On the core of her management philosophy is connection: Charlene Goodwin sees profitable advertising not as a numbers recreation however as creating a real emotional bond between a company and its audiences. Her deal with recruitment advertising is about truthfully speaking tradition and values.
Nowhere is that this clearer than in Admiral’s Wild Aspect marketing campaign, which she describes as some of the thrilling tasks her crew has undertaken. Designed in opposition to the backdrop of an ageing insurance coverage workforce, the marketing campaign targets early-career expertise and goals to utterly upend drained perceptions of the sector.
By leveraging daring, ENS-inspired visuals and the invitation to “come work on the wild facet with us,” Goodwin reframes insurance coverage as progressive, difficult, and creatively rewarding. The tangible payoff is already evident in elevated curiosity and lead quantity flowing to recruitment groups, proving the facility of a differentiated employer model.
Goodwin can be a pioneer in utilizing know-how and knowledge to serve each purchasers and the broader public. Earlier in her profession, she battled some resistance to utilizing social media for real-time disaster loss estimates, finally serving to place her agency as a go-to supply throughout occasions like Superstorm Sandy, with even New York State turning to them for perception.
“Proper now, we’re utilizing Instagram to get a way of who we’re for expertise that’s coming to us,” she says. “We use LinkedIn for product-related data and for recruitment. We’re capable of increase posts or use some LinkedIn adverts to get a broader attain. One of many issues that we’ll be specializing in extra in 2026 is getting that consciousness of the insurance coverage {industry} usually after which extra particularly for Admiral.”
Right now, Goodwin channels that very same forward-thinking mindset into refined advertising automation, constructing wealthy buyer profiles that assist extremely focused, related communication quite than generic mass e-mail blasts.
She says, “It’s with the ability to construct out a buyer profile as you’ll in a CRM. If any individual is interacting with the web site, you possibly can mark their curiosity based mostly on what they’re . You are able to do that as they’re registering for occasions or webinars or interacting together with your materials.”
And she or he provides, “I wish to ship related content material as a result of there are such a lot of locations to drag data from, and we use that to provide a greater buyer expertise.”
Equally essential is how Goodwin makes it clear there isn’t a job she is unwilling to do alongside her crew, and he or she intentionally hires these with curiosity and problem-solving potential quite than slim {industry} expertise. She invests closely in mentoring youthful professionals and interns, serving to them navigate company life and discover the various profession paths insurance coverage can provide.
As a lady in a senior function, she is conscious about the significance of visibility and illustration. She leverages her affect to increase past her division via worker empowerment teams targeted on recruitment, range, inclusion, and belonging, and philanthropy – initiatives she says at the moment are deeply woven into firm tradition. A part of that is providing a platform for underrepresented voices to share their experiences with the corporate.
Goodwin says, “Lots of what we attempt to do can be construct within the team-building facet so we are able to work collectively and be taught from each other whereas we’re doing good for our native communities.”
Senior Vice President and Head of Inland Marine
Amwins
Technical experience, entrepreneurial grit, and empathy
In the end, Heather Frain’s affect lies in her potential to mix rigorous technical management with empathy, inclusion, and objective. From the outset of her profession, she has demonstrated a builder’s mindset. She has launched a number of applications from the bottom up, together with Amwins’ contractor’s tools Inland Marine program and a logistics program, approaching each with meticulous consideration to element.
She explains, “I’m very element oriented, and I imagine that everytime you’re placing something new collectively, it is advisable to have the fundamentals and the foundations to allow that program to achieve success.”
In constructing the Inland Marine program, Frain was intentional about incorporating value-added providers, which embody:
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a security providers crew that helps insureds establish and mitigate dangers whereas staying compliant with evolving regulatory necessities
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a particular investigations unit that protects insurers and insureds via proactive fraud detection and prevention
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a devoted claims crew that gives 24/7 assist to resolve claims rapidly and pretty
These assist insureds turn out to be stronger, safer companies quite than merely policyholders. In a crowded Inland Marine market the place everybody needs to write down, Frain ensures Amwins delivers high-quality service by embedding assist, perception, and partnership into this system. “I actually really feel that by providing value-added merchandise to our insureds, that’s how we are able to actually stand out,” she says.
