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Managing Director, Nonprofit Practice
Beecher Carlson, Portland, Ore.

Making Persistence Pay

Dennis Doherty is dogged. Whether it's getting coverage where none seems possible or working without pay to help a client, Doherty puts himself on the line to support the mission of the nonprofits he works with.

Take the humanitarian organization that delivers healthcare in developing countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

"He's tremendously resourceful in tracking down affordable coverage," said the organization's director of administration and regulatory affairs. "We inquired about medical-malpractice insurance. It's almost impossible to secure in the countries we serve. But he secured it in all the countries where we are."

Then there was the employee in the organization's Liberian program. A native of Sierra Leone, she had medical coverage as an expat, but traveled home periodically. When she fell ill in a remote area of Sierra Leone, she tried to arrange evacuation to a modern hospital. Although her illness was employment-related, she was denied coverage.

"He went to battle for us--and I do mean battle," the director said, "and secured coverage for her."

For another organization, which provides temp jobs for people with disabilities, Doherty sought to get its workers' comp business. Even though he didn't have the contract yet, he sent a safety expert who held several meetings to figure out how the organization could reduce workers' injury rates. After a while, he got the contract.

Managing Director
Beecher Carlson Insurance Agency, Portland, Ore.
Category: Nonprofit

A Tale of Redemption

Sometimes Dennis Doherty feels like he's reading a fairy tale--a fairy tale that he is the star of. And, indeed, his story does read like one.

It begins in 1983 when Doherty, an unemployed and divorced alcoholic, entered DePaul Treatment Centers in Portland, Ore.

"My life was shattered by alcoholism," he said.

Fast forward to 2010. Doherty, who is in recovery, is now managing director of Beecher Carlson's brokerage practice in charge of insuring the nonprofit sector. Fifteen years after their divorce, he and his wife remarried; they've been married for 18 years now. And he is on the board of DePaul Treatment Centers, the very facility that helped him turn his life around. A former board chairman, he now heads its governance committee.

Doherty also is on two other boards, DePaul Industries, which provides training and jobs for mentally challenged people so they can lead lives of independence, and the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, a national, nonprofit organization that provides assistance and resources for community-serving nonprofit organizations.

"As a recovering alcoholic, I'm very appreciative of the nonprofit world," said Doherty. "DePaul Centers saved my life. I'm dead serious about that.

"Looking back, I realized the people there weren't there for the money. They were giving of themselves to help me be successful," he said. "Now, I'm in the community contributing, and I am very appreciative to have the ability to do that. I'm blown away by it.

"I feel blessed every day," said Doherty, "It's like reading a fairy tale and I'm in it."

--By Julie Liedman

Managing Director, Global Education Practice Leader
Marsh, Hartford, Conn.

The Matriarch

There are those we honor for their consistent dedication to their industry niche and for their level of commitment to industry organizations and risk management problems not even on their books. One such broker is Jean Demchak, managing director at Marsh.

As the global leader of a Marsh higher education practice with more than 650 professionals, Demchak is looked on by some as a kind of fairy godmother of higher education risk management.

"No. 1 she is completely dedicated to the industry sector," said Gary Langsdale, the risk manager for Penn State University.

"She has a tremendous depth of knowledge, and I am sure it is broader than higher education. She just exudes that," Langsdale said.

Whether it be arranging coverage wraps for Penn State professors that do consulting work on the side or in her work as a board member for the University Risk Management and Insurance Association (URMIA), Demchak is pushing URMIA to better serve its members and leading risk managers toward ever more strategic thinking.

She is now focusing on developing risk strategies to hedge against credit issues, technological advances, changing student demographics and more regulatory scrutiny.

She also uses her knowledge to back up her people. "If I don't get an answer (from my broker), I know that I can go and ask her," is the way one university risk manager phrased it.

Managing Director
Marsh, Hartford
Category: Education

Beyond the Dictates of Necessity

Many great brokers apply their intellect and expertise when it's in their financial best interest to do so. They know from whence their bread is buttered.

But in her passion for the importance of providing superior risk management to this country's institutions of higher learning, Jean Demchak has gone well beyond what professional and financial necessity dictate.

Demchak cares enough to take the 30,000-foot view and apply her thinking to global emerging risk, such things as decreased financial resources, technological change, changing student demographics, and the increased regulatory scrutiny that are going to affect University's and their budgets.

A long-standing member of the University Risk Management Association's Affiliate Committee, Demchak took a position on URMIA's board this past September.

She has also leant her time and expertise to numerous URMIA presentations and white papers, including URMIA's total risk task force, co-authoring a white paper on the basic tenants of a cost-of-risk model for higher education and speaking at four regional seminars on the topic in 2009.

"A critical differentiator for my role within the education industry is the ability to focus full-time on the emerging and critical areas that challenge schools globally," said Demchak.

