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Women to Watch: 2006

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Connie Harden

Connie Harden


Principal

Buck Consultants L.L.C.

San Francisco

Age: 58

Connie Harden joined Buck Consultants in 1991 after working for eight years as an attorney in the employee benefits groups of two law firms. She consults on a wide range of employee benefits legal issues and has served on an Internal Revenue Service task force to help the IRS develop COBRA health care regulations. More recently, she has been working to help clients implement innovative approaches in adopting consumer-driven health care plans.

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I would slow things down a bit so we could spend more time talking face to face. Although e-mail has revolutionized business communication and made us more efficient, it can also interfere with the synergy that flows from direct interaction."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "First, figure out what you do best and what you care most about and do it wholeheartedly. Second, I'd suggest, learn the details but don't forget the big picture--that is, think about policy issues and share your thoughts with others. Finally, hope more and fear less."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "Two wonderful lawyers and role models for me have been Mary Oppenheimer, who was a top employee benefits official for many years at the Internal Revenue Service, and Barbara Creed, a partner with the Trucker Huss law firm in San Francisco. They were great teachers and fearless in forging their careers."


Cathy A. Hauck

Cathy A. Hauck


Executive Vp, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Partner Reinsurance Co.

Greenwich, Conn.

Age: 51

Cathy A. Hauck began her insurance career in 1984 as an attorney with New York-based American International Group Inc. Over the next 15 years, she gained solid expertise in corporate and regulatory matters for property/casualty insurers working at a variety of companies--including NAC Reinsurance Corp., where she served as associate general counsel and assistant secretary--before joining PartnerRe as executive vp, general counsel and corporate secretary in 1999. Ms. Hauck has previously served as chair to the National Conference of Insurance Legislators and currently is vice chair on the Reinsurance Assn. of America's legal committee.

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "I began my legal career at American International Group and my first supervisor and mentor was Patrick Foley. He was extremely influential in my career in terms of broadening my experience, advising me and encouraging me to go for my brokers license, my CPCU courses, and my ARe (designation), to get a strong foundation in the insurance business."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "I would encourage them to seize every opportunity to take risks, experience new opportunities, broaden their education and network with industry representatives across the financial services (industry). Networking is a tremendous benefit, and it never hurts to ask a question or seek out an opportunity. You'll always find that people are willing to help more than initially thought."

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I would encourage more free enterprise, allow it to become a true commercial marketplace, with less regulation and oversight."


Barbara Haugen

Barbara Haugen


Senior Vp

Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers

Washington

Age: 59

Barbara Haugen has represented commercial brokers since 1981, when she joined the National Assn. of Insurance Brokers as vp-government affairs. Ms. Haugen was NAIB's senior vp government in 1998 when that organization merged with the CIAB. She assumed her current position after the merger. In this role, Ms. Haugen was a driving force in the 2001 creation of the Council of Employee Benefit Executives, a board within the CIAB. Prior to entering the insurance industry, Ms. Haugen was a director of communications in the Carter Administration.

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "When I worked in the Carter White House, Sarah Weddington (assistant to the president) used to say 'It's fine to plan your career path and stay focused, but also stay open to new opportunities.' So I would advise young women entering the industry to take a chance when your gut tells you an opportunity would be fun, challenging and fulfilling."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "Ten years ago I would have answered this question differently. But today, I would have to say my mom. She was dynamic and had courage. She was active in politics, the community and took over my dad's contracting business when he died. She taught me independence and the value of hard work. Teaching independence by example is a huge gift."

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I would like to see stronger ties and cooperation between property/casualty and the benefits side of the industry. It would better serve our members. There's ongoing friction between benefits and property/casualty. The two sides don't understand each other's businesses and are hesitant to cooperate. Cooperation strengthens both sides. Within a company, cooperation creates internal harmony that builds a stronger overall team."


Kathryn Hayley

Kathryn Hayley


Chief Executive Officer

Aon Consulting U.S.

Chicago

Age: 48

After spending 21 years working with Deloitte Consulting in a variety of positions in the United States and abroad, Kathryn Hayley stepped into the top role at Aon Consulting U.S. this past June. Among her responsibilities, Ms. Hayley has been charged with leading efforts for enhancing the organization's service delivery models, among other responsibilities. In addition, she serves on the board of directors for Gateway Foundation, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the Civic Consulting Alliance.

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "In human capital, we look at issues as benefit issues and retirement plan issues and tend to think more tactically than we should...we are dealing with the two biggest issues that are shaping the U.S. economy, and we need to think bigger and more creatively about ways to deal with these broad issues."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "To build expertise, build a reason for the phone to ring. Be known for something, and be known for being the best at something. Especially for women, there are a lot of 'shoulds' and 'expectations,' and we have to be careful to cull through those to determine which ones work for us, and which ones we want to heed and which ones we want to ignore."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "On the personal side, it's been my family and the way they've instilled values in me, and my husband, who's been incredibly supportive and flexible. On the professional side, I've had numerous mentors over the years--some who may not even know it--whom I've sought advice from and tried to emulate."