Heather FrainAmwins
She focuses not simply on product design but in addition on creating sustainable buildings that may assist long-term development and stability, an indicator of a strategic chief. What units her aside is her insistence that insurance coverage applications ship greater than capability and worth.
Frain’s management is equally evident in how she manages threat and alter. She is proactive in recognizing protection gaps and figuring out rising points reminiscent of quickly rising tools values and the affect of tariffs. Relatively than penalizing insureds when circumstances shift, she works intently with capability companions to make sure purchasers are protected, demonstrating a powerful advocacy orientation and a dedication to doing insurance coverage the suitable manner.
She additionally retains a eager eye on the {industry}. “I like to take a look at my opponents’ types, to be trustworthy, to see what they’re providing and see what they’re doing,” Frain says.
Her affect, nevertheless, extends past underwriting. As each an alumna and a steering committee member of the Amwins Ladies’s Management Program, Frain invests closely in cultivating the following technology of girls leaders. Drawing on her personal expertise founding an MGA whereas elevating younger youngsters, typically closing massive offers along with her oldest daughter (now in legislation college) sitting on the desk in a highchair, she fashions what it means to pursue ambition with out sacrificing authenticity or household. Her core message to rising leaders is grounded and trendy: settle for that steadiness isn’t 50–50, and lead with out ego as a part of a real crew.
Frain is enthusiastic about serving to insured corporations turn out to be higher and, in flip, making the {industry} higher for everybody who works in it.
Govt Vice President and Chief Working Officer
Fortegra
Imaginative and prescient, operational tenacity, and future-focused
Abbie Taylor’s function spans greater than 500 associates throughout a number of nations, with a transparent mandate to place operations as an enabler of underwriting and development. Her management is rooted in listening to government friends, direct studies, and frontline groups in places of work – and utilizing these insights to establish and take away limitations so others can succeed.
“I’m there to verify they will deal with underwriting the enterprise and rising the enterprise profitably. After I take into consideration the collaboration, it’s how do I guarantee that we’re doing all the operations successfully,” she says.
With a management philosophy pushed by values and integrity, Taylor believes in aligning her private values with these of the group and factors to Fortegra’s emphasis on “unwavering integrity” as foundational. From there, she prizes disciplined execution and deep technical experience in a single’s craft, recognizing that insurance coverage is complicated and calls for rigorous, detail-driven professionals.
She says, “I’m at all times attempting to have lunches with broader teams and to have one-on-ones with a wider vary of individuals, as a result of it’s via these avenues that you just perceive the place the challenges are.”
Taylor can be a extremely collaborative downside solver who operates comfortably throughout features and geographies. She not too long ago led a cross-functional, worldwide initiative to optimize Fortegra’s UK and European operations, bringing collectively stakeholders from operations, compliance, finance, underwriting, and know-how to align processes finish to finish – from underwriting via to the monetary ledger.
Abbie Taylor Fortegra
This structured collaboration, rooted in respect for native regulatory nuance and knowledgeable by US greatest practices, illustrates her potential to translate technique into tangible operational enhancements.
Beneath Taylor’s management, Fortegra has invested in trendy, configurable platforms to assist the specialty enterprise globally, with one other platform launching to serve guarantee, embedded, and associated applications. She pairs these platforms with sturdy knowledge engineering, guaranteeing high-quality knowledge and environment friendly processing, and a pointy deal with knowledge science to refine underwriting choices throughout greater than 100 applications, the place even small enhancements in mixed ratio translate into significant worth over thousands and thousands of {dollars} of premium.
Maybe most notably, she places expertise and inclusion on the middle of Fortegra’s long-term success. She champions Fortegra Community of Ladies (NOW), the corporate’s girls’s ERG, as each a proper and casual mentorship engine that expands networks and fosters a tradition of belonging for ladies in insurance coverage.
