San Diego County Bar Association, where she was executive director.

Epstein previously spent nearly seven years as the executive director of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

IIABCal represents more than 14,000 independent insurance agents and brokers in California through more than 300 member firms. IIABCal is based in Pleasanton, California.