Facilitators and Instructors

Barbara is Director of Instructor-Led Training in LOMA’s Professional Development division, managing all aspects of its facilitated learning programs. Also serving as an Insurance Immersion instructor since 2014, Barbara has helped hundreds of industry professionals better grasp the key concepts and unique aspects of the insurance business. Prior to her current role, Barbara developed LOMA professional designation courses, including Life Insurance Marketing and The Policy Lifecycle: Insurance Administration. She has worked in the development, design, and delivery of education and training products for over 12 years, and previously worked in business magazine publishing. Barbara earned a B.S. degree from the University of Florida.

Janet Castricum, most recently Director of Executive Development at LIMRA and LOMA, now works as an independent consultant and facilitates classroom and virtual Executive Immersion, Insurance Immersion, and Learning Live sessions for the association. Earlier in her career, she held field and home office positions at Travelers and MassMutual, and worked in a number of consulting firms, leading their financial services industry practices. In addition to earning her LLIF designation, Janet holds a BA in Economics from Smith College and an MS in Organizational Behavior from the University of Hartford.

Kevin is an experienced facilitator and instructor who has worked with LOMA’s Insurance Immersion program since its inception in 2008. In this role, he has helped thousands of industry professionals, leaders, and executives better understand the unique aspects of the life insurance and annuities business.  Currently a Senior Associate in Facilitated Learning, Kevin previously served as AVP, Learning Product Management, in LOMA’s Professional Development division, helping to connect member companies with education and training solutions to meet their needs. Kevin has a passion for learning and teaching, with more than 25 years of experience as a group facilitator across a variety of industries. He earned a BA degree from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree and Doctorate degree in counseling.

Cindy is an Assistant Vice President in LOMA’s Professional Development Division. An education and training expert, Cindy helps insurers understand how they can help their employees increase their topical knowledge and job performance. Prior to her current role, Cindy was a senior associate in Learning Product Management. She has also worked on textbook projects, examination development projects, and spent seven years working in LOMA’s Member Solutions area. Before joining LOMA in 1988, Cindy spent several years working in various accounting functions in the life insurance industry. Cindy earned a B.S. degree from the University of South Carolina.

Lin has over 30 years of experience in the life insurance industry, most recently as Senior Vice President, Life Customer Service and Claims for the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company.  He has served on a number of industry committees and as the chair of LOMA's Education Council. Lin's insurance career has been focused on operational areas; he has managed customer service, claims, new business and underwriting, licensing/appointments, agent commission processing as well as continuous improvement. Lin also has significant experience in assimilating operations from life insurance company mergers and acquisitions. He holds a BA in Economics from North Carolina State University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 

Ann Martel is a highly regarded business leader with a passion for delivering high-energy presentations and classes on the topics of business acumen and improving personal results. Clients such as Honeywell, Land O Lakes, American Family Insurance and University of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee) have praised her business knowledge, strategic approach and “real world” insight. She currently develops and delivers custom programs for a variety of insurance companies including American Family and Sentry Insurance.  In partnership with LIMRA/LOMA, Martel has developed the Finance for Insurance Leaders program which has earned praise from MetLife, Protective and Corebridge in 2022 and 2023. Ann’s many years of teaching experience at Marquette University in Milwaukee has prepared her to engage audiences of all levels of tenure and experience. An engaging facilitator, Ann possesses deep business expertise and utilizes activity-based learning to ensure knowledge transfer and application of new skills back in the workplace. Ann holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Cardinal Stritch College.  She is a Certified Public Accountant and a FLMI.

Laura is a manager in LIMRA’s Distribution Research where she is responsible for insurance and investment intermediary/third-party distribution research. She and her team conduct various research studies related to independent producers, wholesalers, and other distribution intermediaries. They also collaborate with other associations such as NAILBA and EY to conduct joint research. Laura is staff representative to LIMRA’s Wholesaler Leadership Summit and research liaison to LIMRA’s Independent Producer Marketing Committee and LIMRA’s Brokerage Committee. Laura is a graduate of Ithaca College.

