Associate Director
Katie School of Insurance
Campus Box 5490
Normal, IL 61790

Debbie Babcock administers special projects for the Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University including Lloyd's of London programs, Insurance Executive Forum, Katie School Golf Classic, Katie School Scholarship Program, international internships and Katie School alumni events. She is advisor to the Alpha Kappa Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma. 

Ms. Babcock received a B.S. from the University of Illinois and is a current board member of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)-Midwest Division and the Association of Professional Insurance Women; past board member of the Spencer Educational Foundation, American Risk and Insurance Association(ARIA) and the Mid-IL Chapter of RIMS; and a current member of the Association of Lloyd’s Brokers,  the Insurance Supper Club, Dive-In, the Chicago RIMS Chapter, PLUS and ARIA. She was honored as the 2018 IICF Trailblazer of the Year and with the ARIA President’s Award.

Barbara Bufkin, Senior Advisor, AmWINS Access

Barbara's four decades in the insurance and reinsurance industry have spanned leadership roles encompassing operational and strategic responsibilities, including business origination and product development, underwriting, claims, risk management/corporate governance and ceded and assumed reinsurance, while fostering a culture of innovation, mentorship, and diverse talent. 

Throughout the past six years, Barbara has focused her career at the intersection of distribution, underwriting, technology and capital in specialty businesses. Barbara currently serves as a Senior Advisor at AmWINS Access. She previously held leadership roles at Hamilton USA, Guy Carpenter, Argo Group and Swiss Re.

As current Chair of the International Board of Governors of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) and President of the Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW), Barbara has been directly engaged in the global and national Women in Insurance Conference series. Concurrently, she advocates for the value of the insurance industry as a career of choice in her role as Co-President and Board of Trustee of Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS) and as a keynote speaker on The Power of Purpose in various insurance industry forums. In these initiatives, Barbara has been driving the Big Tent of culture, inclusion, innovation, sponsorship, mentoring talent and the power of networks.  

In 2019, Barbara was inducted into Insurance Business America’s Hall of Fame.

Lori is a Senior Director in the Strategic Client Engagement Leader group at WTW. She has over 35 years of diversified experience in risk management and insurance. From 2005 to 2008 Lori was the Senior Risk Manager at Fannie Mae Housing and Community Development and responsible for risk and insurance oversight of their entire multifamily portfolio, including rewriting the insurance guide after Hurricane Katrina. From 1998 to 2004, she was part of a startup group that created the first end-to-end insurance quoting engine on the Internet.

Lori is a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS). She served on the RIMS Board of Directors from 2011-2015. From 2008 – 2010, she served on the RIMS New York Chapter Board of Directors and as an active member of RIMS External Affairs Committee, participated in local, state and federal discussions on insurance and risk management. She worked with the office of Senator Schumer (D-NY) in the writing of the definition of a Qualified Risk Manager in the surplus lines legislation. She lobbied Capitol Hill during reauthorizations of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Lori returned to the RIMS New York Chapter Board of Directors in 2018 and currently serves as their Chapter President. Lori is a former member of the Spencer Foundation Board of Directors where she served on the Scholarship Committee and Chair of the Risk Manager on Campus (RMOC) Committee. She is a frequent participant, moderator and panelist in industry conferences and has been quoted in industry publications such as Business Insurance, Zywave and more.

Lori earned the Bachelor of Science in Business from California State University at Northridge. She holds the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation. Lori was honored by Business Insurance in 2015 as one of their Women to Watch. In 2022, she was honored by RIMS with the Ron Judd "Heart of RIMS" award.

Vanessa Contreras is Senior Vice President and US Casualty Team Leader at SCOR Reinsurance in Chicago, Illinois.  In her current role she is responsible for managing the strategic direction, profitability, and client relationships for Scor’s US Casualty portfolio.  Vanessa held the role of Senior Vice President and Deputy Team Leader for Professional Lines prior to being promoted to her current role in January of 2022.  She began her career as a Risk Analyst at Munich Re, later becoming an Underwriter in Princeton, NJ. Prior to Munich Re, she worked for State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, IL.

