Meet The Board

Claire McDonald

Member of the Board – HDI Global SE and Chair of iWIN

Claire is Member of the Board for HDI Global SE, a corporate insurance provider which she joined in March 2019. Prior to that she worked for over 30 years with Allianz in a mixture of underwriting and operations leadership roles, both on a local basis in UK and France and in more recent years in Global roles as Global Head of Operations and Global Practice Leader, Allianz Multinational). Claire is a Liveryman in the Worshipful Company of Insurers and on the Board of iWin as well as an Ambassador for the Insurance Supper Club. Claire’s passion for working for a more gender equal world comes from her core values around fairness, meritocracy and wastefulness – gender should never be a reason why someone is overlooked and what are the societal “norms” that mean that the playing ground is not even and how can we work to change them. Claire is an active mentor and supporter of young women.

Sarah Griffiths

Director of Communications, Gallagher

Sarah is Director of Communications for Gallagher’s UK broking and underwriting business. She joined Gallagher in 2013 and is responsible for internal and external communications across the 5,000-strong business along with UK corporate partnerships, including Gallagher’s Title Partnership of Premiership Rugby. Sarah moved into the insurance industry seven years ago, initially out of curiosity, after spending 15 years in the telecoms and technology sector, latterly as Head of Communications for BT Wholesale. She is a passionate advocate for working parents and has an eight year old son who she is (desperately) trying to teach the Welsh language in an attempt to keep her homeland roots alive in London.

Irem Yerdelen

Partner, Corporate Sustainability & Climate Change, ERM: Environmental Resources Management

Irem brings almost two decades of risk advisory & insurance industry experience having worked at major firms (Marsh and WTW) and performed leadership roles across the topics International (Re)insurance, Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions, Risk Management Strategy for corporate clients. Currently Irem is a Partner of the largest global sustainability consultancy ERM:Environmental Resources Management; advising global organisations from variety of sectors regarding how to manage their climate-related risks and opportunities to achieve an orderly transition to low carbon economy. Also, Irem is an elected Common Councillor of City of London Corporation for the Lime Street Ward and supports City’s Climate Action Strategy actively, through implementation at ward level and raising awareness within the Livery companies. Having held senior positions, Irem brings the ability of liaising with her network and engaging with variety of other internal & external stakeholders in a collaborative way to drive results. One example of that is Irem’s passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion that keeps her busy. Irem was awarded 'Freedom of The City' in 2018 as a recognition of her outstanding contribution in making the City of London a diverse place to work, attracting talent. Irem is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers (WCI) since then and contributes to promoting excellence and exceptional ethical behaviour within insurance industry by mentoring & coaching the wider community. Outside the day job, Irem is a significant contributor to various charity organisations that are determined to help others in need within under-represented societies. Irem is an environmentalist who loves conserving nature, walking, foraging and drive positive vision & mission forward globally in today's changing world.

Dr Jyoti Navare

Associate Professor at Middlesex University Business School

Jyoti is Associate Professor at Middlesex University Business School. She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy from Southampton University (Risk Management) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. She has a number of years of experience as an International Risk Manager and Underwriter based in London and Sweden and working closely with Financial Services organisations and governments internationally. Apart from holding visiting professorships at a number of European universities and at a premier Indian Research Institute in Mumbai, she is also an invited member of Financial Services Innovation Centre in India which has board level members from insurance companies, finance organisations, stock market and professional bodies. She has also held non-executive/independent directorships of a UK Housing Association and a Financial Services Professional Body in the City of London and on their board of the Professional Standards and Ethics committee. She is also currently a school governor. In 2019 she became a liveried member of the Worship Company of Insurers. She remains actively engaged in research, academic management and leadership, PhD supervisions, distance learning Masters; consultancy and knowledge transfer. Her research interests in addition to risk management include business modelling; microfinance, corporate and consumer behaviour; sustainability, innovation, international business; corporate social responsibility and professional development. She had written a book on Marketing of Financial Services and contributed to other books on risk management, microfinance and vulnerable households. Collaborating with two other universities and in receipt of an ESRC grant, published in 2019, an Handbook on Small Business Social Responsibility: Global Perspectives (Edward Elgar) At university and in the dept. of Economics she also holds a role of Employability Advocate and is passionate in encouraging students’ skills development and their access to relevant graduate employment, placements and internships and also exposing them to various industry sectors.

