People Moves: Philadelphia Insurance Promotes 11 to Vice President
Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY) announced the promotion of 11 leaders in its Underwriting, Marketing, Risk Management, Insurance Operations and Human Resources departments:
Lynn Bencivenga has been promoted to vice president of Underwriting. Bencivenga joined PHLY in 2021 as part of PHLY’s acquisition of World Wide Specialty Programs, Inc. She started at World Wide as an administrative assistant and for the last 50 years has participated in all aspects of World Wide including underwriting, accounting, and operations.
Joseph DeCarlo has been promoted to vice president of Underwriting. DeCarlo joined PHLY in 2021 as part of PHLY’s acquisition of World Wide Specialty Programs, Inc. After serving in the U.S. Navy as an officer and pilot, DeCarlo embarked on his 35-year career in the insurance industry. He has held various underwriting, marketing, and management roles at both insurance carriers and MGAs with the majority of his background in professional liability and programs.
David Harrell has been promoted to vice president of Underwriting. Harrell is a 29-year insurance professional who joined PHLY’s E&S Insurance Solutions Division in 2018 as the Midwest regional excess manager. Prior to joining PHLY, he worked at several other insurance carriers and most recently served as a vice president of excess casualty.
Kalen Kramer has been promoted to vice president of Underwriting. Kramer joined PHLY in 2016 as an assistant vice president and West territory manager on the Environmental team. He began his career in 1999 and worked for 10 years at various environmental consulting firms. Kramer transitioned from environmental consulting to environmental insurance in 2009 and has held multiple underwriting and management roles. Since joining PHLY, he has managed members of PHLY E&S Environmental team and the West territory team.
Rick Morgan has been promoted to vice president of Underwriting. Morgan joined PHLY in 2014 as an assistant vice president of Contract Surety. In 2015, Morgan created the PHLY Surety Training Program. Since that time, Morgan and the Surety training team have successfully recruited and trained 32 employees. In addition to responsibilities with underwriting and training, he is actively involved in improving PHLY’s Surety underwriting systems and guidelines.
Denise O’Connor has been promoted to vice president of Human Resources. O’Connor joined PHLY in 2012 as a senior compensation consultant. She was promoted to compensation manager in 2015 and then assistant vice president in 2018. O’Connor leads the compensation and human resource analytics functions. She and her team are responsible for the company’s total rewards programs and serve as key drivers of the performance management process. In addition, the HR Analytics team is responsible for supporting HR and Operations with people data analytics.
Andrew Shockey has been promoted to vice president of Risk Management Services. Shockey joined PHLY in June 2011 as an assistant vice president for the Eastern territory of the Risk Management Services department. He has contributed to the growth and development of regional staff along with starting the department’s operations team. In 2015, he developed the department’s annual training program.
Julie Steege has been promoted to vice president of Human Resources. Steege joined PHLY in 2014 as a senior training and development manager and was promoted to assistant vice president in 2017. Under her guidance, the HR talent development team has expanded its mission to support a full range of employee development offerings, from technical onboarding to leadership training. She previously worked at the University of Colorado-Boulder and at DePuy-Synthes in various teaching, training, and leadership roles.
Kristin Stein has been promoted to vice president of Underwriting. Stein joined PHLY in 2013 as a senior underwriter in the E&S Primary division. She was promoted to specialty underwriting manager in 2015 and to assistant vice president in 2018. She began her insurance career in 1999 as a customer service representative and later became an underwriter for E&S business.
Christina Verish has been promoted to vice president of Insurance Operations. Verish joined PHLY in March of 2012 as a business relationship manager for Underwriting and Compliance after spending more than 20 years leading efforts to modernize insurance systems at other carriers. During her tenure with PHLY, Verish has held leadership roles for Customer Service and Underwriting on several core system replacement projects. Since June of 2019, Verish has focused on forming the Innovation team within Insurance Operations.
Jonathan Wyatt has been promoted to vice president of Marketing. Wyatt began his career at PHLY in 2014 as a senior marketing representative in the Alpharetta, Georgia office. Over the past eight years, he has been a top sales producer, leader and mentor. Wyatt was promoted to regional sales manager in 2017 and assistant vice president in 2020. M