FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nicole Vasile
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Nicole.Vasile@ciab.com
THE COUNCIL FOUNDATION AWARDS $400,000 IN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS TO 80+ INTERNS AT MEMBER FIRMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Council Foundation announced today that it is awarding $400,000 in academic scholarships to 83 college students interested in pursuing careers in insurance brokerage (full list below). Each intern selected will receive between $2,500 and $5,000 toward their college education. Since 2017, The Council Foundation Scholarship program has awarded more than $3.2 million to 648 interns.
“It’s so important that we continue to open doors for students without exposure to our industry, and potentially change their perception of what a career in insurance may look like,” said Joel Wood, President/CEO of The Council. “These interns have proven themselves to be top performers at some of the most successful firms in the world. They should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished, and we hope this is the beginning of a life-long career in insurance brokerage.”
The mission of The Council Foundation is to bring fresh, diverse talent into the brokerage sector. The scholarship program is a partnership between the Foundation and leaders of internship programs at Council member firms. Member firms conduct their own review process and identify their most exceptional interns to be awarded the scholarship, with the goal of eventually bringing these students on full-time and/or retaining them in the commercial insurance brokerage sector.
“Our internship resources are designed to complement and enhance our members’ existing internship programs,” said Elizabeth McDaid, Council Foundation EVP. “We have a self-paced, 6-week, virtual course that provides students with a foundational knowledge of our industry and the role it plays in the economy. And we have our Scholarship program, which allows our members to build on their relationships with top-performers and hopefully keep that talent within our community.”
Six of this year’s recipients have also been honored by named scholarships (*) administered by The Council Foundation – Jack Smith, Assurex Robert P. Ashlock scholar, Eva Winn, Assurex Game Changer scholar, Andrew Hull, IMA Financial Group scholar, Alex Madson, Franklin Wheeler scholar, Alexis Sanchez, Dave Oberkircher scholar, and Jackie Lawrence, Tom Motamed scholar.
| Scholarship Recipient | University |
|---|---|
| William Abel | University of Florida |
| David Alatorre | Bridgewater State University |
| Katelyn Batten | East Carolina University |
| Hrisha Bhatty | Appalachian State University |
| Kaitlyn Chan | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| Julie Chou | University of California, Davis |
| Allison Clark | Texas Tech University |
| Brianna Clary | Stetson University |
| Daniel Cohen | University of Kansas |
| Elizabeth Crevar | University of Georgia |
| Lewis Cuello | University of Georgia |
| Dominick Dao | Eastern Connecticut State University |
| Tanner Esplin | Southern Utah University |
| Quinn Fellin | Indiana University |
| Grace Firman | University at Albany, SUNY |
| Samuel Fox | Indiana State University |
| Jaxon Garrett | Southern Utah University |
| Katrina Genca | Pennsylvania State University |
| Brooks Griffith | University of Georgia |
| Eleana Hammond | University of South Florida |
| Christopher Hargon | Louisiana State University |
| Max Hemsky | University of Colorado Boulder |
| Lizbeth Hernandez | University of Illinois Chicago |
| Will Hoover | Miami University |
| Tristan Huerta | Seattle University |
| Andrew Hull* | University of Oregon |
| Andrew Jarecki | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Kaylynn Johnson | Grove City College |
| Jacob Johnson | University of Wisconsin-La Crosse |
| Megan Johnson | York College of Pennsylvania |
| Avery Kimbrell | University of Mississippi |
| Jaden Kolinski | University of Wisconsin Oshkosh |
| Ava Krippaehne | California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo |
| Meah La Rocco | University of Mississippi |
| Walker Lanier | Texas A&M University |
| Jackie Lawrence* | Butler University |
| Laura Lukowicz | Babson College |
| Alex Madson* | Transylvania University |
| Charles Mata | Hendrix College |
| Megan Miller | Luther College |
| Ginna Mohr | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University |
| Jimena Morillo | St. Mary’s University |
| An Nguyen | University of South Carolina |
| Tirth Pahouja | University of the Fraser Valley |
| Olivia Peakes | University of Maine |
| Christopher Pettinato | St. John’s University |
| Hunter Preston | University of Dubuque |
| Rayann Pruss | Ohio University |
| Victory Rhodes | Florida A&M University |
| Macie Rice | University of Oklahoma |
| Allison Robinson | George Washington University |
| Christopher Ronek | Hampden-Sydney College |
| Brooke Ruiter | University of South Carolina |
| Joshua Rutkowski | Syracuse University |
| Jack Rutz | University of Iowa |
| Brooke Rypel | Florida State University |
| Alexis Sanchez* | La Salle University |
| Angelina Sanchez | University of Mary Hardin-Baylor |
| Jade Sanni | Western Governors University |
| Nicholas Seminario | Hofstra University |
| Jack Smith | Ohio State University |
| Renae Smith | University at Buffalo |
| Jack Smith* | University of Alabama |
| Scott Son | University of Texas at Dallas |
| Aidan Stimatz | Baylor University |
| William Talbott | University of Michigan |
| Jameson Treadwell | University of Maine |
| Peyton Twelmeyer | University of Iowa |
| Adam Utter | Florida State University |
| James Walsh | San Diego State University |
| Emma Whitehead | University of Alabama |
| Caroline Wilkins | University of Connecticut |
| Lake Williams | University of Kansas |
| Jordan Willingham | Arizona State University |
| Grant Willis | Creighton University |
| Marzavier Willis | Mississippi Valley State University |
| William Willis | University of Georgia |
| Jason Wilson | Kennesaw State University |
| Allie Wilson | Texas A&M University |
| Eva Winn* | Upper Iowa University |
| Ethan Wright | West Virginia University |
| Jiahong Wu | University of Colorado Denver |
| Zakaria Zakaria | Florida State University |
Founded in 1913 and based in Washington, D.C., The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers is the premier association for the top 170 regional, national and international commercial property/casualty insurance and employee benefits intermediaries worldwide. Council members are market leaders who annually place 90 percent of U.S. commercial P/C premiums and 70 percent of all employee benefits business. The Council’s Government Affairs team represents our member firms with a strong, unified voice on Capitol Hill and within the regulatory space. CouncilPAC, The Council’s political action committee, consistently maintains its position as the leading PAC in the insurance industry. In addition to providing best-in-class talent development resources through The Council Academy and publishing Leader’s Edge, an award-winning industry content platform, The Council hosts two marquis events for our membership and their carriers and strategic partners – the Insurance Leadership Forum for the commercial P/C sector and the Employee Benefits Leadership Forum for EB executives.