R. Benedikt Sander
President & CEO, Preferred Mutual Insurance Company
Benedikt started his career at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, where he supported national and international high-tech, media and telecom clients. He later held multiple leadership roles at Liberty Mutual, based in Boston, MA including Vice President, Agency Relationship Management, Senior Vice President Underwriting and Strategy, and Senior Vice President Product Management.
Prior to his appointment in 2022 as President and CEO, Benedikt served as the Executive Vice President of Insurance Operations where he was responsible for building the vision for and driving execution within underwriting and sales/distribution for Preferred Mutual.
Benedikt holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an M.Phil in Economic Theory & Econometrics from the University of Cambridge in the UK. Benedikt also holds multiple insurance designations including CPCU, AAI, AU, API and AIC.
Don Polczynski
MS AgencyCFO™ Partner & President
With over 20 years dedicated experience as an independent insurance agency CFO, Don is truly one of the leading experts in insurance agency financial management. As AgencyCFO™ President and Custom Financial Officer, Don uses this expertise for agencies’ CEOs and leaders to ensure they have a clear financial strategy for growth, retention, profit and ultimately agency value. Leading the way as architect and innovator of the AgencyCFO Financial Model and Toolbox™, Don has developed a program that fills a financial gap the majority of agencies don’t even realize they have! While there are virtual and fractional CFO's available in the world, the AgencyCFO™ program is uniquely developed for independent insurance agencies. Simply put - Don speaks the language and has assembled an expert team of industry insiders who are the missing piece of your agency’s financial core.
Roe Polczynski, MBA
AgencyCFO™ Founding Partner & Executive Advisor
True financial excellence can't be achieved without organizational excellence. That's where Roe steps in as the Executive Advisor for AgencyCFO™’s Leadership Guidance! Current clients have benefited from her expertise in organizational development for strategic planning, team development initiatives, senior leadership mentoring, and sales coaching. She works on ensuring the agency has the right people in the right seats, has a culture that will ensure high client and employee retention. She works 1:1 with the team to create a vibrant sales culture and an amazing customer experience.
Claudia St. John
President, Workplace Advisors
Claudia is the President of The Workplace AdvisorsTM, a leading HR consulting firm; an SPHR and SHRM Senior Certified Professional bringing deep expertise in workplace engagement, employee development, and communication to the stage; a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst sharing data-backed insights to help businesses grow; and the Author of Transforming Teams
A comprehensive book for businesses who want to improve collaboration and build trust.
David Gritz
Co-founder, InsurTech Fund
David is a venture capitalist, InsurTech community leader, and InsurTech advisor. He has been a featured speaker at conferences including InsureTech Connect, InsurTech Insights, DigIn, and Reuters Future of Insurance.
David serves as the Managing Director of InsurTech Fund and InsurTech NY. InsurTech NY is the largest InsurTech community in North America. It helps insurers connect to high-potential startups through a Global InsurTech Competition, a growth-stage accelerator, and an MGA Lab.
Previously, David served as the Director of Innovation for the Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA) and co-founded Zero, a behavioral safety-focused InsurTech acquired by EverestRe. He holds a J.D. from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and business and industrial engineering degrees from Lehigh University.