2010-2011 Cincinnati Chapter Officer Candidates
President - Melissa Hoffman, CPCU CIC API
Melissa is Director II of Commercial Inland Marine at Liberty Mutual Agency Markets since February of 2006. Previously, Melissa held the position of Senior Internal Auditor with Great American Insurance. Melissa has more than 15 years experience in the insurance industry. She received her CPCU designation in 2004 and has served a variety of roles within the Cincinnati CPCU Chapter. Other Board affiliations for Melissa include the Inland Marine Underwriters Association and Insuring the Children. Melissa received her Bachelors Degree in 1993 from the University of Baltimore. Melissa is married with four children.
President Elect - Charles Fellows, CPCU
Charles is a Wealth Management Advisor with Sequoia Wealth Counsel, LLC. In this capacity he advises individuals, families and small businesses on investments, Insurance, Estate Planning, and Tax Planning. Previously, Charles was Vice President, Personal Lines for Indiana Insurance (a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets company), with full operational responsibility including Sales, Marketing, Pricing and Product Management. In his over 20 years experience in Property & Casualty Insurance his experiences included both Commercial and Personal Lines. His roles have included Product Development, Branch Management, Product Management (including pricing) and Company Sales & Marketing, working at Great American, Victoria Financial, GRE Specialty Auto and Liberty Mutual Agency Markets. Charles is a Cincinnati native. He received his CPCU designation in 2001. He has an undergraduate degree in Business from the University of Western Ontario (Canada) in 1979, and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati in 1987. Charles is married, has two children (ages 23 and 27), is an avid tennis player, enjoys squash and golf and resides in Hyde Park.
Vice President – Brian Schmidt, CPCU CIC
Brian is an Account Development Representative with American Modern Insurance Group working with large brokers, specialty accounts and strategic alliances. He has been with the company since April, 2004. Prior to his current role Brian has been a Territory Sales Manager, Inside Sales Rep, and a casualty products specialist with American Modern. Brian received his CPCU designation in 2007. He has served as the Chapter as Publicity Chair the last two years. Brian received his undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Cincinnati in 2002. He is married to Molly and they have two boys, Max and Owen, and live in Western Hills
Treasurer - Michael Koscielny, Jr. CPCU CIC API
Mike is Assistant Vice President, Property & Casualty Underwriting & Product Support at The Midland Company (American Modern Insurance Group) since July of 2006. He was previously Director of Regional Underwriting Operations, at the Auto Club Insurance Association (known as AAA Michigan).Mike has more than 30 years experience in the insurance industry and his roles included Agent, Personal Business Manager, Branch Marketing Manager, Property Product Manager and Regional President at leading insurers, such as AAA Insurance, Kemper Insurance and SAFECO. He received his CPCU designation in 1996. He is a board member of Insuring the Children, past Board Member of the Northwest Suburban Chicago Chapter of CPCU, Past President of the Central Michigan Underwriters Association and Past president of the Cincinnati Chapter of CPCU. He received his Bachelors Degree in 1978 from Northern Illinois University. Mike is married and has two adult children; both are working in the insurance industry today.
Secretary - Julie Barnhill, CPCU, CPIW, AFIS, MBA
Julie is a Divisional Vice President, Product Manager for the AgriBusiness Division at Great American Insurance Company. Her 24 years in the insurance industry canvasses insurance operations, personal and commercial lines underwriting and product management. She earned her MBA from Xavier University. She has served as the Cincinnati CPCU Chapter Secretary for the past 2 years as well as Program Chair for several years. In addition, she continues her efforts as a committee member for the Insuring The Children Annual Have a Heart Benefit.
Past President - Kathy Balzano, CPCU, CIC, ARM, AMIM, ARe, API, AIC,
APA, AIAF, ARC, AIS, AU, ARPM-P, CISR, AAI, AIM, ACS
Kathy graduated BBA from the University of Cincinnati in 1986 majoring in Finance and Real Estate. Her 21 year insurance background has been spent in Commercial and Personal Lines Underwriting, Product Management, Training, Marketing, and Corporate Operations Auditing. Kathy earned her CPCU in 1996 and has taught the following courses: CPCU 560, CPCU 520, and API 28. She holds 17 professional designations and has served as the Education Chair and Vice President for the CPCU Board. She was elected Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Fairfax at the age of 27. Kathy's wonderful husband, Dave, just earned his CPCU and is with Cincinnati Insurance as a Defense Attorney. They have a beautiful daughter, Lexi, who is 9 years old and keeps them very busy.
