Our weekly roundup of the latest insurance hiring news from in and around Massachusetts.
Appointments
TrueMotion Names Rohit Goyal COO & Roger Colvin CFO
Boston-based TrueMotion, has announced two new key appointments. Veteran technology executive Rohit Goyal has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer and veteran financial executive Roger Colvin has joined as Chief Financial Officer. Goyal and Colvin join the executive team as the company continues its extraordinary growth and expansion in North America and Europe.
As COO, Goyal is responsible for product management, business operations, data science, engineering, SRE, and solution delivery. Prior to TrueMotion, Goyal was Senior Vice President of Product and Engineering at Demandware and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, the leading SaaS platform for digital commerce, and helped grow the business from less than $100M to over $300M in annual subscription revenue at nearly a 40% CAGR. With experience as both a startup co-founder and public company executive, Goyal brings a customer-centric view to product and technology. He has deep expertise with building industry-leading products and scaling technology and product organizations.
As CFO, Colvin leads TrueMotion’s financial operations, legal teams, and investor relations. Before joining TrueMotion, Colvin was CFO & President at ZeroTurnaround, a leading provider of Java productivity tools that was acquired by Rogue Wave Software. Colvin was also co-founder and CFO of BullHorn, the #1 software provider for the recruitment and staffing industry. Bullhorn was acquired by Vista Equity in 2012. Colvin has been recognized by the Boston Business Journal as a CFO of the Year Honoree.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Rohit and Roger to the team. They’re both proven executives who know how to build and scale global companies,” said TrueMotion CEO Ted Gramer. “There are few people who know how to scale product and engineering organizations like Rohit. Roger is an incredibly strategic financial leader with extensive experience in growth stage companies. They’re going to make a huge impact on the team and help us accelerate our growth in the US and Europe.”
TrueMotion is the fastest growing smartphone telematics platform. It won its first client in 2015: Progressive, the leading usage-based insurance provider in the U.S. Since then, TrueMotion has experienced rapid year-over-year growth. Today, it works with eight of the top 20 insurers in the U.S., the largest insurer in Canada, and leading insurers across Europe.
TrueMotion is building the best driving data team in the world. From its U.S. headquarters to its expanding presence in Europe, TrueMotion’s team features world-class experts in machine learning, data science, and mobile engineering. The team has solved critical problems using a smartphone many in the industry never thought possible, such as driver identification, crash detection, and distracted driving tracking – without killing a phone’s battery. General Catalyst, Bain Capital, and Lakestar are investors in TrueMotion.
Charter Oak Financial Head Brendan Naughton Sworn in as MassMutual General Agents Association President
Brendan Naughton, General Agent of Charter Oak Financial, a Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) firm, was sworn in today as the 89th president of the MassMutual General Agents Association. The General Agents Association is a national group of MassMutual General Agents (GA) whose insights and influence help shape the company’s approach to its approximately 15,000 field advisors and staff, and whose mission, in part, is to serve as both a constructive force within MassMutual and help people secure their future and protect the ones they love.
Mr. Naughton has served on the General Agents Association foreight years, heading several advisory committees before being named Vice President in 2018. He is the first Charter Oak General Agent (GA) to be elected to the presidency since the firm was formed.
John Vaccaro, Head of MassMutual Financial Advisors, commented: “For the past 94 years, MassMutual has enjoyed a valuable partnership with our General Agents Association, an organization that helps us drive much of the work we do to help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. I’m proud to welcome Brendan as President of the General Agents Association, as he has proven to be a true leader among our field force.”
“Importantly, his vast industry knowledge, work ethic, integrity and unwavering commitment to his clients, embody the true spirit of a MassMutual General Agent,” Mr. Vaccaro added. “Together with MassMutual leadership and all the members of the General Agents Association, I look forward to working with Brendan.”
With Charter Oak since 2004, Mr. Naughton is Charter Oak’s seventh General Agent, named to the position in 2009. His leadership trajectory comprises national recognition both as an advisor and a manager, including MassMutual’s Sales Manager of the Year Award and consecutive Chairman’s Trophies for Charter Oak’s growth. Mr. Naughton is also a Fairfield County Business Journal 40 Under 40 alumnus, and, under his leadership, Charter Oak has been recognized as a Top Workplace in CT for the past six consecutive years.
Mr. Naughton is involved in several charitable causes, including the Charter Oak Fund, of which he is a cofounder. He resides in Newtown, Connecticut with his wife and their three daughters.
