Insurance Business announces the US’s rising stars for 2022

The future of this year’s Insurance Business America (IBA) rising stars are so bright, they need sunglasses.

At the start of summer this year, the IBA team invited insurance professionals across the US to nominate the most exceptional young talent they work with for the annual Rising Stars list. The nominees had to be age 35 or under as of September 30 and committed to a career in insurance with a passion for the industry. However, only nominees who had not been previously named “rising stars” or “young guns” were considered to maintain a focus on new talent.

The IBA team asked the nominees about their current roles, key achievements, career goals, and their contributions to shaping the US insurance industry. The final list of 59 rising stars was determined by an independent panel of industry leaders.

Among this year’s winners, 29 are women, 36 is (now!) the age of the oldest rising star, and 25 is the age of the youngest rising stars. Some of the winners were:

Alex Betlinski, regional vice president, Retail Property, Arch Insurance
Allen Canaday, managing director, CRC One
Andrew Filus, underwriting manager, commercial D&O and financial institutions, Applied Financial Lines
Brittany Cosgrove, regional vice president, executive assurance, Arch Insurance
Carrie Cheeks, southeast territory manager, workers’ compensation division, Jencap
Chelsea Sirovatka, transportation underwriter, Risk Placement Services
David Bauer, professional lines broker, Risk Placement Services
Emily Wegman, senior vice president, commercial lines, Amwins Access
Houston Pittman, senior vice president, commercial lines, Charlotte branch leader, Amwins Access
Jake Plagge, underwriter/broker, Risk Placement Services
Maria Alejandra Bojaca González, account manager and reinsurance broker, Synapse Services
Pete Kidd, vice president, insurance and compliance, Leap Insurance Agency
Sarah Combs, senior director of distribution management, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Tamra Johnson, assistance vice president, public affairs, American Property Casualty Insurance Association
Timothy Grosso, senior vice president, Euclid Transactional
Tresa Stephens, regional head of cyber, tech& media, North America, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

This year’s report was supported by the Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies and Big I. See the rest of the winners and the panel of judges by reading the IBA Rising Stars 2022 report here.