People – South Central

Wholesale broker and managing general agent, M. J. Kelly Company-Texas, added Vicky Fonseca as marketing representative in Fort Worth.

The company also announced the retirement of Robert Grace.

Fonseca is an insurance industry veteran who will assist producers in the placement of commercial products. She has served as a retail agent, customer service representative, and in the excess and surplus (E&S) lines industry as an underwriter and branch manager for more than 25 years.

Grace has been with M. J. Kelly for more than 10 years. He holds the CPCU designation and has enjoyed a 43-year career in the E&S lines field. He served on the boards of the Texas Surplus Lines Association, Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas, and two insurance companies. He is a past president of the Fort Worth Chapter of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

Insurance and financial services firm, Higginbotham, hired commercial property/casualty insurance broker Ryan B. Dill as associate in its Houston practice.

Dill joins Higginbotham after six years in business development with oil and gas service providers in Houston. He was most recently a business developer and corporate account manager at Hunting Energy Services, a manufacturer and distributor of oil and gas products.

Higginbotham was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, with 25 additional offices statewide.

American International Group Inc. (AIG) appointed Cindy Leggett-Flynn as senior vice president, chief communications officer.

Leggett-Flynn will will oversee corporate brand and marketing, internal communications, media relations and corporate citizenship activities. She replaces Christina Pretto, who left AIG in November.

Leggett-Flynn was most recently a New York-based partner of the Brunswick Group LLP, a communications consultancy. She had previously served as managing partner for greater China, based in Hong Kong, overseeing the firm’s offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, and advising both multinational corporations operating in Asia and Asian companies operating overseas.

Brightway Insurance announced that agency owner Peter Linke has opened the company’s newest office in North Texas, Brightway Preston Trail.

Temeji Wyatt-Crawford, senior producer, and Amanda Estrada have also joined the agency. Together, Wyatt-Crawford and Estrada have nearly a decade’s worth of experience.

Wyatt-Crawford has been a licensed producer for more than five years and has experience in personal and commercial lines.

Estrada, a licensed agent, most recently worked as an Allstate agent for two years.

Brightway is a national property/casualty insurance retailer selling through a network of franchised independent agencies throughout the country.

Independent wholesale insurance brokerage firm, All Risks Ltd., added Sam Stringer as a broker in its New Orleans, La., branch office.

As a casualty broker, Stringer will focus on risks within the construction, energy and environmental industries. Lines of coverage include general liability, excess liability, auto liability, contractor’s pollution liability, as well as many others.

Stringer has more than 14 years of experience in the insurance industry. He previously held positions in both Texas and Louisiana, where he gained regional and national expertise in the casualty market, specifically in the construction industry.

All Risks Ltd. is based in Hunt Valley, Md.

The InVEST Program selected Tammy Land, executive director of the Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas (IIAD) to receive the Dach Award.

The Dach Award honors an insurance industry volunteer who has made tremendous contribution in fostering the growth and development of InVEST.

Land introduced InVEST to Woodrow Wilson High School in 2012 and has continued efforts to expand the program.

Land was nominated for the award by Denise Tucker and by IIAD Association President John Losurdo.

In addition to her numerous achievements with the Woodrow Wilson High School program, Land serves as the InVEST State Champion for Texas, where she shares ideas and information with peers within the state and nationally. She also heads a volunteer committee within IIAD consisting of its members/associate members, including Errica Rivera with State Auto who sits on the InVEST board of directors.

Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry.

Topics Texas