Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Kimberly Harris-Ferrante is a Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in Gartner's Global Financial Services Industry Research and Advisory. Ms. Harris-Ferrante is responsible for monitoring the business and technology trends within the global property and casualty and life insurance industries. Her areas of specialization includes the business strategies and technologies to support digital insurance, customer experience management, claims transformation, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence.

Marla Folsom, Vice-President of Personal Lines for Horizon Insurance Group in Phoenix, Arizona, has been in the insurance business for nearly 30 years; almost half of those with Horizon. Marla continuously works to expand the Personal Lines Department making it a very profitable entity for Horizon. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Education and was an elementary school teacher before moving into the insurance industry. She has served on various agent advocacy boards throughout the years. Marla is currently a National representative for MetLife Agency Advisory Panel and is Executive Vice-Chair for Encompass’s Northstar panel. Marla believes that the only way to have a strong and profitable personal lines department is to build strong relationships between the agent and the client and equally as important, the carrier and the agency.

Scot McConkey is Senior Vice President of the Healthcare practice for the Robert E. Nolan Company, a management consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry. For 38 years, the Nolan Company has helped insurance companies achieve measurable improvements in service, quality, productivity, and costs through process innovation and effective use of technology.

Frank Petersmark is an Associate Vice President of Research and Consulting at Novarica, with experience in IT and executive leadership, transformational management and technologies, and the art and science of being an IT leader in the insurance industry. Frank was formerly the CIO Advocate at X by 2, a technology consulting company specializing in software and data architecture and transformation projects for the insurance industry. In that capacity, he traveled the country meeting CIOs and other senior IT and business executives at insurers, learning about their goals and frustrations, sharing lessons learned, and offering strategic counsel. Prior to that, Frank spent twenty-one years at Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company, serving thirteen years as its Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology. Frank has nearly thirty-five years of experience as an information technology professional and executive in the insurance industry. Widely published and quoted, Frank has presented and spoken at many insurance industry events and conferences. He holds a BA in History and Art History from Madonna University, a Masters in European History from Wayne State University, and a PhD in British History from Wayne State University. In addition his work with Novarica, Frank devotes part of his time to teaching and working with non-profits in his community. He can be reached at�fpetersmark@novarica.com