Vanessa holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance and Risk Management and Insurance from The Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University. She holds a CPCU and ARe, and is working towards her RPLU. Vanessa served on The Reinsurance Under 40s Board for six years and is also an active member of the APIW, PLUS, and the ISC Group. She has successfully completed the LAMP program though PLUS and the ASPIRE Leadership Program through SCOR. In 2015, Vanessa was included in Intelligent Insurer's list of 40 Rising Stars Under 35.  In 2020, Vanessa was selected by Insurance Business America as a Rising Star in Insurance.  Most recently, Vanessa was honored as the 2022 Young Leader of the Year by The Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State.

Janet Jordan-Foster is a Senior Insurance Executive with significant casualty experience in the non-admitted and admitted segments of the industry, with P&L, distribution and talent management responsibilities.

She has worked directly and continuously with senior and executive management teams in a collaborative manner to achieve profitability and operational goals. Janet has developed and maintained excellent working relations with wholesale brokers and reinsurance partners. Janet served as Executive Vice President-E&S Casualty - Specialties Division for AXIS Capital from 2007 to 2024, where she re-focused the E&S Casualty operation by diversifying the classes and geographic mix of the portfolio and instituted a more disciplined and accountable underwriting environment to achieve the desired profit goals.

Prior to that Janet was with Zurich Financial Services from 1995-2005, where she held positions with increasing responsibilities, including Senior Vice President – E&S Casualty, Zurich Specialty (1995-1999); Executive Vice President – E&S Casualty/Railroad, Zurich Specialty (2000-2005) and Executive Vice President – Healthcare and Railroad – Zurich Specialties Division (2006-2007).
Janet is the Past Chair of the NAAIA’s National Board, an APIW Board Member and serves as a Member on the WSIA Diversity Board. Janet is the APIW 2023 Insurance Woman of the Year. Janet is married with one son. She loves the theatre and music.

Nancy M. Mellard is Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Benefits & Insurance Services Division of CBIZ, Inc.  Nancy has been with CBIZ for more than 30 years! As General Counsel for this Division, Ms. Mellard has responsibility for all legal related matters including transactional legal issues, mergers and acquisitions, litigation and E&O/EPL actions, and negotiations with key customers, insurance carriers and employment related agreements.  She also has oversight for all regulatory, licensing and compliance for the Division.

Having more than 40 years of legal experience and with nearly all of those years in the insurance industry, Ms. Mellard serves as a member of the Division’s Senior Management Team, providing comprehensive strategic-level business counsel.  Nancy is known for her capability of utilizing her legal expertise and sharing complex legal information in a manner that “non-legal experts” understand.  Having a deep understanding of the “business side” of the business, Nancy has become a respected and sought-after partner with all internal business leaders, while also seen as a strong adversary when addressing business and legal challenges.  She is also known for her humor, honesty, generosity and intelligence, Nancy is not only a leader within the legal community, but also in the business community.

In addition to her role as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Ms. Mellard was chosen by CBIZ’s Chairman of the Board to build CBIZ Women’s Advantage.  This Program supports CBIZ’s female employee base in multiple professional roles across all Divisions of CBIZ.  The goals of this Program are to recruit, retain and develop female talent within CBIZ and recognize the power of women both internally and externally.  Professional development, talent management, networking, revenue generation, national community outreach and, most importantly, the celebration of successes of CBIZ woman talent are more strategic goals for this Program.  CBIZ Women’s Advantage was responsible for generating and influencing more than $18 million in new business revenue over the last twelve years and was the 2009 recipient of the Dress for Success Worldwide Model of Excellence Award for its continuing support of Dress for Success.  Ms. Mellard received three 2012 Stevie® Awards for her leadership of CBIZ Women’s Advantage:  Gold Award, Maverick of the Year; Silver Award, Mentor or Coach of the Year – Business and Silver Award, Women Helping Women – Business.

