2023 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
April Salgado Chan Executive vice president, field operations
Insurance Office of America Inc.
Aliso Viejo, California
After graduating with a degree in computer science from Northern Illinois University, April Salgado Chan discovered there was a shortage of programming jobs, so she had to look elsewhere.
“I never intended to begin a career in insurance, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Ms. Chan said. “My best friend worked for an insurance staffing firm, and she placed me with Hilb Rogal and Hobbs,” she said. She went from working as a temp at the brokerage in 2002 to a full-time employee. “They sent me to insurance school, I got my license and worked my way up,” she said.
Ms. Chan has worked at Insurance Office of America for 18 years and was promoted to her current position earlier this year. “Having worked in different parts of the company before taking on a national role gives me a unique perspective,” she said.
Two years ago, she started an event to bring women together before IOA’s annual conference. “It went very well, because the conferences have more than 500 attendees and only a small group are women,” she said.
What Ms. Chan is proudest of, she said, is “growing up as a Filipino American in the Midwest — the Chicago suburbs. Being helpful to others and having a positive impact is ingrained in the Filipino culture. From the Midwest is the family orientation, hard work and humbleness. They are both very similar,” she said.
“Those values became a huge part of my life,” Ms. Chan said. “That’s what I love about insurance — helping others and making sure they are protected.”
Jon Thurman, executive vice president of IOA noted that Ms. Chan has risen through the ranks of the company and has “an inviting and encouraging leadership quality that affirms the value of the team members she supports.”
He added that “having a woman such as April as a pillar of IOA’s executive leadership and a champion within the industry is like having a beacon that calls other women to join together to make an important impact within the insurance industry.”
Caroline McDonald
