Insurance Commissioner Lara appoints members to statewide boards to drive forward consumer protection goals

News: 2021 Press Release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today announced several new appointments to help drive forward the California Department of Insurance’s mission to protect consumers. These appointments include three new members to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Curriculum Board, one member to the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) Board of Governors, and five members to the Insurance Diversity Task Force.

“I am very pleased to announce my latest board appointments who are committed to our goal of protecting California consumers and businesses,” said Commissioner Lara. “I am confident that our appointees are ready to get to work and provide their advice and diverse perspectives on how we can continue to ensure a healthy insurance industry in California.”

The Curriculum Board oversees the development of pre-licensing and continuing education curriculum for agents and brokers to uphold professional standards that protect consumers. This includes a list of preapproved courses of study as well as courses of study for professional designations. This Board also develops standards for providers and instructors who offer courses and other training to licensed agents and brokers. 

The CIGA Board of Governors oversees the guarantee association’s general operations and management in order to protect policyholders in the event of an insurance company insolvency. Established in 1969 by the Governor and California State Legislature, CIGA comprises all insurance companies admitted to sell homeowners, workers’ compensation, automobile, and other specified property and casualty lines of insurance in California.

The Insurance Diversity Task Force oversees the Department’s Insurance Diversity Initiative, which encourages insurers to increase procurement contracts with diverse business owners, such as a woman-owned, veteran-/disabled veteran-owned, historically disadvantaged community-owned, or LGBTQ+-owned businesses, as well as advance diversity of insurance company corporate boards. The Task Force makes recommendations to the Insurance Commissioner regarding innovative ways to increase diversity within the insurance industry.

The next Curriculum Board meeting will be held on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The CIGA Board of Governors will be meeting on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, and the next Insurance Diversity Task Force meeting will be held on Thursday, December 9, 2021. More details are available at: www.insurance.ca.gov/boards. These positions are uncompensated.

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Media Notes:

Newly appointed members include:

Curriculum Board:

Mariette Lasley is Group Sales Manager at Ameritas, a nationwide corporation with 7 million members, $1.6 billion in dental revenue, and is the top three network in most counties across the nation. Lasley works as a designer of ancillary employee benefits and is a partner to insurance brokers/agencies for all size organizations. She is currently the Diversity and Inclusion Chair and previous Vice President of Professional Development for the California Association of Health Underwriters (CAHU) since 2020. Lasley also serves currently as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair, and previously as Board Chair of Professional Development and Membership, for the Sacramento Association of Health Underwriters (SAHU). Lasley joins the Curriculum Board in the life agent trade association representative seat with a term ending on October 13, 2024.

Anne Lintz is Owner of Anne Lintz Insurance Agency, Inc., a State Farm Agency. Lintz lives and serves consumers in rural and high wildfire risk counties of California, is in the top 50 State Farm agents out of 19,000 in the country for multiple-line sales, and is also considered one of the top farm-ranch writers in the country. She is a member of the California Farm Bureau Federation and serves on the Sutter Amador Hospital Philanthropy Board and the Mule Creek Prison Community Board. Lintz joins the Curriculum Board in the agent/broker representative seat with a term ending on October 13, 2024.

Peter Schifrin is Chief Executive Officer of Schifrin, Gagnon & Dickey, Inc., a statewide independent adjusting, investigation, and claims administration company. In addition to his over 35 years of experience as an insurance adjuster, Schifrin is also a past President of the Society of Registered Professional Adjusters and is a member of several professional organizations. He is incoming President for the National Association of Independent Insurance Adjusters and a Past President and continued member of the California Association of Independent Insurance Adjusters (CAIIA). Schifrin frequently presents educational classes to insurers and groups such as the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, CAIIA, and Property & Liability Resource Bureau on topics including the California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations, the California Special Investigative Unit Regulations, Good Faith Claims Handling, and First and Third-Party Coverage Analysis and Claims Investigation. Schifrin joins the Curriculum Board in the insurance adjuster representative seat with a term ending on October 13, 2024.

CIGA Board of Governors:

Tony Borrego is Founder of Spring Street Business Law, PC, a transactional law-focused law firm serving entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors at all stages of the business life cycle. In addition to 20 years of experience in corporate law, Borrego also has significant finance experience as a partner in a Los Angeles-based boutique investment banking firm and as a private equity professional at American Capital, Ltd., a publicly traded private equity firm and global asset manager that had over $57 billion in assets under management. He has served as a board member, volunteer, advisor, and pro bono counsel to many community organizations, including the National Immigration Law Center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, California Hispanic Corporate Council, and Disability Rights Legal Center. Borrego joins the CIGA Board of Governors in the public member seat representing business, effective November 5, 2021, and will serve at pleasure of the Commissioner.

Insurance Diversity Task Force:

Rebecca Aguilera-Gardiner is Vice President and Co-Owner of Diego & Son Printing, a second generation printing business that is Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise-certified. She has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing and has been essential in the continued growth of the 49-year-old family-owned business. She is also the CEO of the Veterans In Business Network, a nonprofit veteran business organization in California that advocates on behalf of the disabled veteran business community. Aguilera-Gardiner has been reappointed to the Task Force in the advocate/representative for veteran and disabled veteran business enterprises seat with a term ending on October 13, 2023.

Milton Dellossier is Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Capital Group, a private investment firm which manages more than $1.7 trillion in equity and fixed income assets for millions of individual and institutional investors. Previously, Dellossier served as the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at Morgan Stanley and has also served as Chairman of the Board for the National Hispanic Corporate Council where he led the organization’s corporate board of directors who each represent Fortune 1000 member companies. Dellossier has been reappointed to the Task Force in the advocate/representative for governing board diversity seat with a term ending on October 13, 2023.

Mark Morales is Vice President of SBA Lending at City National Bank. Mark has over 20 years of business banking experience and specializes in SBA financing and loan programs for diverse owned businesses. Mark is the SBA Los Angeles District Office - 2016 Financial Services Champion of the Year and the California Department of Insurance - 2018 Insurance Diversity Trailblazer. Mark is also Co-owner of Charles Jacobsen, Inc., an importer of antique furniture and accessories from Asia, which is a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise. Morales is President Emeritus for the Los Angeles LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, serves on the Community Advisory Panel for Southern California Edison, and also is a member of the Leadership Council for the Los Angeles Business Council. Morales has been reappointed to the Task Force in the advocate/representative for LGBT business enterprises seat with a term ending October 13, 2023.

Maria Salinas is President and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and became the first woman and Latina to lead the organization in its 130-year history. Prior to the Chamber, she has been a small business owner, a corporate executive, founding organizer of a community bank and director, having served as Chairwoman of ProAmérica Bank. She has served on numerous boards and commissions including Governor Gavin Newsom’s Future of Work Commission, Mobility 21, the MEXLA Commission, and on the Loyola Marymount University Board of Regents, among others. Salinas has been reappointed to the Task Force in the advocate/representative for women business enterprises seat with a term ending on October 13, 2023.

Tommy Smith is Manager, Economic Impact, Impact Spending at Kaiser Permanente (KP), where he leads the engagement strategy for measuring the economic and community impact of KP’s supplier diversity spend. He is the custodian of the Kaiser Permanente’s National Supplier Diversity policy and manages KP’s prime supplier program for identifying contract and development opportunities for diverse suppliers throughout its value chain. Prior to his current role, Smith conducted policy analysis and program evaluation in civic engagement, economic development, education, supplier diversity, and workforce training. Smith joins the Task Force in the insurance industry representative serving as a practitioner in the field of supplier diversity seat with a term ending on October 13, 2023.