RISK PROFESSIONAL ROUNDTABLE
Featuring: Peggy Brockmann, John Marren, Loren Nickel, Laurie Solomon, and Michelle Bennett
Director of Risk and Insurance, Bonaventure
Peggy Brockmann is a risk management expert with significant experience managing complex insurance programs in construction and real estate, including owner-controlled and contractor-controlled insurance programs. Prior to joining Bonaventure, she was most recently Vice President of Risk Management for the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group and Director of Risk Management for the Lightstone Group, a real estate lender, operator and owner across the hospitality, multi-family, industrial and real estate segments, as well as four REITS. During her career, Ms. Brockmann has worked in risk management and risk consulting roles supporting the construction of multifamily, heavy civil, and hospitality industries.
Senior Director, Global Risk & Insurance Management, Novavax, Inc.
John Marren is the Senior Director of Global Risk and Insurance Management for Novavax, Inc., in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He’s responsible for all aspects of Novavax’s Enterprise Risk Management Program, Property and Casualty insurances, and Business Continuity Management. Novavax is a biotechnology company addressing serious infectious disease globally through the discovery, development, and delivery of innovative recombinant nanoparticle vaccines. Novavax is currently part of the global COVID-19 vaccination effort through its vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, known outside the US as Nuvaxovid. Prior to Novavax, Mr. Marren was Senior Director of Global Risk and Insurance Management for CSL Limited, based in Melbourne, Australia; a global leader in human plasma-derived therapies and influenza vaccines. Prior to CSL, he was Director of Risk Management for Henkel of America. This followed having been Global Risk Manager for the Swiss flavors and fragrances manufacturer, Firmenich. Mr. Marren began his career as a Property Loss Control Consultant for FM Global. He then joined Johnson & Higgins (later Marsh) in roles of increasing responsibility in both engineering and broking, eventually focusing on chemical, petrochemical, oil, and gas clients.
Director, Business Risk and Insurance, Google LLC
Loren Nickel is a director at Google and heads the business risk and insurance team which is responsible for all Alphabet companies. Loren’s team provides risk advisory, captive management, insurance placement, and analytical support to Alphabet. He joined Google/Alphabet in April 2015. Mr. Nickel has twenty-six years of experience in the risk and insurance industry, including fifteen years as an actuary and four years as an underwriting manager with Aon and Allianz. He has been called on to explain in-depth actuarial, risk management, and underwriting concepts to a variety of audiences around the globe including CEO's, CFO's, Executive/Managing Directors and Risk Managers. He is a six year past-President of the Casualty Actuaries of the Bay Area, current Chairman and past-President of the M200 Association and is on the advisory board for the UC Santa Barbara actuarial program. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and Charterholder of the CFA Institute. Mr. Nickel is a 2011 and 2022 Business Insurance Innovation of the Year Award Recipient and in 2017 he was named the Risk Manager of the Year by RIMS.
Vice President, Risk Manager Channel, LineSlip
Laurie Solomon is vice president, Risk Manager Channel at LineSlip Solutions, Inc. She has more than 21 years of experience leading global risk management for a Fortune 100 company and a decade of large national accounts underwriting. She began her career as an underwriter and account executive for The Travelers Insurance Company and later joined The Coca-Cola Company, initially as risk manager and subsequently was director of global risk management for 11 years. In this role, Ms. Solomon led a team of 22 professionals and set a strategy for Coca-Cola’s global risk management approach. Through the years, she has earned numerous industry honors for excellence and innovation in risk management, including being named to Business Insurance's Risk Management Honor Roll in 2011.
Director, Customer Success, LineSlip
Michelle Bennett currently serves as Director, Customer Success for LineSlip Solutions. Previously, Ms. Bennett was the Senior Director, Executive Staff Operations for Cable One, Inc, a leading broadband communications provider, where she supported the development and implementation of CableOne’s risk management initiatives. Ms. Bennett has been an integral and influential leader in past roles of increasing responsibility for a variety of business sectors, including hospitality & gaming, aerospace & defense, and manufacturing industries. As a thought leader, she has also supported several panel discussions at industry conferences and was most recently a featured guest on The Audit Podcast hosted by Trent Russell. Ms. Bennett is the recipient of various industry honors including Business Insurance’s Woman to Watch (2019), Risk & Insurance Magazine’s ‘All-Star’, and a Break-Out Award Honoree (2017) by Business Insurance magazine.