Thomas Weber Joins Sullivan Insurance Group as Principal
The Sullivan Insurance Group is happy to announce the addition of Thomas Weber as a Principal. Tom has worked in the insurance industry for more than 24 years and is responsible for the management of client insurance and risk management programs, and new business development. He has extensive experience working with high hazard classes and is targeting health care, life science, technology, and construction. He is licensed in property & casualty in the state of Massachusetts and is also a licensed reinsurance broker. In addition, Tom has earned the following professional designations: Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), and Distinguished Toastmaster.
“Tom joins our team after more than 20 years at Marsh USA Inc. (Sedgwick of New England). His knowledge of multinational property and casualty clients and high risk accounts is a tremendous asset to Sullivan Group, and more importantly to our clients. We are excited to have him as part of our team” says John T. Andreoli, President and CEO.
Tom earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and his Master of Arts in International Economics, both from Boston University. He resides in Marlborough.
The Sullivan Insurance Group is a full service insurance and risk management firm providing property & casualty, employee benefits, and personal insurance for individuals and businesses throughout the United States. The company was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Worcester, MA, with affiliate offices in Needham, Marlborough, and Northborough, MA.
Accolades
Allstate Named One of the 2019 Top 70 Companies for Executive Women
Allstate has been named one of the 2019 NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE).
This list recognizes U.S. corporations with a strong focus on best practices that demonstrate effectiveness in moving women to senior ranks, including mentoring, sponsorship, involvement in employee resource groups and leadership development training. The list also highlights company benefits, including flexibility, corporate culture and CEO involvement in advancing women. The NAFE Top 70 Companies is featured in the April/May issue of Working Mother. The full report on this year’s winners is here.
“We’re honored to be recognized once again by NAFE as a leader in fostering the talent and careers of women,” said Christy Harris, Allstate’s vice president for talent management, benefits and inclusive diversity. “We’re proud of our efforts to attract, retain and promote female employees, and will continue to live into our core value of inclusive diversity throughout the company.”
As part of its broader commitment to creating a diverse workplace, Allstate offers female employees the chance to join the Power of 5, a sponsorship program designed specifically to pair women with leaders throughout the organization to help enhance their skills and careers. Since the launch of the program in 2015, 20 percent of participants were promoted and 50 percent of participants at the director level were promoted to vice president within a year.
Moreover, Allstate’s Enterprise Diversity Leadership Council establishes inclusive diversity commitments in every business unit to improve diversity in its talent recruiting and on its leadership teams, which includes the development and recruitment of women.
“In 2019, a woman’s journey up the corporate ladder still differs from a man’s, but the Top Companies stand out in their application of remedies,” said NAFE President Dr. Betty Spence. “They are models of how to progressively move women into senior roles, as reflected in their strong representation in the leadership ranks.”
The 2019 NAFE Top 70 Companies application includes more than 200 questions on topics including female representation at all levels, but especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss leadership ranks. The application tracks and examines how many employees have access to programs and policies that promote advancement of women and how many employees take advantage of them, plus how companies train managers to help women advance. To be considered, companies must have a minimum of two women on their boards of directors, a U.S.-based CEO and at least 1,000 U.S. employees.
The MAIA Renews The Elliot Whittier Insurance Group’s Five Star Agency Designation
In its most recent edition of The Massachusetts Agent, The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA), announced that is had renewed the Five Star Designation of the Elliot Whittier Insurance of Danvers and Winthrop. A Five Star Agency since 2015, the designation was reapproved in 2019 based on the agency’s demonstrated excellence in the following five categories: Customer Focus, Management/Leadership, Human Resources, Product & Process and Future Success Initiatives.
“Elliot Whittier Insurance has made several additional improvements since earutning its initial Five Star Agency Designation four years ago” said Heather Kramer, Five Star Consultant and COO and Vice President of MAIA. “Everyone in the agency works toward moving the agency forward and improving on the strong foundation that is in place. And that foundation is based on the agency’s mission of helping clients protect their assets by providing professional advice and superior products with an outstanding staff. The staff is seen as a key strength with their work ethic, respect for each other and dedication to customer service being outstanding. The owners are greatly respected and there is the utmost confidence in their leadership abilities in taking the agency forward successfully.”
Steve Roy, CEO of Elliot Whittier Insurance commented, “Our staff understands that the agency is forward thinking and always open to new and innovative ideas, especially around technology and alternative work arrangements that will help everyone in the agency work more efficiently, thereby providing clients with high levels of customer service. The entire staff works very hard to be efficient and organized all while maintaining the attitude that they want to consistently be the best they can be.”
The process of becoming a Five Star Agency Designation is a rigorous one with only approximately 26 out of Massachusetts’ more than 1,500 independent insurance agencies achieving the designation. Once an agency achieves the status of a Five Star Agency Designee through earning a qualifying score, it must go through an intensive review process every three years in order to retain its status as such.
For further information about the program, please contact Heather Kramer at hkramer@massagent.com.