"She is completely dedicated to the industry sector," is how the risk manager at a well-known mid-Atlantic university described her.

She's also not just looking to line her pockets as expeditiously as possible by working in the insurance industry. She's truly looking at the future of higher education risk and what managing that risk will look like.

--By Dan Reynolds

Senior Vice President
Willis, Potomac, Md.

A Broker of a Different Species

Despite Eric Fischer's high standing in the world of fine arts and specie he is remarkably accessible, according to his clients.

"He's always supportive and helpful, no matter how tricky the situation," said a senior registrar at one of the most highly regarded museums in the country. "Though he has risen to a very high standing, he still is very responsive. He works hard to get the best rates for us. He's easy to talk to and very accommodating."

During the past year Fischer, senior vice president with Willis Fine Arts Jewelry and Specie, was instrumental in handling one of the largest fine arts placements ever during the economic downturn--the Philadelphia Museum of Art's "C¿zanne and Beyond" exhibit. As capacity in the marketplace was declining, Eric still was able to place this coverage and under the budget that was proposed. By canvassing the entire marketplace, the placement was completed and the museum was able to mount a very successful exhibition. The exhibit was even extended to meet the demand for it. At the same time, Eric was able to help push underwriters into lowering premiums while maintaining the levels of coverage that his clients need to continue operating.

"He consistently gets the best price for us," noted Nicole Delfino, central registrar at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul. "Eric's knowledge of the museum field is reassuring to us. He is very good at reducing complicated problems into clear language. He's the first person I think of to call on insurance contract matters. He always has the right words."

Senior Vice President
Willis, Potomac, Md.
Category: Fine Arts

The Volunteer

Doing voluntary work seems to be in 44-year-old Eric Fischer's blood.

Last summer, for example, he spent 20 straight Fridays working at the information kiosk at Gettysburg National Park as part of the Willis "Choice" program, designed to reduce the overall corporate salary level. He gave up paid time at work to volunteer.

Fischer was part of the staff working the information kiosk that was the first thing people saw when entering the park. He worked 20 straight Fridays, many in the summer when the park staff was understaffed.

As a museum fine arts broker, Fischer was also able to share his knowledge of museum clients with the NPS rangers and visitors alike--often pointing them to other institutions on their summer travels.

"I told people what they could experience because there are so many options," Fischer said.

Also, Fischer explained, his assistance allowed park rangers to concentrate on specific battle-related information--especially important in summer.

"I just love it," said Fischer, who lives in Gettysburg with his wife and their two young children. ("I commute to our Bethesda office an hour each way, but you get more value all the way around here," Fischer noted).

Having the face-to-face contact at Gettysburg is what Fischer liked the most about the Gettysburg. "It recharges the batteries," he said.

Added Fischer: "I've always loved volunteering. It's very rewarding. I plan to work at Gettysburg again this summer."

--By Steve Yahn

Partner, WC Brand Leader
Neace Lukens, Southfield, Mich.

Prevention Trumps the Cure

For Maureen Gallagher, workers' compensation issues are a fairly good barometer of what is working and not working within a corporate culture. She thinks the myths surrounding workers' compensation have caused employers to focus on the wrong things and mismanage their comp programs.

Gallagher's extensive training has helped her create a seamless arrangement between the efforts of her team and her clients' teams to better manage their workers' comp programs. She sees her role primarily as a problem preventer rather than a problem solver, and does so by teaching her clients to become more proactive in their own risk management programs.

Such seemingly arcane matters as returning overcharges due to classification and modification errors, and uncovering and negotiating less transparent costs in loss sensitive programs have helped Gallagher achieve cost reductions well over the 50 percent mark in several instances.

In the property/casualty area, Gallagher and her team have not only secured competitive pricing but are technically savvy enough to secure the correct coverage. That helps them reduce or eliminate the inevitable hassles of property loss by clarifying intent and endorsing the policy to reflect the understanding of the parties.

One satisfied client said of Gallagher and her team "even with our portfolio spanning coast to coast, they are committed to providing the best in customer service and communication."

Partner
Neace Lukens, Southfield, Mich.
Category: Workers' Compensation

The Leader

As a Detroit-area based partner in the Neace Lukens insurance brokerage, Maureen Gallagher has built a national reputation as an expert in workers' compensation issues, which one would expect from someone with such a long string of alphabet soup credentials after her name.

But that was not enough. So Gallagher decided to share her enthusiasm for her profession by establishing the Insurance Partners Academy for brokers, risk managers and insurance buyers. Many of the excellent courses already available in the marketplace focused on sales and technical issues, not on more practical risk management issues, she believed.

All insurance stakeholders, from risk managers to underwriters along with intermediaries, can take advantage of the special training offered.

