FEATURES
COVER STORY: ELITE WOMEN 2017 KAREN SIEBERT
LORI BAILEY
Agency general manager
Global head of cyber risk
Siebert Insurance Agency
Zurich Insurance Group
Before joining the insurance industry, Karen Siebert worked as a teacher for special needs children and trained new teachers at Special School District of St. Louis County. Now, Siebert has been an insurance professional for more than 20 years, driving the business at Fenton, Missouri-based Siebert Insurance Agency. Recently, Siebert was the recipient of Safeco’s Award of Excellence, the company’s most prestigious underwriting recognition for the highest-performing agents with exceptional front-line underwriting skills. In addition, Siebert Insurance Agency was a Safeco Premier Agency from 2012 to 2016 and won the Safeco Chairman’s National Award from 2013 to 2015. Outside of her agency, Siebert volunteers her time at local food banks and with the Special Olympics, spearheading her agency’s participation in the Polar Plunge to raise money for the event.
As a though leader in various aspects of financial lines and cyber liability, Bailey frequently speaks on panels and forums and regularly pens articles on these topics for Zurich’s Industry Knowledge resource page. Her most recent article addressed a major bank cyberheist and the severe repercussions that business leaders can’t afford to ignore when it comes to cyber risks. Bailey is also the head of Zurich’s Women’s Innovation Network or “WIN”, an employee resource group with more than 1,800 members. It is open to women and men and has helped create a forum for gaining better insights into women’s issues and providing networking opportunities with colleagues and industry experts.
MARY CEKO
SARAH STREET
Chief claims officer and VP of claims
Director
Vela Insurance Services
XL Innovate
Mary Ceko serves as the chief claims officer and vice president of claims at Vela Insurance Services, a Berkley Company. Ceko joined Vela in 2011, where she oversees claims professionals and administrative staff in Vela’s Chicago, Atlanta, Omaha and Bay Area claims offices. Both an insurance professional and an attorney, Ceko practiced law for 10 years prior to her insurance career, concentrating in plaintiff’s personal injury, insurance defense, toxic tort and environmental coverage litigation. In her nearly 20 years of professional experience in the insurance claims field, Ceko’s background and expertise have encompassed primary E&S, excess umbrella commercial casualty, railroad and professional liability.
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Lori Bailey is responsible for developing and implementing global strategies, portfolio management, underwriting governance and product development globally for cyber risk across all lines of business within Zurich. Bailey was most recently the global head of special lines, a position which she held since 2014, wherein she oversaw technical underwriting operations for Professional and management liability, security & privacy / cyberliability, financial institutions, surety, trade credit and related lines of business. She has led product rollouts around the world and formed thought leadership initiatives. Earlier this year, she contributed an article to Fortune about her experience managing a team despite geographical distance.
www.ibamag.com
Sarah Street serves as a director and investment team member for XL Innovate, a venture capital investor sponsoring global entrepreneurial teams with ideas for innovative enhancements in insurance and risk management. This role is part of Street’s many responsibilities as EVP of strategy and innovation initiatives for XL Catlin. Street joined XL in 2001 as the CEO of XL Capital Investment Partners and has moved through the ranks over the last decade and a half. She assumed her current role after more than nine years as chief investment officer of XL Group, where she oversaw everything from asset allocation to compliance and risk management as part of the investment strategy. A champion of women and education, Street once served as a volunteer in a remote village in India, where she ran nursery schools and women’s empowerment programs. She is currently on the board of READ Global, an initiative that seeks to empower rural communities in order to alleviate global poverty.