Erik Johnson

Active Underwriter, MIC Global Syndicate 5183

Erik’s day job is as the Active Underwriter for MIC Global Syndicate Lloyd’s Syndicate 5183. He is an avid volunteer and passionate advocate for all things Canadian, insurance, and inclusion and diversity. He was a founding Co-Chair of Link (LGBT Insurance Network), the Insurance Institute of London’s first Diversity Champion, a founding Steering Committee member of iCAN (Insurance Cultural Awareness Network),and was part of the group that founded Inclusion@Lloyd’s and leads its Partner Network Initiative. Erik also sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Calgary’s Risk & Insurance faculty’s programme Advisory Board. His previous life was as a professional ballet dancer, having trained with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Following an injury that cut short his career, Erik returned home to Calgary to study his Bachelor of Commerce degree with a joint major in Insurance, Risk Management & Finance. Erik started his insurance career at Marsh in Canada and moved to London in 2004 to study his MSc Insurance & Risk Management at Cass Business School. Upon graduation, Erik joined Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Insurance Practice working as an Assistant Director on M&A due diligence and strategy projects across the insurance industry. He joined the London Market in 2011 working in strategy, corporate development, and syndicate management roles. In 2017 Erik was recognised as a ‘Market Inclusion & Diversity Champion’ by LM Forums; in 2019 as the Chartered Insurance Institute’s ‘Unsung Hero’ and ‘Special recognition Award’ at the Dive In Awards; and in 2019 the ‘Distinguished Alumni Award’ by the University of Calgary’s faculty of Risk Management & Insurance. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and Liveryman of the WCI.

Cathy Garner

Co-Founder and Director of G3P

Cathy Garner, BSc (Hons), ACII, Chartered Insurer, is a co-founder and Director of G3P, a company formed to set up a new life and health insurance carrier in Europe. During her 30+ year career, Cathy has been the Active Underwriter of both ANV Life Syndicate 779 and Kiln Life Syndicate 308 in Lloyd’s, and was the Global Head of Life and Disability for Global Benefits Group. Cathy also spent a decade in the (re)insurance company market, working for Swiss Re Life & Health UK and Friends' Provident. She is currently a member of the DTI and ABI’s joint Access to Insurance Working Party, in the Insurance in the Workplace stream. She is a past chair of the Lloyd’s Market Association Term Life Business Panel, and of the Association of Medical Underwriters; a long-serving member of the Insurance Institute of London’s Financial Services Committee, a founder member of the Association of British Insurers’ Rare Genetic Conditions and HIV Working Groups, and a founder member and past chair of The Women’s Insurance Network. Cathy built an exceptional team in Lloyd’s which was 80% female in a predominantly male section of the industry. She is passionate about the strength and opportunities of a diverse workforce in the insurance industry, and fundamentally believes in encouraging and mentoring younger staff to grow, develop and take risks. In 2016 Cathy was identified by young insurers as an industry role model in an Insurance Post survey, and as an Influential Woman in Re/Insurance by the Intelligent Insurer. She is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers.

Kay White

Founder, Way Forward Solutions

With over two decades of her own corporate career at Willis London, since 2006 Kay now uses her career experience, knowledge and life wisdom to coach and mentor corporate career women in financial services towards career success and satisfaction. She also partners with organisations to support them accelerate (and stop them losing) the leadership potential of their female talent pipeline. Kay is the author of the Amazon Number 1 bestsellers The A to Z of Being Understood (2011) and It’s Always Your Move (2018) empowering corporate career women to overcome the belief they have to sell their souls or sacrifice their well-being to get ahead at work. She’s the creator of the ELEVATE Programme, a process showing women how to leverage the value of their skills, experience and how to take responsibility and drive their own career potential. Passionate that ‘we teach what we most needed to learn’ Kay is committed to infusing women with the courage and commitment to show up fully and future-proof their careers.