Pam Hymel

Dr. Pamela A. Hymel


Senior Corporate Director, Integrated Health and Global Medical Director

Cisco Systems Inc.

San Jose, Calif.

Age: 51

Prior to joining Cisco, Dr. Pamela A. Hymel worked for a year as senior vp of Sedgwick CMS and completed 16 years of employment with Hughes Electronics Corp., where she last served as vp of human resources, medical services and HR systems. Dr. Hymel is board certified in both internal medicine and occupational medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Hymel is on the Board of Directors for both the National Business Group on Health and ACOEM.

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "My primary advice is to follow your passion. It makes the day-to-day activities even more fulfilling. One of the main reasons I entered preventive medicine was because I wanted to help improve the health and well-being of employees by encouraging them to take better care of themselves in order to prevent chronic disease. Being passionate about the end goal helped me to be creative by taking the seemingly mundane tasks of setting up benefits and health management plans and integrating them into an overarching employee health program."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "One of my greatest mentors was Sandra Harrison, the senior vp of HR at Hughes Electronics. Sandra was my boss for the last six years I was at Hughes and was a mentor who has now become a friend. She pushed me to improve my leadership skills and encouraged me to continue learning in this area. She gave me the opportunity to manage diverse areas of human resources, such as pension and payroll, while also allowing me to continue working with in leadership positions with outside organizations."

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I would like to see more integration between the various employee benefits products (health insurance, disability management, disease/lifestyle management), with an overriding focus on prevention and returning a person to full functionality. Currently, we have too many unconnected individuals trying to drive care for an ill or injured patient. This makes the patient experience both fragmented and frustrating. If we could have one individual focused on care management for both the health and disability sides of the business, with an emphasis on educating the person how to proactively manage his or her health, we would see improved outcomes across the lines of business."


Karen Ignagni

Karen Ignagni


President and Chief Executive Officer

America's Health Insurance Plans

Washington

Age: 52

Karen Ignagni began her career in health care issues in the 1970s as a research analyst at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and then the assistant director for a group lobbying for national health insurance. She also was a staff member on the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Prior to joining America's Health Insurance Plans--then known as the American Assn. of Health Plans--in 1993, Ms. Ignagni served as director of the employee benefits department of the AFL-CIO.

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "This is a vibrant and innovative industry with a fantastic story to tell. Our leaders in this industry have been so focused on performing for employers and consumers they haven't spent as much time on communicating what they are doing. They are changing the delivery system. It is important for our members to stand up straight and talk about that."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "I would give the same advice to young women that I would give to young men. The advice would be to perfect your communication skills. Try to get to the point as quickly as possible. Learn to read quickly because you have to digest a great deal of information. If you desire to go into the lobbying field, do not focus simply on building political skills, but to be an effective lobbyist you must know the policy. Finally, you have to be open to the view points of others."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "John Dunlop, the secretary of labor during the Ford administration, had a great influence on me. I met him when I was at the AFL-CIO and worked with him on pension and health issues. He was influential because he taught me that thoughtful people can always find a common purpose. It is far better to work collaboratively with individuals than the alternative. I learned to be very respectful other people's points of view. He taught me that you always can learn something new by putting yourself in someone else's shoes. He was one of the smartest and most gracious individuals I ever have known.".


Doris Johnson

Doris Johnson


Senior Vp and Managing Director, Worldwide Field Operations and Administrative Manager, Claims

Chubb & Son Inc.

Warren, New Jersey

Age: 57

Doris Johnson, who has served in her current position since 1991, was Chubb's first female senior vp and managing director in claims. Ms. Johnson leads the worldwide claims and house counsel operations with more than 2,000 field and home office employees. Ms. Johnson began her career at Chubb in 1975, supervising a team of adjusters. She was one of the first members of Chubb's Executive Development Council and the Women's Development Council, a Chubb employee resource group. She also is a member of Chubb's Executive Diversity Council.

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "You are entering a very exciting industry, and one that has a lot of moving parts. Consider this a journey in which you not only go deep to master a subject area, but go broad to see how all the parts go together. Continually learn the industry inside and out. The insurance industry responds to the needs of the world. Be fully aware that this industry is driven by customer needs. Understand the customer's needs, respond to the customer's needs by knowing the vehicles available to help and how to put those vehicles together."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "I have had a number of people, particularly direct managers, who have had an influence on my career. When I joined this industry, women were not terribly prevalent, and certainly not at higher levels. After about five years, I worked for a manager that came up from the technical ranks. There were many things he did not like to do. He recognized my talent and would throw things my way, like doing a departmental presentation. That made me have to do it. I prepared. That gave me confidence. I had to brave worlds that I would have been reticent to take on. I became his 'go-to' person. It forced me to learn. He became very comfortable with my ability and put me forward, making me visible to senior staff."

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I think if I could change one thing about the industry, I would change how it is viewed. It is viewed as a necessary evil instead of as an enabler. I believe the public doesn't really see the industry as a risk-sharing partner that enables them to do the risk taking to grow their business. There are things that we could not do but for this industry. I don't think we do an excellent job of putting out those facts. Because of that, we don't get enough talented young people coming into the industry. They don't understand all of the different things that they could do."


