LIC Board Chair Joan Cleveland, CEO, SWBC Life; Dean Lambert, Executive Director, LIC

Maria Ferrante-Schepis, Founder, ThinkWorthy Consulting

Maria Ferrante-Schepis is a published author, consultant and established thought leader for insurance and finance professionals and executives. Her Amazon bestselling book, Flirting with the Uninterested: Innovating in a “Sold Not Bought” Category, co-authored with Mike Maddock, explored challenges and opportunities in the insurance industry. Her second book, Unfair Comparisons: Nuancing the “Sold Not Bought” Category, continues this insightful journey, exposing 21 subtle and not so subtle nuances that will help the industry make further progress. In her keynote address, she will help leaders from various disciplines (e.g. executive, innovation, marketing, distribution, customer experience, product design, underwriting, technology) understand how these nuances specifically apply to their work and offer specific guidance on how to apply them. 

Facilitator: Matt Clifford, CEO and Principal, Matt B. Clifford Consulting

Matt Clifford is an insurance veteran who helps mid-market insurers align senior leaders on the few bets that matter, match growth opportunities to real capabilities, and install execution plans that stick. His involvement has resulted in helping companies move faster, cut execution waste, and free up operating expense to fund their plans. He will lead audience discussion and Q&A on insights from Maria Ferrante-Schepis’s presentation

Angel Paravicini, Vice President, Business Development, Empathy

Angel Paravicini is a seasoned business development leader with over 15 years of experience driving growth, strategic partnerships, and go-to-market innovation across the insurance, financial services, and health-tech sectors. As Vice President of Business Development at Empathy, Angel leads carrier and financial institution partnerships that help organizations support families through loss while unlocking new engagement, retention, and revenue opportunities. She is passionate about creating meaningful experiences for families, strengthening organizational value propositions, and helping institutions deepen trust with the people they serve..

Chris Meredith, Chief Operations Officer, Cyrus Works, Cyrus Life Insurance Co.
Jack Walsh, Managing Director, The Jacobson Group

A practical discussion around talent seeking for smaller companies with limited resources, including recruiting/evaluating, training, motivating, and retaining top talent.

Speaker TBA

Successfully going to market requires effective management of your distribution relationships, including due diligence in selecting vendors, maintaining solid agency partnerships, and evaluating new channels. Gain insights from the agency viewpoint in this presentation, and make sure you’re going to market with the best vendors/partners.

Get your professional photo updated! LIC will have a photographer on hand before and during the pre-banquet reception.

LIC’s traditional Annual Banquet is a chance to enjoy fine dining, develop old and new friendships in the industry, and mark the occasion as the LIC leadership is handed off to the new incoming board for 2026. All LIC Annual Conference attendees come together at the banquet for more great networking plus a celebration of LIC’s membership, mission, and importance in the insurance industry.

Dierdre Woodruff, Senior Vice President, Puritan Life Insurance Company of America

Paul Mlodzik, Member Relations Director (Canada), LIMRA and LOMA

Paul Mlodzik supports insurance and financial services leaders to drive growth, profitability, and customer engagement, based on 25+ years of leadership and executive experience specializing in marketing, brand/channel management, communications, customer experience and digital transformation. Gain insights and join in a discussion on how smaller companies can make good on the customer expectation of an excellent experience.

Karen Malone, FCLA, WCLA, Senior Director, TransUnion

We've all heard “knowing your customer” is important to engaging and building customer loyalty, but too often we get stuck on seeking relationships with customers that approximate the policy owners we currently have. This strategy can lead to missed opportunities with emerging prospects. With the right data, insurance companies can understand likely behaviors, needs, and outcomes based on analyzing current behaviors. Learn how this data can help you find your best customers, reach them, and serve them what they want in the way they want it.

Jennifer Stockdale, AVP Marketing and Community Engagement, GBU Life
Clifford Cohen, Business Development Director, Epoq

Learn about GBU Life’s experience incorporating value-added member benefit services with Epoq/LawAssure.