Executives On The Move at Erie Insurance, GEICO and Grange Insurance

Erie Insurance named five of its IT leaders to new executive roles. GEIO promoted two rising executives. Grange Insurance appointed a Visa executive to its board of directors.

***

Erie Insurance promoted five of its information technology employees to new executive roles, reflecting the increased importance of IT at the insurer.

• David Edgerton will become vice president of Personal Lines Technology. He joined Erie Insurance in 2014 as an IT delivery manager and was promoted to IT director in 2015. In his new role, he’ll focus on enabling Erie’s Personal Lines and Family Life product and services strategies.

• Marko Jovanovich has been named vice president of Infrastructure Administration. He joined Erie in 2003 as section manager in the IT Operations and Support Department and was promoted to an IT director in fall 2014. He handles all data center and print operations; server, network and telephony administration; and IT disaster recovery As well, Jovanovich oversees enterprise systems management and enterprise applications.

• Jamie Neumaier was named president of Information Security. He was hired as Erie’s lead information security analyst in 2003 and promoted to IT director in 2014. Since then, he has led the company’s information security program and maintained the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Erie Insurance’s information assets.

• Erica Shine is Erie’s new vice president of Strategic Initiatives. Shine joined the company 13 years ago as a project management intern and has held a variety of roles within IT since then. Some of those positions include project controls administrator, project manager and section supervisor, and she has also served as IT director for multiple areas since 2014.

• Tim Shine will become the carrier’s new vice president of Commercial Lines Technology. He has been with the company since 1999, when he served as an actuarial programmer. Since then, Shine has held a number of positions in ERIE’s IT department, including systems analyst, release manager, section supervisor and section manager, before becoming an IT director in 2014.

***

Melissa Gallaro has been named a vice president of GEICO, and the insurer’s board named Denise O’Malley an assistant vice president of the Berkshire Hathaway-owned insurer.

Gallaro, in her new job, will oversee the digital platform for GEICO Insurance Agency, and she’ll continue to serve as a vice president of the GEICO division as well as her new, broader VP title.

Gallaro joined GEICO in 2002 as a sales counselor and moved up the ranks, becoming the sales and service director for the GEICO Insurance Agency in 2009. She was elected an officer in December 2014, managing GEICO Insurance Agency centers in Buffalo, Fredericksburg and Virginia Beach and leading GIA partner relations.

O’Malley, based in Buffalo, N.Y., will be responsible for GEICO Insurance Agency sales and service operations that offer homeowners, renters, boat and other personal lines insurance coverage.

O’Malley has been with GEICO since 2005, beginning as a military sales associate, and also moved into various roles over time with added responsibilities. She became a sales manager in the motorcycle division in 2010, moved to Indianapolis in 2013 to help open GEICO’s office there and is credited with helping to grow that operation.

***

Grange Mutual Casualty Company, also known as Grange Insurance, appointed Suzan Kereere to its board of directors.

Kereere is head of both the European Merchant Sales & Solutions team and the Global Merchant Accounts team at Visa. In those roles, she leads a group that helps address digital commerce needs between merchants and their consumers through new platforms, products and data-driven sciences.

Grange President and CEO John Ammendola said in prepared remarks that Kereere is an important addition to the company’s board, considering her “deep expertise and thought leadership in data-driven and digital strategies.” Her background, he said, will help Grange “better connect our agents with their clients.”

Sources: Erie Insurance, GEICO and Grange Mutual