Paolo Cuomo

Executive Director, Gallagher Re

Paolo an Executive Director in the Global Strategic Advisory team at Gallagher Re where he started in autumn 2022, building on over twelve years’ experience in the London insurance market, working for Brit, Beazley, Charles Taylor and Boston Consulting Group. Paolo brings an unrelenting drive to ensure technology is effectively used across the insurance process in underwriting, claims and back-office functions. Over the past decade Paolo has set up a new Lloyd’s syndicate and Managing Agency, supported the creation of the Lloyd’s Lab, and pushed the development of the “bionic underwriter” which blends human experience and judgement with data analytics and technology-enable insight. At Brit he was part of the team that launch the innovative ‘Ki’ digital syndicate. In 2015 Paolo co-founded InsTech London, the world’s first insurtech association and a driving force in making London the centre of the global insurtech movement. Paolo sits on the IIL’s Cyber and Tech committee, is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers (WCI), and a founding member of the Global InsurTech Alliance. He advises and mentors various insurtech start-ups. Paolo holds an MEng from Imperial College, London and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. At the WCI, Paolo sits on the on the iWin Committee and is the Charity Link with Action Tutoring.

Kishan Mangat

Senior Associate, DWF Law LLP

Kishan is a specialist litigator who defends catastrophic injury claims on behalf of large insurers and corporate self-insured companies predominantly in the context of RTAs and EL/PL matters dealing with all aspects of liability, causation and quantum. She has a particular interest in defending brain injury and amputation claims by adopting bespoke and innovative strategies. In 2018, Kishan was elected as President of Tomorrow's Forum of Insurance Lawyers (TFOIL) and short-listed in the legal category for the We are the City Rising Star Awards. In 2019, Kishan was a finalist in the legal category for the Women in Insurance Awards. Kishan regularly appears in the legal and insurance industry press. She is a passionate commentator on the importance of ethnic diversity and she is a founding member and Co-Chair of the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN), which promotes and supports ethnic minority talent across the insurance industry.

Sabrina Kruse

Regional Head of HR, SCOR Services UK

Sabrina joined SCOR in 2013 and is Group Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement and Global HR Business Partner for SCOR P&C. Since 2018, Sabrina has been chairing the London CSR committee, leading D&I, Health and Wellbeing, SCOR for Good and Social activities. She has over 15 years' experience in Learning and Development and HR roles, mostly in the London Insurance Market. Her passion is to work in true collaboration with the business to achieve high performance and employee engagement. Born and raised in Paris, Sabrina moved to London in 2007 after completing her Master’s Degree in Business and HR Management at Business School ISC in Paris. The subject of her Master thesis was Multicultural Management in the Workplace, demonstrating a passion for diversity and inclusion from early on.”

George Tsounias

Education Programme Manager, CII

George joined The CII in 2017 and is the Education Programme Manager, managing outreach programmes in schools with the help of volunteers as a way of raising financial literacy and awareness of the profession. Within CII, George has been an active member of several ERG networks to deliver companywide initiatives and activities. He is passionate about E, D & I and more recently, in 2022, led on & presented on a DiveIn event focusing on the power of Allyship. Prior to working in the profession George was in fact a teacher of Modern Languages. Born and raised in Greece, George is bilingual in Greek/English and fluent in French and Italian.

Dr Simone Krummaker

Associate Dean, Bayes Business School

Simone is an insurance and financial services researcher connecting practice and theory. Her applied empirical research underpins her teaching, scholarship and consulting activities. Simone’s experience includes more than 10 years of working in the insurance industry and more than 15 years of research, advisory and knowledge transfer. She has advised and researched for a range of financial services firms and ECAs. She also led several research projects with a strong practical focus, which were funded by the insurance industry, the German Government and the EU. Currently, Simone is a Senior Lecturer in Insurance as well as the Associate Dean for the MSc Programmes at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). She holds a doctoral degree (Dr. rer. pol.) and a German University degree (Diplom Ökonom) in Business and Economics from the Leibniz University of Hannover. Simone is a Fellow and the Institute for Trade and Innovation at Offenburg University and an Associate at the House of Insurance, Leibniz University of Hannover. Before this, Simone worked for two other Business Schools in London and has been a lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Risk and Insurance at Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany.