Corporate Governance Program | Faculty

Neil Alldredge

Neil Alldredge serves as president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, a property/casualty insurance trade association representing more than 1,500 member companies that write $391 billion in annual premiums.

Alldredge assumed the role of president and CEO in July 2021 after serving in various executive roles at NAMIC. He joined the association in 1999, leading NAMIC’s state legislative, regulatory, and international advocacy efforts for 17 years. In that role Alldredge regularly testified before state legislators around the country and represented NAMIC members at the National Association of the Insurance Commissioners, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. He also served on the board of directors of the Advocates for Highway Safety and as board chair of the NCOIL’s Industry Education Council.

In 2017, Alldredge was named senior vice president of corporate affairs, where he led NAMIC’s membership retention and recruitment, events and education, public affairs, compliance, and marketing and technology areas. He is currently the executive director of the NAMIC Mutual Insurance Foundation. Prior to joining NAMIC, Alldredge served as director of Planning and Research for the Indiana State Senate.

Alldredge has a bachelor’s degrees in political science and communications and a master’s degree in rhetoric from Ball State University.

Kurt Bock, CFA

As a recently retired CEO, Kurt Bock is passionate about helping leaders grow and develop their leadership skills in the property/casualty insurance industry.

As the CEO of COUNTRY Financial from 2012 until 2019, Kurt led the organization through a financial, operational, and cultural transformation, elevating the role of technology, enhancing customer satisfaction, and achieving sustained profitability while growing the organization’s focus on leadership, engagement, and accountability. During his tenure at COUNTRY, Kurt served as the chairman of the boards of directors of Cotton States Life Insurance Company, Cotton States Mutual Insurance Company, MiddleOak Insurance Company, and all of their subsidiaries.

He has testified before House and Senate committees on topics of regulatory overreach and international capital standards. He was appointed as an industry representative to the Department of Treasury’s Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance between 2016 and 2018. 

Prior to joining the financial services industry, Kurt’s 28-year career in the Air Force included progressive leadership of squadron and group commands; leadership of an elite Air Force flying unit supporting the vice president, the cabinet, and Congress in worldwide operations; and service as chair of the NATO military working group responsible for the realignment of NATO’s military strategy and command structure.

Kurt earned a doctorate of philosophy in business administration from Saint Louis University and an MBA from Southern Illinois University. He received his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has been a member of the CFA Institute since 2005.

Erin M. Collins, MPA, IOM

Erin Collins has spent nearly 20 years as a policy advocate across the financial services and insurance sectors. Erin currently manages the National State Legislative and Regulatory Team and related lobbying objectives for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. She also leads NAMIC’s involvement with the National Conference of Insurance Legislators and participates in NAMIC’s activities with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

At NAMIC, Erin has testified before numerous state legislatures and Congress on behalf of the association’s 1,500 member companies and their 170 million policyholders on topics ranging from frequency and severity of auto accidents, reform of opioid abuse in the workers’ compensation sector, and pre-disaster mitigation aimed to harden local communities throughout the United States.

In addition to her professional work, Erin is passionate about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization aiming to cure childhood cancers through dedicated cancer research. Erin shaved her head in September 2019 for the cause, becoming the world’s fifth leading fundraiser for that year.

Erin received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Mary Baldwin University and her master’s degree in public administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Prior to joining the NAMIC team, Erin spent more than six years as the director of government affairs for the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, where she led all lobbying initiatives, grassroots activity, and the Society’s Political Action Committee. Erin resides in Richmond, Va. with her wife Erin and their son Anderson.

Gregg Dykstra, J.D.

Gregg A. Dykstra is chief legal officer and special counsel. He has been with the association since 1997 and his areas of responsibility presently include association legal matters and oversight of the the strategic and annual business planning for NAMIC.

Gregg is the author of three publications dealing with mutual governance issues: a NAMIC White Paper – Meeting Challenges and Exceeding Expectations in Corporate Governance; and two Governance Resource Papers – Financial Literacy and Mutual Insurance Company Proxy Practice. He contributes content to the NAMIC Online Corporate Governance Resource Center. Gregg holds degrees in Economics and Law.