Nancy’s contributions extend far outside CBIZ.  In addition to serving in various capacities (including Chairperson) on multiple not-for-profit Boards in the Kansas City community, Ms. Mellard was the 2021-2022 Board Chair of the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), located in Washington, DC, served on the Executive committee of its Board of Directors and is also a member of the Board of Directors for the CIAB’s Council Foundation.  She is also past Chair of the CIAB’s Council of Employee Benefit Executives Advisory Board (CEBE) and past Chair of the CIAB Legal Counsel’s Working Committee.  Nancy currently serves on the Association of Professional Insurance Women Board of Directors and the USLAW Labor & Employment Client Practice Committee.  She was Chair of the Board of Directors for Central Exchange (2014-15) and currently chairs the Central Exchange Foundation Board.

Nancy has received a number of other awards and recognition including a First Chair 2017 Top General Counsel Award, Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s 2017 Women in Justice – Enterprise Award, and the 2016 Stevie® Bronze Lifetime Achievement Award.  She was named a 2016 Baron of the Boardroom by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and one of the Elite Women in Insurance, by Insurance Business America Magazine.  In 2013, Ms. Mellard was named one of Kansas City’s 50 Most Inspiring Women by 435 South Magazine and one of the Top Women in Insurance by American Agent & Broker Magazine.  Ms. Mellard was a member of Ingram’s Magazine’s 2012 class of weKC (Women Executives – Kansas City) which honors the most influential and accomplished women executives in the Kansas City area and received the Women Who Mean Business Award in 2010 from the Kansas City Business Journal, Influential Women Award in 2010 from the Kansas City Business Magazine, Legal Leader of the Year Award in 2008 from the Midwest In-House Lawyers Weekly and was named a Woman to Watch in 2006 by Business Insurance.

CBIZ is a national provider of integrated business services including Employee Benefits and Property & Casualty Insurance Services; Payroll Services; Human Capital Advisory; Retirement Plan; Accounting, Tax & Advisory; Business Valuation and other professional services to small and medium sized companies and individuals.  CBIZ is a public company, listed on the NYSE as CBZ.

Ashley Emanuel is a Vice President on the US Treaty Casualty team at Everest. She is currently based in Everest’s Stamford, Connecticut office. In Ashley’s current role at Everest, she underwrites all lines of casualty business ranging from D&O to Umbrella/Excess portfolios. She is also a dedicated mentor within the Everest organization where she actively engages and guides early talent through her participation on various internal panel discussions. She is also a participant in Everest’s Reinsurance Associate Program where she recently supported and guided an associate through their 6-month rotation within the Treaty Casualty unit. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Ashley serves as the DEI representative for the Stamford Connecticut office where she champions initiatives that foster an inclusive and equitable workplace.

Ashley began her career at Broome Cooperative Insurance Company located in Binghamton, NY. At BCIC she managed the Commercial Lines portfolio which included both property and casualty exposures for BOPs, CPPs and Artisan Contractors. Before entering the reinsurance space, she also worked at Chubb on the Private Non-Profit Professional Lines team which enabled her to broaden her casualty knowledge base. After completing her MBA from Penn State, she made the move to reinsurance and has held underwriting positions at AXA XL and Odyssey Re before joining Everest in 2021.

President
The Beaumont Group, Inc.
990 Cedar Bridge Avenue, Suite B7, PMB 210
Brick, NJ 08723-4147

Michelle Yoshida is the NY Casualty Facultative Branch Manager at Gen Re.

Michelle began her career in the insurance industry in 2013 as a member of the NY Casualty E&S Division of General Star Insurance Co (a subsidiary of Gen Re). Interested in Reinsurance, she joined Gen Re in 2018 and became Branch Manager in 2022. As Manager, Michelle is responsible for profitable underwriting results within the NY branch. In addition, her focus includes fostering a cohesive team dynamic that enables both strategic growth of the business and strong underwriting acumen. She mentors women within Gen Re and is a member of Gen Re’s Women and Allies Group and Professionals of Color and Allies Group. Michelle is an active participant in the New York insurance marketplace and regularly attends events held by various organizations in addition to APIW. A student of the business, she has earned the designations of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) and Associate in Surplus Lines Insurance (ASLI).

Michelle earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and minor in biology from Fairfield University. She was born and raised in Hawaii and is a co-chair of the Punahou Alumni Association of New York, for which she coordinates social and networking events and helps mentor Punahou graduates in the Tri-State area as they navigate their college and career paths.