Linda Johnson

Linda Johnson


Executive Vp

Benfield Inc.

Minneapolis

Age: 42

Linda Johnson, now the highest-ranking female in Benfield Inc.'s history, entered the industry after college graduation in 1987 as a management trainee for the company's predecessor organization, E.W. Blanch Co. In the early years of her career, Ms. Johnson held several sales and marketing positions while earning her master of business administration and Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation. She became executive vp in 2000 and was part of the senior leadership group involved in Blanch's sale to Benfield in 2001. Ms. Johnson heads Benfield's casualty specialties team.

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "My mother was a phenomenal role model for taking charge of your destiny. She became a single parent and immediately had to go on welfare. She then got a full-time job, finished college, earned her MBA and became controller of Bass Shoes. In the industry, Jane Nelson, who was president of St. Paul Surplus Lines, showed me how smart women in the business can be. Art Horowitz of E.W. Blanch was the first person I worked for as a reinsurance broker. He was a great role model with respect to strategic thinking."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "Believe in yourself. Everything is possible. It all depends on finding creative solutions and not accepting that if you have children, your career will be on the 'mommy track.' How you invest your time in your career in your 20s pays dividends when you are in your 40s."

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I wish we were able to identify our ultimate liabilities better. Often insurers are the deep pockets and litigation over insurance contracts makes it difficult to know what your potential losses are. Another thing I would change is that the insurance industry does great things for the entire economy, and we're constantly being kicked reputationally. We don't get kudos for all that we do."


Sharon Kaleta

Sharon Kaleta


President and Chief Executive

Disability Management Employer Coalition

San Diego

Age: 58

Sharon Kaleta, co-founder of the San Diego-based Disability Management Employer Coalition, is known as a grass-roots leader. Through her DMEC work, Ms. Kaleta helped create an industry professional designation, the Certified Professional in Disability Management. She also worked for two decades as a risk manager in the restaurant and aerospace industry. During a portion of that time, she also managed benefits that included overseeing a self-insured and self-administered disability program, which became a springboard for her DMEC work.

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: "I think the insurance industry as well as employers in this country need to think about long-term objectives and be willing to put programs in place that don't benefit them in the second quarter but in the second year. The industry moves too slow. It needs quicker implementation of new innovative programs. We spend too much time talking and analyzing things to death instead of using common sense to find avenues that work. Some will not work, but most will. Just do it."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: "Women need to work hard. I think there are so many opportunities now for women. The path has been paved by my generation and others so women have the opportunity to have their viewpoints heard. I would recommend women not be shy about taking risk or expressing their viewpoints in a professional way, and keep pushing if they first don't receive a positive response and they know their concept has value. Deliver information in a way people will understand and allow it to go forward. Too often women give up. Don't give up. Sometimes you have to say it over and over again. Also, always operate and conduct yourself from a point of ethics."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: "Without doubt I would have to say my mother--not because she had any knowledge of business, but rather because she had very strong convictions about how a person should view work and the possibilities life had to offer. She provided me with a clear understanding that I could do anything I wanted, I should never forfeit my dreams or goals and I should always give more than I received. Work hard, believe in what I was doing, operate always with integrity and be sure my actions would benefit and not hurt others. These are simply life 'truths' but have been invaluable to me throughout my career and especially when setting the structure for DMEC."


Anastasia Kelly

Anastasia Kelly


Executive Vp, General Counsel

American International Group Inc.

New York

Age: 56

Before being appointed to her current position, Anastasia Kelly was executive vp and general counsel of MCI/WorldCom, where she helped the company emerge from bankruptcy and resolve all criminal and civil investigations after it filed a corporate financial restatement in April 2004.

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: Young women should find a mentor and network within the industry. "Learn everything you can, stay flexible and don't reject career paths out of hand because they may seem nontraditional."

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: While a number of people have had positive influences on her career, Ms. Kelly cites two former colleagues, Michael Helfer and P.J. Mode, at Wilmer, Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr L.L.P. as being particularly influential during her 10 years at the firm, where she honed her expertise counseling senior management and compliance officers of regulated industries on all aspects of federal regulation.


Melissa Kerns

Melissa Kerns


Senior Vp

AIG Risk Management Group

New York

Age: 40

Melissa Kerns has spent her entire career in the insurance industry with AIG, joining the company as a professional associate in 1988. Currently, she is the profit center manager for the group's national account segment, which consists of property/casualty accounts with $700 million or more in sales.

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: Charles Dangelo, president of AIG Global Risk Management. "He makes it look so easy when running a company is certainly not easy to do."

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: Young women should build a network of contacts both within their companies and within the industry, which will help foster relationships that not only present new business opportunities, but also provide valuable insight for their own professional development. "The business in my opinion is a very people driven business and I think having relationships both within your organization and the market is a very important aspect," adding that young women should not be afraid to ask questions about the business.

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: More open communication between carriers, clients and brokers is the only way to create an open and free dialogue that will enable them to work together to truly explore and resolve issues in a more timely manner, Ms. Kerns said.

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