2023 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Sharon Burger Senior vice president, environmental practice leader
IMA Inc.
Denver
Sharon Burger’s move into insurance grew out of her environmental sciences background.
After working in the conservation field domestically and abroad — including a stint running Botswana’s ecotourism program — Ms. Burger landed a position as an environmental underwriter and realized her experience could be put to a different use.
But, ultimately, she switched roles when she moved to Denver 16 years ago.
Ms. Burger said she determined right away that the brokerage side would be a better fit for her because of the “dynamic of working with brokers and the various components of the job.”
Today, Ms. Burger acts as a contact point for “anything pollution insurance related” at IMA Inc. offices nationwide.
“We lead on any kind of environmental placement on (clients’) behalf,” she said.
Ms. Burger has helped to grow the environmental practice at IMA by more than 500%.
“A lot of what we do is not selling insurance, (it’s) helping our clients understand where their exposures lie,” she said.
One of her interests is training women and diverse colleagues.
“I’ve had a lot of individuals that have come into my team that didn’t have environmental insurance experience, so I’ve gotten a lot of joy out of teaching them the business and watching them grow,” she said.
Ms. Burger serves on the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee and was involved with a women’s mentorship program.
Attorney Harold Flanagan, with New Orleans firm Flanagan Partners LLP, said Ms. Burger, whom he has known for 12 years, has a reputation for being “very accessible and responsive to clients.”
Mr. Flanagan teaches insurance law and met Ms. Burger through a mutual insurance broker acquaintance.
“She’s an absolute expert in what she does. She is top 1% in her particular game of pollution insurance issues,” Mr. Flanagan said.
“That is due in part to the fact that she was in pollution insurance underwriting for years before she went to the retail brokerage side.”
Jon Campisi