Scot Ganow

Scot is chair of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP’s Privacy and Data Security Practice. As a former chief privacy officer and leveraging more than 10 years of management and compliance experience in Fortune 500 companies, Scot brings a diverse business background to his privacy and data security practice. Scot has represented clients in a variety of sectors, including consumer reporting, construction, healthcare, and manufacturing. Scot assists clients in all areas of the data life cycle, including:

• Policy development, implementation, assessment and training.
• Identifying, evaluating and managing privacy and security risks.
• Third-party management, including onward transfer agreements and audits.
• Data breach and incident response management and counseling.

Scot assists clients in dealing with a variety of data governance regulations, including GDPR, HIPAA, GLBA, FCRA, and state laws governing personally identifiable information, such as CCPA. Scot counsels clients on compliance with various information security standards, including PCI-DSS for credit card data, ISO and NIST. Scot also represents clients in responding to information security events, including data breach. Scot holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional (“CIPP/US”) certification and has presented and written extensively on the topics of data protection and de-identification, and moderated panels on privacy. Scot has spoken in Washington, D.C., at the Global Summit of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and the Privacy + Security Conference. Scot was also a speaker at TEDx Dayton 2016 at the Victoria Theater, where he spoke on the “Humanity in Privacy.”

In addition to his data privacy and security practice, Scot also has experience with intellectual property matters as a patent attorney. He also counsels clients on general business law matters.

Scot attended the University of Dayton School of Law, where he currently serves as an adjunct professor of law. He clerked for the University of Dayton general counsel's office and the Cincinnati Reds general counsel. Scot is admitted to practice in the state of Ohio, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Scot has served as an enlisted soldier and officer in the Army National Guard for 11 years. He has also worked as a football official since 2007, officiating football at the high school and collegiate levels.

Lorie Graham

Lorie Graham, CPCU, ARe, ARM, AIAF, ALCM, ARP, ARC, AIM, is Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at AmericanAgTM. In this role, she is responsible for leadership, innovation, governance, and management of the company’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program and also oversees the Corporate Services area, including corporate risk, research and product development, underwriting, and marketing.

Lorie has over 30 years of experience in underwriting, risk management, and research. She joined AmericanAgTM in 2008 as a Casualty Underwriting Manager and went on to serve in numerous other leadership positions at the company. She assumed her current role in 2021. Lorie is a frequent presenter at insurance industry events on ERM and emerging trends. She has served as Chair of the RIMS Strategic Enterprise Risk Management Council and Director of the IASA ERM Subcommittee. She currently serves as Chair of the IASA Program Planning Committee.

Lorie holds numerous industry designations, including Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance (AIAF), Associate in Loss Control Management (ALCM), and Associate in Research and Planning (ARP), among others.

Sandra Glaser Parrillo, CPCU

Sandra Glaser Parrillo is Retired President and Chief Executive Officer of The Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Providence, Rhode Island. Sandy joined The Providence in 1977 as an underwriter and served in several underwriting and management positions. In 2000, she was elected to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of The Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Providence Plantations Insurance Company. Upon retirement in February 2021, she continues to serve as a member of the Board of Directors.

Sandy received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mathematics from Rhode Island College, Magna cum laude, in 1978. In December,1992 she earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration, High Honors, from the University of Rhode Island. She was elected to the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Business Honor Society of Beta Gamma Sigma.

Sandy resides in North Smithfield, Rhode Island and has two children, Dr. Marissa Parrillo-Fontana and RJ Parrillo.

Peter J. Pelizza

Prior to retirement in April 2019, Peter Pelizza served in the insurance industry for 40 years. Starting his career at Sentry Insurance, Pelizza was consistently recognized as a leader in Sales and Sales Management roles setting company records, many of which still stand today. Ultimately, he was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Dairyland Insurance Company and President of Dairyland County Mutual of Texas. Having absolute management responsibilities for Dairyland’s $600m + nonstandard automobile and preferred motorcycle business prepared him for his next opportunity at Rural Mutual Insurance Company.