Marianne Purushotham is Corporate Vice President, Research Shared Services & Center of Excellence with LIMRA.  Marianne directs the applications of statistical modeling and predictive analytics techniques to member benefits research.  Marianne has a Master’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. Prior to joining LIMRA, Purushotham worked for Towers Watson where she consulted with clients on a variety of actuarial issues including product development, valuation, and financial reporting for individual life and annuity products. 

As chief information officer for LIMRA and LOMA, Kartik Sakthivel is responsible for developing the information technology strategic direction for the enterprise. In this capacity, he directs and manages computing and information technology policies, programs and schedules for business and enterprise systems, and manages information services to meet LIMRA and LOMA’s corporate goals and objectives. An industry thought leader, Kartik champions the use of technology to improve the revenue, profitability, and efficiency of the organization. Joining LIMRA and LOMA in 2017, Kartik has broad industry experience, most recently as director of technology at Liberty Mutual Insurance. He holds a doctorate in Computer and Information Sciences with a focus on AI and Information Quality from UALR, Master of Science in Computer Information Systems/Information Technology, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Maureen Shaughnessy joined LIMRA in 2017 and works on individual life, disability, and long-term care insurance product research, including product experience studies, sales forecasts, as well as product design and development research. Prior to joining LIMRA, Maureen spent 14 years in various actuarial roles at Northwestern Mutual where she most recently directed the life and annuity experience analytics team.  Maureen earned her bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Evansville.  She is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries with a certificate in predictive analytics, and also a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.  

Melanie has over 10 years of experience in financial planning and wealth management, working in registered investment adviser firms before joining LOMA in 2017. She is currently a senior content developer and instructor for LOMA's education and training programs, with a focus on retirement topics. Melanie is a graduate of Clemson University where she earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Management.  She completed coursework for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation at the Terry College of Business of the University of Georgia.

Karen, who joined LIMRA in 1995, is a manager in the individual product research area which is responsible for research on individual life insurance and disability products in the U.S. and Canada.  The Individual Product Research team conducts ongoing surveys on sales and marketing of individual products, and company practices studies that respond to the needs of LIMRA’s various constituencies. Karen serves as a resource on industry performance measures to LIMRA staff, member companies, and the media. In addition she is staff representative to LIMRA’s Canadian Living Benefits Study Group. Karen is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

Melanie is a Senior Associate in LIMRA and LOMA’s Professional Development division. She brings her energy to the Facilitated Learning team as a Facilitator and Instructor for Insurance Immersion and Learning Live, as well as a content developer and instructional designer. She is also the staff liaison for LIMRA and LOMA’s Learning & Development Committee. Prior to her current role, Melanie contributed to textbook, e-learning, and short course projects. She has a background in technical writing, college instruction, and adult education, and she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s in Education from the University of Georgia.

John is an in-residence faculty member in the UCONN School of Business Graduate Program and is the Academic Director of the MS – Financial Technolgy (FinTech) program.  He previously served as Director of UCONN’s Center for the Advancement of Business Analytics.   

As a faculty member at UCONN, he teaches a variety of graduate business courses including Visual Analytics, Advanced Project Management (Capstone) and Global Technology Management. He has also taught Predictive Modeling, Process Modeling and SQL, Management Information Systems, Engineering Management, and Cost and Risk Management.

In 2017, 2018, and 2019 John was recognized as outstanding OPIM- Analytics faculty member in UCONN’s MBA program.  In 2019, John received the prestigious UCONN School of Business Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award and in 2020, the AAUP – Early Career Teaching Award.  He was also a 2020 CETL nominee for Excellence in Teaching.  In January of 2020, he was named Academic Director and tasked to lead the formation and implementation of a new MS program in Financial Technology (Fintech).  He is also a member of the UCONN School of Business Hall of Fame. 

In addition to his UCONN duties, he continues to consult as a data scientist for LIMRA and is a frequent presenter at conferences worldwide. Topics he has presented on include data analytics, dashboarding and partnering with academia (collaboration and talent acquisition). John is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) and holds AIRC and ACS industry designations.