"It is a very practical class. Most of the students can use the things they have learned before in class the very next day on the job," she said.

During her work with the academy and at the brokerage, Gallagher enjoys most mentoring younger folks moving up through the ranks, as they exhibit that unique combination of traits that involve traditional sales characteristics, along with the willingness to grasp some very technical complex issues.

"Being good at what you do in the top 10 percent means you have to be technically proficient, and that does not appeal to everybody," she said.

Outside the work realm, Gallagher's enthusiasm for physical fitness recently earned her the designation by a leading business journal as one of the 50 Fittest CEOs in recognition of the several spinning and fitball classes she leads each week.

--By Steve Tuckey

President and CEO
Haywood and Fleming Associates, Gary, Ind.

Gary's Unofficial Risk Manager

Many a corporation and government entity has had to eliminate the position of risk manager in tough times. And that is when the insurance broker has a chance to stand out and shine in assuming those duties on an ad hoc basis.

That happens to be the case in Gary, Ind., where Roosevelt Haywood III, president and CEO of Haywood and Fleming Associates, has taken on the role of not only providing insurance but helping the city prevent incidents and mitigate losses.

Haywood's team arranged a two-day comprehensive risk management and loss control seminar for the various departments overseeing the city's parks, airport, housing network and school system.

With Gary facing a financial crisis, like many core urban areas, Haywood has sought to reduce the city's premium burdens by raising deductibles and putting the city on a high retention program that will place the majority of the city's exposure under one blanket policy.

Alesia Pritchett, director of business services for the Gary Community School Corp., said that Haywood has been instrumental in controlling property and liability insurance costs for the school system. His accessibility along with the guidance he has provided to the corporation has helped the expeditious resolution of a number of major issues.

"Haywood's leadership and business intuitiveness have led him to be a leading entrepreneur in the risk management and risk insurance industry," she said.

President and CEO
Haywood and Fleming Associates, Gary, Ind.
Category: Public Sector

The Rock

Roosevelt Haywood III has never given up on Gary, Ind., and seems almost as fervent in his devotion to it as a young Ron Howard did when he sang about it in The Music Man nearly 50 years ago.

It certainly has not been easy, for the once vibrant steel mill town just outside Chicago fell on tough times decades ago.

As insurance broker to the city and school system, Haywood has taken on the de facto role of risk manager, as is the case with many public and private entities facing tough times.

But it is his work beyond his broker duties where Haywood stands out. As a board member of both the Boys and Girls Club of America and Leadership northwest Indiana, Haywood puts his passion for his hometown on the line for all to see and experience.

"My community has been good to myself and my family," he said. And all the fond memories "kind of growing up with the Jacksons" don't make up for the challenges facing Haywood and others who choose to stick around and make things better in Gary.

"Unemployment is high, and that can lead to crime," he said. "And one way of dealing with this is the Boys and Girls Club, for it gives them a place to go."

As for LNI, Haywood said that, "by fostering a greater understanding of the history and issues confronting Northwest Indiana, we hope that each graduate return to their community ready to meet these challenges armed with a network of new contacts, growth in personal leadership skills."

--By Steve Tuckey

Senior Vice President
DeWitt Stern, New York

For This Broker, Barriers Be Damned

With underwriters and other experts fearfully awaiting the long-expected repeat of the Great Hurricane of 1938, New York's barrier islands might not seem the most profitable place to insure homes.

But Roger Kluge, senior vice president of DeWitt Stern, developed a niche business providing programs for high-asset individuals who have leisure homes on one such island. Located on a sand bar between the bay and the Atlantic, the properties present a significant underwriting challenge. Kluge persuaded carriers that this business can be profitable and provided coverage alternatives that were previously considered unavailable.

The Private Client Barrier Island Initiative, in the words of one industry observer, "called for not only creative thinking and diverse property/casualty knowledge, but also selecting the best internal service team to maintain and meet the expectations of the high-asset client."

In addition, Kluge provides consulting services to the boards of the community associations of these towns that face the challenge of managing the environmental risks of a barrier island and the fiduciary obligation of protecting the communities' financial position with regard to taxpayers.

William Hayden, a senior executive with J.P. Morgan Chase, said that Kluge goes the extra mile by asking the right questions and taking a sincere interest in being sure he has secured the proper coverage at the lowest cost.

Senior Vice President
DeWitt Stern, New York
Category: Real Estate

The Fund-raiser

Roger Kluge has played leadership roles in various New York-based volunteer organizations, one of which, Dancers Responding to AIDS, has a worldwide mission.

He's been key in raising more than $250,000 for DRTA last year at a time when the group was hit by funding reductions. Kluge is also a member of the organization's prestigious steering committee.

