Colorado’s Pinnacol Assurance and Northland, a division of Travelers, both announced new leadership this month.
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At Pinnacol, Colorado’s largest workers compensation insurer, John O’Donnell will serve as the company’s next president and chief executive officer.
After an extensive nationwide search, O’Donnell will join the company Feb. 28, succeeding Phil Kalin, who is retiring on March 31.
O’Donnell has 30 years of leadership experience, most recently as an executive vice president at Allstate, serving as the president, Western Territory, and board chair of Allstate Canada, where he was responsible for 27 states and the Canadian company. O’Donnell’s other roles at Allstate included senior vice president of Agency Operations and president and CEO of Allstate Canada.
Joseph Hoff, chair of the Pinnacol Assurance Board of Directors, noted that the fact that O’Donnell describes himself as a servant leader, struck a chord with the chairman, adding that “the full board feels strongly he is the right person to shepherd Pinnacol forward while upholding the caring culture that sets us apart from our competitors.”
Prior to Allstate, O’Donnell also served in leadership positions at GMAC, the Walt Disney Company and Goldman Sachs.
He began his career as an attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He earned an MBA with high honors from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy.
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Travelers named Donato Monaco as President of Northland Transportation, one of the longest tenured truck insurance carriers for commercial trucking companies.
Also, assuming the title of a vice president for Travelers, Monaco is now responsible for the fleet and non-fleet transportation business. He will also serve as a member of the Small Commercial leadership team.
Donato joins Travelers from The Hartford, where he served in leadership roles in several areas during his 19 years with the organization including health services, group benefits for small businesses and reinsurance. His background includes field and sales leadership as well as business development.
Donato holds a B.A. in economics from the College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business from Dartmouth College.
Donato reports to Eric Nordquist, executive vice president and President, Small Commercial and Business Insurance Business Centers.