Pelizza served at Rural Mutual for over 14 years as CEO & Executive Vice President. Surrounding himself with trusted talent, Pelizza successfully led Rural to record accomplishments. Through product innovation, distribution changes, organizational realignment, and operating disciplines an urgency was created which paved the way for AM Best to increase Rurals rating from a B+ (good) company to an A+ (superior) company quicker than any upgrade to A+ on record. As one of the few single state A+ companies, Rural was able to log 62 consecutive quarters of surplus growth, increasing their policyholder reserve fund from $37m to over $325m. Premium increased from $100m to over $225m and assets increased from $125m to over $550m. Expense ratio was reduced from over 40% to under 30%. Surrounding these organizational successes, Rural was recognized in his final 3 years of tenure as a “Best Places to Work” by Madison magazine.

Currently Pelizza and his wife Annette reside in Lodi, Wisconsin. Their 7 children and 7 grandchildren keep them active. Prior to a recent domestication Pelizza served on the Board of Directors of two nonstandard insurance companies, serves as President elect for his local Country Club Board and serves several insurance and financial services companies as a consultant. In addition to golf, fishing and travel, Pelizza and his wife enjoy working with many local nonprofit organizations in their free time.

Michael Renetzky, Esq.

Michael Renetzky is Managing Partner of the Locke Lord LLP's Chicago office where his practice focuses on investment management, securities, and corporate law. Michael has considerable experience counseling clients on securities law compliance, debt and equity financing matters, investment adviser, investment company and broker-dealer regulation. Additionally, he devotes a substantial portion of his time to representing buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions transactions. Finally, he frequently counsels boards of directors and assists clients with governance matters, particularly within the insurance industry.

Michael is Chair of the Firm's Finance Committee, former Co-Chair of the Firm’s Corporate and Transactional Department, and a former member of the Firm's Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

Also a recognized leader in the community, Michael is the Chairman of the Board of Lutheran Life Communities, a faith-based nonprofit system of life plan communities serving older adults and their families. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Trees That Feed Foundation, a secular nonprofit dedicated to planting food-bearing trees to feed people, create jobs and benefit the environment. Finally, he serves as President and Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Bible Society.

Sarah Schnettler

As senior vice president of member experience, Sarah Schnettler leads NAMIC’s marketing; recruitment, retention, and engagement of member insurance companies, reinsurance companies, brokers, and other companies that provide insurance-related services and products to the association’s membership.

Schnettler also serves as the executive director of the NAMIC Mutual Insurance Foundation, an organization providing scholarships to U.S. college students pursuing insurance-related fields of study.

Schnettler joined NAMIC in 2009 and has held the roles of project manager for NAMIC’s state legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts; director of corporate affairs, where she oversaw the planning and implementation of strategic and special projects within the association; assistant vice president of membership; vice president of member and sponsor engagement; and assistant treasurer of the NAMIC Mutual Insurance Foundation. Prior to NAMIC, she spent 10 years in the banking industry in Wisconsin and Indiana, serving in communication and marketing roles.

Schnettler earned a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and an MBA from Anderson University. She also achieved certification from the Institute for Organization Management specializing in association management and the Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives.

Gary W. Thompson

Gary W. Thompson retired as president and CEO and vice chair of the board of Columbia Insurance Group on January 1, 2024. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his MBA with an emphasis in risk management and insurance from Walden University. A lifelong learner, Gary pursued professional education, earning the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Certified Insurance Counselor, Associate in Reinsurance, and Associate in Information Technology designations.

Gary has served on various boards and committees for local, state, and national professional organizations, including the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. He served on the NAMIC board and is a past chair of the Property Casualty Conference and NAMIC Merit Society boards. He currently serves on the boards of Central Bank of Boone County and Boone Health, Inc. and is a trustee of Boone Hospital.

Gary has been an active volunteer in his community, including service as campaign chair, director, and board president of the Heart of Missouri United Way and as a director and board chair of Job Point, Inc. He also served as a board member and finance committee chair for the University of Missouri Alumni Association. He remains active in the Columbia Area Chamber of Commerce, where he has served in numerous capacities including treasurer, board member and chair of the Budget & Finance Committee and Leadership Columbia. He presently serves on the City of Columbia Airport advisory board and the University of Missouri Trulaske College of Business Risk Management & Insurance advisory board. He is also active in his church and several small group ministries.