"We do several fund-raising events every year," noted Kluge, "but the major one we do is the Fire Island Dance Festival. We invite--and they donate their services--prominent dance companies to come to Fire Island, and we do three performances, usually with a celebrity host.

"Whoopi Goldberg was one of our hosts. She is a big supporter of the organization," he said.

The money that was raised goes to organizations around the country and throughout the world.

"We also make donations to the actors fund," Kluge said. "They do not work all the time, so they might not have benefits. We help them at a time when it's really serious."

In addition, Kluge volunteers his time as a director of his Fire Island co-op, which just underwent a major renovation under Kluge's direction.

"I was in charge of the selection of the general contractor, the architect and the materials," Kluge said. "I'm crossing my fingers, but hopefully we'll close on the mortgage this spring."

In addition, last September Kluge was named a director of the Fire Island Pines Property board.

"I firmly believe in giving back to the community and helping others who are truly in need," Kluge said of his many volunteer efforts. "I felt I could put my business resources to work for others."

--By Steve Tuckey

Vice President
Aon, Los Angeles

Grounded in Reality

Lorrie McNaught, vice president at Aon/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services Inc. in Los Angeles, operates artfully on a global stage.

"We do reality shows all over the world," said one client, "and we need decisions made swiftly. She moves quickly but she never messes up. She's available 24/7 to a remarkable degree. We put such confidence in her that I never have to read the documents she gives me. I completely trust what she gives me."

Said another client: "She goes the extra mile all the time. She's an excellent presenter. Her ideas are clearly spoken--thoughtful and insightful no matter what group she's speaking to. She can even make a high premium palatable if that's where the market is at."

An executive at a major entertainment company observed: "Lorrie is very knowledgeable and she returns phone calls promptly, busy as she is."

Many of McNaught's clients film all over the world. She has done a lot of coordination with Aon Global offices as well as with global insurance companies to secure coverages needed for her clients filming in countries with specialized insurance requirements.

Clients emphasize that McNaught is outgoing--fun and bubbly. "She's fun and attractive," said one international client.

She's also trustworthy, they said. "When it comes to the budget," said one client, "I know she will come in as close to budget if not under. I deal with a lot of brokers, I'm forced to in some cases, but I know none of them will be as timely and with the level of service as Lorrie delivers."

Vice President
Aon, Los Angeles
Category: Entertainment/Media

The Mentor

At an age (35) when most brokers are working industriously to build a foundation for their own careers, Lorrie McNaught is generously mentoring young brokers and entry-level employees at Aon in many ways.

As an active member of Aon's mentoring program, McNaught especially focuses on newly hired employees, helping them to create career paths and fostering their advancement, as well as working on training programs. As an entertainment broker, she works with anyone in the insurance industry who is interested in knowing more about the radio and television industries.

McNaught, who works as a vice president out of Aon's Los Angeles office, also recruits for her employer on college campuses and speaks to graduate students about career opportunities in the insurance industry.

"Mentoring is not only my responsibility, it's my joy," said McNaught.

"If I can help young brokers complete the puzzle of their careers, then I'm happy. It's exciting to watch their career lights go on."

In addition to her role as vice president of Aon/Albert G. Ruben in Los Angeles, McNaught has two young children, six and two, who need plenty of her attention.

McNaught comes by her mentoring by way of an early desire to be a teacher, which is what she was in a previous life. Teaching, she said, is a way for her to give back to what others have given her.

While at the University of Southern California, for example, she taught grade-school children at inner city schools. "I've always wanted to give back," she also said.

Observed McNaught: "Today, I look upon my role as being the doctor of insurance. I'm always on call. You can call me any time."

--By Steve Yahn

Vice President
Aon, Sacramento, Calif.

The User

Alex Michon is a user. Oh, not in the vernacular, derogatory way, but in the way he uses the resources of his company to accomplish what needs to be done for his clients.

For one client facing severe financial difficulties, there was little he could do to reduce fixed costs or the costs of TPAs, attorneys or consultants. But using the crisis as an opportunity, he prepared a cost-of-risk analysis showing theretofore skeptical regional managers how much could be saved by focusing on safety. To make his point, he offered to share his client's pain by taking $70,000 of Aon's fee and spending it on safety education that could ultimately reduce workplace injuries. But $70,000 doesn't go all that far in a large institution, so Michon decided to do much of the work himself. Because safety wasn't his field, he sought help and instruction from peers and other clients, instituted a safety program, and in less than a year, realized seven-figure savings for his client.

"Alex knows how to utilize the resources of Aon, which is a big company," said the general counsel of one client. "He's much smarter than the average bear."

A business major with a minor in classical literature from Fresno State University, Michon has been with Aon for 14 years.

"Did you ever meet sales and service people who are so phony-baloney?" the risk manager of another client asks. "Well, that's not Alex. He's a real person. He's a star."