“It’s a two-way avenue the place it’s girls and leaders which are being very intentional in reaching out and attempting to convey up future leaders,” says Taylor. “Nevertheless it’s additionally people who’re extra junior being proactive in creating these alternatives. And that’s why one thing just like the NOW is so essential, as a result of it permits the 2 to come back collectively.”
Company Supervisor
Comparion Insurance coverage Company
Efficiency rigor, cultural advocacy, and progressive
Leaning closely into forming private connections, Luz Wolford invests within the particular person behind the producer, utilizing easy however significant gestures: birthday shoutouts, handwritten Christmas playing cards, crew lunches, and light-hearted video games that spotlight colleagues’ private tales, like guessing “who labored at McDonald’s after they had been 21?”
These practices decrease guards, foster belief, and remind brokers that they’re valued as individuals, not simply quota carriers. She says, “I wish to ensure my crew is aware of that I look after them as people. For me, it’s placing individuals first.”
On the similar time, Wolford is extremely efficiency pushed and unafraid to steer from the entrance. Having spent nearly 15 years as a gross sales agent herself, she insists on being “knee to knee” along with her crew, keen to leap on calls, promote insurance policies, and safe referrals alongside them.
She says, “It’s ensuring that I do know what the job entails as a result of it’s onerous for a frontrunner to steer a crew whenever you don’t know what the job actually is or what it takes.”
Luz WolfordComparion Insurance coverage Company
This credibility underpins a tradition of accountability and excessive requirements, the place success is widely known publicly. Her adaptive mindset was examined and confirmed throughout the pandemic. Promoted to supervisor, she was informed to “rent and prepare” a area gross sales drive completely just about – one thing she had by no means performed. She pivoted rapidly, shifting teaching to Groups and FaceTime, shifting periods into evenings to accommodate brokers’ childcare obligations, and relentlessly troubleshooting remote-work friction. This willingness to rethink schedules, codecs, and instruments saved manufacturing on observe and strengthened loyalty in a second of industry-wide disruption.
As a Spanish speaker, Wolford can be a robust advocate for Hispanic prospects and bilingual expertise. When Liberty Mutual, homeowners of Comparion, created their Amigos@Liberty + Allies program, Wolford was wanting to turn out to be a distinction maker via the brand new initiative. There, she earned invaluable mentorship alternatives for her new management function whereas additionally mentoring Hispanic brokers herself.
This initiative has additionally seen important enterprise outcomes for Wolford and her crew. She says, “I bear in mind as an agent not having sufficient materials. I’m bilingual, so I knew quite a lot of prospects, nevertheless it was onerous for me to provide them paperwork when it was all in English. If we wish to go after quite a lot of Hispanic purchasers, we’ve to have that assist.”
Recognizing that “half of the inhabitants is Hispanic” in markets like Texas, she has highlighted the necessity for correct bilingual documentation and assist so brokers can construct belief with loyal, underserved prospects.
“I wished to remind the brokers that even when it’s one thing small, you’re making a distinction throughout the firm. You won’t see it proper now, however I promise you, finally it’ll be so massive that you could possibly look again and say, I used to be a part of that change,” she says. “It took us a couple of yr and a half, and we had been capable of get quite a lot of that materials that we had been engaged on on the market and accepted.”
Lastly, Wolford champions innovation, notably round AI and social media. She understands that prospects more and more want to textual content or purchase on-line and is coaching brokers to mix AI and native presence by utilizing video, instructional content material, and digital channels to humanize themselves and attain trendy patrons.
