Facilitators and Instructors

Joyce Abrams’ professional experience includes over 35 years in nonprofit organizations and higher education. She has held roles in education, training, and professional development. Early in her career, Joyce held several positions as a faculty instructor and professor.  

Currently, Joyce is a Senior Associate, Content Development for LIMRA LOMA. She returned to the organization in 2023, after working for another nonprofit in positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately leaving with the title of Director of Member Services. While at LOMA (pre-merger with LIMRA), Joyce served in what was then named the Department of Education & Training. She began as a technical writer/editor and was promoted into management. When she left, her title was Assistant Vice President. Joyce is happy to be back “home,” returning to where she started in the nonprofit world as a writer and editor.

David offers over three decades of extraordinary success in a series of high level positions at top tier and Fortune 500 companies that include New York Life Insurance Company, Voya Financial Services, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Coopers & Lybrand LLP. Dave’s invaluable expertise and broad business and finance experience have served as the foundation for a proven history of success, including the leadership of large and complex organizations within leading financial services firms.  His track record includes driving strategies for growth, process improvement, operations, risk management, capital markets, regulatory compliance, and M&A. Dave holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Nichols College, where he is currently a member of the Board of Trustees.

Barbara is Assistant Vice President of Facilitated Learning 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 20 years and previously worked in business magazine publishing. Barbara earned a B.S. in Journalism 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.

John Carroll most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Insurance and Annuities – U.S. and Canada for LIMRA and LOMA and now works as an independent consultant. John began his career at Merrill Lynch and over the course of 20 years held a variety of sales and marketing roles, culminating in Managing Director, Head of Distribution and Co-Head of Merrill Lynch Insurance Group. After Merrill Lynch, he joined Allianz Global Investors (AGI) where he was Chief Operating Officer for AGI Distributors (AGID), their US Broker Dealer, and ultimately was Head of U.S. Retail Distribution and served as the Chief Executive Officer of AGID. He joined LIMRA and LOMA from Epoch Investment Partners, an institutional asset management firm, where he was Head of Intermediary Client Relations. John holds a BA in Economics and an MBA from Rutgers University. 

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.

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, and provides insurance operations consulting to the insurance industry.  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.

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.