2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Dawn Puro Chief underwriting officer and senior vice president, casualty
Accredited Specialty Insurance Co.
Hoboken, New Jersey
Dawn Puro likes to say she has in a sense gone from Broadway to Broadway.
For many years, she dreamed of starring in a show in a Broadway theater, but that dream eventually transformed into the reality of working near Broadway, at American International Group Inc. She said she does not regret the change in direction “because I live vicariously through my best friend’s children, who are all performers.”
“I actually fell into insurance,” said Ms. Puro, chief underwriting officer and senior vice president, casualty, for Accredited Specialty Insurance Co. While working at the museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology, where her mother is a professor, she interviewed at AIG’s Lexington Insurance Co. unit and became an executive assistant.
Taking advantage of an opportunity, a habit that she said has characterized her career, she became an underwriting associate for the insurer.
She left AIG as an assistant vice president and regional underwriting manager for its American Home unit and went to Ironshore when it was still a startup. It was “really cool — I had a card table and a computer” in a tiny office, said Ms. Puro, who left the insurer after eight-and-a-half years as a senior vice president.
In 2018, Ms. Puro joined ProSight Specialty Insurance Co., where she was niche president, energy customer segment. In January of this year, she joined Accredited, where she is primarily responsible for establishing the U.S. casualty program management platform.
“I take great pride in mentoring” the next generation, Ms. Puro said. “It’s the most fulfilling thing to watch.” Nor does she restrict her mentoring to young people. Some of her mentees are her age, “looking to take their next steps,” she said.
Anthony Ciofani, who is vice president for alternative markets at ProSight and has known Ms. Puro for many years, described her as a “natural leader.”
She is an “impeccable communicator” and goes out of her way “to make certain everyone is engaged and involved,” he said.