Conclusion – what it takes to be an Elite Girl in 2026
Taken collectively, the tales of this yr’s honorees reveal a transparent profile of what it takes to be an Elite Girl in 2026:
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a people-first, relationship-driven chief who prioritizes real connection
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a deep dedication to creating others via mentoring, teaching, and sponsorship
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a robust advocate for inclusion, range, and underrepresented voices in insurance coverage
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a hands-on, lead-from-the-front type grounded in actual technical and operational experience
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a future-focused innovator who makes use of know-how and knowledge to enhance buyer and enterprise outcomes
Meet the judges
- Agnesa Bakhshyan
Chief Progress Officer
The Buckner Firm - Alexis Faber
Chief Working Officer
WTW - Alka Manaktala
Managing Accomplice
Insurance coverage Workplace of America - Ashley Stivers
Director, Brokerage and Placement, Insurance coverage Companies
Franklin Avenue - Becca Faust
Govt Vice President and Department Supervisor
USG Insurance coverage Companies - Berri Willis
Vice President
Burns & Wilcox - Beth Diamond
Group Chief Claims and Litigation Officer
Beazley - Chartenya Cleveland
Director of Underwriting Options
The Hanover Insurance coverage Group - Christina Colby
Chief Buyer Officer
Guidewire Software program - Christyn Yoast
World Head of Business
CFC - Concetta Barrineau
Company Proprietor
Sumter Insurance coverage Group - Cristina Varner
Govt Vice President, and Life Sciences and Healthcare Follow Chief
CRC Group - Grace Hanson
Co-Founder and Chief Govt Officer
Elysian - Holly Might
Workplace President and Dealer
CRC Group - Iliana Sadler
Vice President and Strategic Consumer Advisor
Lockton - Jenna Kirkpatrick Howard
Senior Vice President
Lockton - Jennifer Kessel
Chief Working Officer
USG Insurance coverage Companies - Karen Williams
Senior Managing Director
Threat Methods Firm - Kelly Bryant
Managing Director and Nationwide Tug and Barge Trade Chief
Aon - Kelly Stearns
Senior Vice President, Head of Main and Surplus Markets
HSB – Hartford Steam Boiler - Kimberly Hans
Govt Vice President and Head of Distribution
Munich Re Specialty – North America - Mandi Constantino
Affiliate Vice President, Enterprise Improvement
AmTrust Monetary Companies - Marife Molina
Accomplice and Govt Vice President of Income
C3 Threat & Insurance coverage Companies - Mary Keiser
Senior Vice President and Nationwide Meals and Beverage Follow Chief
HUB Worldwide - Melissa Hill
Head of Claims, North America
Allianz Business - Merial Brown
Assistant Vice President, Operations
Berkley Choose - Meryl Golden
Chief Govt Officer and President
Kingstone Insurance coverage Firm - Monique Gilliam
Senior Supervisor, Claims Technique and Operations
DoorDash - Nancy Mellard
Govt Vice President and Common Counsel
CBIZ - Neha Thaker
Chief of Technique and Market Intelligence Officer
HSB – Hartford Steam Boiler - Rashmi Melgiri
Co-Founder/Chief Govt Officer
Purposeful Finance - Raven James
Vice President – Human Assets and Director of Range, Belonging and Inclusion
Brown & Brown - Rebekah Ratliff
Mediator/Arbitrator
JAMS - Reina Gregorio
Divisional President, Skilled Legal responsibility
Nice American Insurance coverage Firm - Rhonda Velez
Gross sales Govt
CRC Group - Ria Lizuka
Underwriter II, Cyber and Expertise E&O
AXA XL - Sheila Brilliant
Affiliate Director Coaching and Training, HIGG U
Higginbotham Insurance coverage - Shruti Engstrom
Managing Director – Cyber and E&O Product and Claims
Aon - Snejina Zacharia
Founder and Chief Govt Officer
Insurify - Susan Combs
Chief Govt Officer
Combs & Firm - Whitney Ross
Govt Vice President and Chief Claims Officer – North America
HUB Worldwide
Insights
Insurance coverage Enterprise America invited {industry} professionals from throughout the US to appoint distinctive feminine leaders for the eleventh annual Elite Ladies listing. Nominators had been requested to offer particulars of their nominee’s achievements and initiatives over the previous 12 months, together with particular examples of their skilled accomplishments and contributions to the {industry} as a complete.
To pick out the winners, the IBA crew relied on the assistance of an impartial and esteemed panel of judges that included:
The judges and the IBA crew reviewed all nominations, analyzing how every particular person had made a significant contribution to the {industry}, to whittle down the listing to the ultimate 73 Elite Ladies. Self-voting and voting for family had been prohibited to keep away from conflicts of curiosity.
