Headquarters:

6209 Baum Dr., Knoxville, TN 37919

Year founded:

2023

Number of employees:

1,800

Phone:

844 233 1282

Email:

jcraven@fortifiedagencies.com

Website:

fortifiedagencies.com

LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/company/fortifiedagencies

“We maintain several cross-company employee networks allowing staff to connect and learn from each other, fostering our inclusive culture and celebrating the diversity within our business”

Marcella McLean, Arch Insurance International

FORTIFIED

Joe Craven

Chief Executive Officer

Denny Sanford

Executive Board Member

Shaw Johnson

Executive Board Member

Leadership

Joe Craven is a seasoned insurance professional with 33 years in the industry. He has an extensive background in insurance company marketing and management. He joined Fortified as CEO in September 2022.

Chief Executive Officer

Joe Craven

Denny Sanford graduated with a BA from the School of Commerce and Business at the University of Alabama in 1977. In the same year, he began his career with Continental Insurance Company as a commercial underwriter and marketing representative. In 1982, Sanford and his father purchased what is now SanBuck. He is the majority owner of the company that has three offices in south Alabama. Along with George Bentley, Aubrey Ellis and Bill McGehee, Sanford formed Shared Agency Services of Alabama in 2005, and has served as its chairman for 17 years. He has been married to the former Meribeth Jill Girdner for 30 years. They have two children, Will and Sarah.

Executive Board Member

Denny Sanford

Shaw Johnson III of Clarksdale, MS is partner and chairman of the Board of SouthGroup Insurance Services. SouthGroup is Mississippi’s largest privately owned insurance agency with 21 branches across the state. Johnson is a fourth-generation family member who works in the agency, which his great-grandfather founded in 1894. He is proud that the agency is still going strong after 128 years of continued service to the Clarksdale community. He has also been active in leadership roles in his industry as past chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents of Mississippi. He also served on the National Board of Directors of Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers. Johnson served three years as the Chairman of Finance for IIABA. He is also an Advisory Council Member of the Risk Management Insurance for the University of Mississippi. He has served on numerous Insurance Advisory Councils as well as civic and local boards. He has been married to the former Beth Bennett for 29 years. They have a son, Shaw Johnson IV, and a daughter, Shelton Johnson. He loves to spend time with the family in their cabin along the Mississippi River in Coahoma County.

Executive Board Member

Shaw Johnson

“We maintain several cross-company employee networks allowing staff to connect and learn from each other, fostering our inclusive culture and celebrating the diversity within our business”

Marcella McLean, Arch Insurance International

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Marcella McLean, Arch Insurance International

“We maintain several cross-company employee networks allowing staff to connect and learn from each other, fostering our inclusive culture and celebrating the diversity within our business”

Marcella McLean, Arch Insurance International

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Lou Moran III

Executive Board Member

Lou Moran III is the president of Inter-Agency Insurance Service in his hometown, Knoxville, TN. He currently serves as an at-large member of the Executive Committee for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) and is in line to be chairman of the IIABA beginning in September 2025. While representing Tennessee at the national level as a board member of the IIABA, he has served on the national InsurPac and the Governmental Affairs committees. As an IIABA Executive Committee member, Moran is currently the liaison to the IIABA’s InsurPac committee, Invest, Agency Administrative Services, and Cooperative Technology Committee. He chairs the new InsurTech Taskforce and also serves on the Finance Committee. He attended the Webb School of Knoxville and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Executive Board Member

Lou Moran III

Jerry Samson

Chief Technology Officer

Jerry Samson ensures the team is outfitted with the necessary technology (hardware and software) to efficiently support the program and the appointed agents with the highest level of security. His expertise in data management is critical to powering the company’s business and facilitating its growth.

Chief Technology Officer

Jerry Samson

Fortified was founded on January 1, 2023. It aligns independent agencies to reinforce and enhance their role in the industry. The alliance is committed to uniting its member agencies to bring the best insurance and risk management solutions to clients. As of July 2023, Fortified had 61 member agencies in over 170 locations and 1,800 employees in eight states. Fortified members write nearly $3 billion in insurance premiums for more than 225,000 clients throughout the United States.

Marcella McLean, Arch Insurance International

Paul Zahensky

Chief Information Officer

Jacqui Price

Executive Vice President, Compliance

Julie Prewitt

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Simon Williams

Chief Strategy & Distribution Officer, Arch Insurance International and Active Underwriter, Syndicate 1955

Paul Zahensky joined REInsurePro in 2023, bringing with him over 35 years of experience in the P&C insurance technology industry. He has worked for tier 1 carrier organizations in senior leadership roles, guided the development of insurance solutions for vendor organizations and assisted colleagues with carrier transformation programs. As CIO, Zahensky utilizes his expertise to develop and implement solutions that fit the company’s business model and satisfy its needs.

Chief Information Officer

Paul Zahensky

Jacqui Price has played a key role in the growth of the program, working closely with carrier partners and underwriters to build and maintain strong relationships and manage the health of the program book. Her team handles day-to-day approvals as well as company-wide compliance initiatives, carrier reporting, internal team training and ongoing policy management.

Executive Vice President, Compliance

Jacqui Price

Julie Prewitt has worked on nearly every aspect of marketing and advertising in her nearly 20 years in the industry. Her team at REInsurePro manages branding, advertising, events, content, digital campaigns, and agent engagement and plays a key role in product development.

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Julie Prewitt

Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.

Partner

Kimi Shah

Partner

Kimi Shah

Partner

Kimi Shah

Sarah M Stewart

Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations

Karen Bannister, CM

Vice President, Marketing

Dave Longbottom

Chief Technology Officer

Alex Ventura

Head of Marketing

Damian Palovick

Senior Vice President of Underwriting AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America

Dr. Mary Lavoie

Head of Risk Management and Senior Vice President AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America

Mark Bernacki

Chief Underwriting Officer

Ryan Armijo

Chief Operating Officer, Underwriting Division

Bob Petrilli

President, Underwriting Division

Arch provides underwriting solutions across a diverse and growing portfolio of more than 20 business classes, spanning multiple platforms in the London company market, the Lloyd’s market, the UK regional market as well as markets in Australia, Bermuda, and the EU. Through their Lloyd’s and London company market platforms, Arch provides customised solutions and high levels of capacity across multiple (re)insurance classes. Arch’s UK Regional division, launched in 2018, offers specialised insurance solutions for a wide range of businesses, from 11 locations across the country. The past few years have been transformational for Arch Insurance International. Since 2019 the company has more than trebled in size in terms of GWP, and this growth has been seen across all territorial platforms. In 2021 Arch launched its new brand promise, Pursuing Better Together, encapsulating an approach to doing business based on collaboration, responsiveness, and a genuine commitment to continually raising the bar. Arch has a clearly defined three-year plan that is underpinned by more than 100 objectives.

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“We will continue to strengthen our service proposition and customer experience as a key differentiator, as we build on the momentum we have achieved to date across multiple business lines and territories,” says McLean. “Our im is to continue to grow our market relevance and strengthen our partnerships with our strategic brokers as we expand our leadership position in key sectors. “We will also continue to invest in talent. We are committed to drawing from the broadest pools of talent, and to creating an environment that attracts and retains stellar employees. We recognise the importance of building teams that are diverse, collaborative, and innovative and are dedicated to cultivating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in which all our employees can thrive.”