Board of Directors

BIOGRAPHY OF STACEY KURASH
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST/AGENCY AND TERRITORY MANAGEMENT
ACCIDENT FUND INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA/AF GROUP

Stacey, a current resident of the Twin Cities, holds a bachelor's degree in Effective Leadership and Business Development from Metropolitan State University. Additionally, she has attained the Certified Authority on Workers Compensation designation.

Stacey's professional journey began at Cargill Inc., where she worked in the reinsurance division but developed a passion for the Workers Compensation field while working at RTW as an underwriter, marketer, and compliance officer.  Later, she joined SFM serving as the Director of Field Services. Presently, Stacey is employed at Accident Fund, leading teams to drive growth and profitability through strategic relationship-building, new product development, and territorial expansion.

Outside of her professional life, Stacey cherishes spending quality time with her family and friends. Additionally, she has a fondness for sports and the great outdoors.

BIOGRAPHY OF ARYEH HASELKORN
ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL, REGULATORY
AIG PROPERTY CASUALTY

Aryeh Haselkorn has over 20 years of experience representing the insurance industry, first at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP and then in-house at American International Group.  He has extensive experience supporting AIG business units writing workers’ compensation insurance, including regulatory compliance, filings, use of forms, underwriting and rating, audit, and data reporting.  As Workers’ Compensation Product Executive, he is responsible for all AIG rate, rule and form filing activity countrywide.

Aryeh serves on the Governing Board and/or other committees of five other Independent Rate Bureaus and is also involved with the NCCI Law Committee.

Aryeh holds a BA in Economics from Brandeis University and a JD from New York University School of Law.

BIOGRAPHY OF PAUL LARSON
P&C PRODUCT ANALYST
FEDERATED INSURANCE

Paul is a life-long Minnesota resident who holds a master’s degree in Counseling and Student Personnel from Mankato State University. After holding a position in college student affairs, Paul transitioned to the insurance industry in 1996 and began an underwriting career at Federated Insurance where he has been employed for 27 years. At Federated, he has served in the capacities of Commercial Underwriter, Risk Analyst, and District Underwriting Manager. In his current role of Property and Casualty Product Analyst, Paul provides technical guidance and support for the company’s workers compensation product which includes involvement with rates, rules, forms, compliance, and the policy administration system.

Paul holds the insurance industry designations of Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Insurance Services (AIS), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), and Workers Compensation Professional (WCP). He has served on the Minnesota Workers Compensation Insurers Association (MWCIA) governing board since 2013.

Paul and his wife have made their home in Owatonna for 35 years. Their family includes four adult children, a daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. Paul enjoys serving in his church, spending time with his family, and undertaking woodworking projects.

BIOGRAPHY OF KAREN BETHEA
ACTUARY - ACTUARIAL SERVICES
GRINNELL MUTUAL REINSURANCE COMPANY

Karen was born and raised in North Carolina.  She attended high school at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics graduating in 1986 as a proud member of the 5th graduating class.  She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Connecticut in 1990.  Karen became an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries in 2013.

Prior to joining Grinnell Mutual as pricing actuary in July 2004, Karen worked in actuarial pricing and reserving roles at Royal & Sun Alliance in Charlotte NC (1999-2004), Orion Capital in Farmington, CT (1993-1999) which later merged with Royal & Sun Alliance, and Aetna in Hartford, CT (1990-1993).  Her career began with personal auto reserving but her love of the Workers Compensation line of business began while working at Orion Capital, a company that wrote Work Comp exclusively.  She is currently responsible for Work Comp pricing and reserving at Grinnell Mutual and has served a 3-year term (2017-2020) as a member of the NCCI Actuarial Committee.

Karen loves to sing and serves on her local church praise and worship team.  She also enjoys taking care of her 5 rescue cats and visiting zoos and aquariums.

BIOGRAPHY OF DIANA TRENT
ASST. DIRECTOR - WC PRODUCT ANALYSIS
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

Diana Trent grew up in Louisiana, but now lives in Schaumburg, IL. She graduated cum laude from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics.

Diana started at Liberty Mutual as an underwriter in 1988 and is currently serving as Director of WC Product Analysis. She is involved in developing and filing products, pricing, and state management. Diana earned her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 2000.

Diana and her husband are avid baseball fans. Diana’s favorite team is the Atlanta Braves.

BIOGRAPHY OF AMANDA APONTE

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
SFM MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

Amanda serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at SFM Mutual Insurance Company, serving in actuarial and management roles for the company since 2007. She directs investments, financial planning and reporting, enterprise risk management, actuarial, business intelligence, and reinsurance activities.

Amanda volunteers at her alma mater, the University of St. Thomas, as a Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) liaison and on the actuarial advisory board. She also spends time advising the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds’ (AASCIF) finance and investment committee. Aponte is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in actuarial science and a minor in mathematics.

In her homelife, Amanda and her husband embrace the joyful chaos of raising three young children. Their favorite place is her parents’ lake home in her hometown of Spicer, Minnesota, where you can find them splashing about most weekends during the summer.

BIOGRAPHY OF CHRIS WESTERMEYER
VICE PRESIDENT, ACTUARIAL & ANALYTICS, BUSINESS INSURANCE ACTUARIAL PRODUCT-WORKERS COMPENSATION & LOSS SENSITIVE
TRAVELERS

Chris has led the Workers Compensation Actuarial Product area at Travelers since 2009. His current responsibilities include Rate Adequacy, Benchmark Tools, and Base Rate Management for Workers Compensation. In addition, his team is also responsible for Loss Sensitive Pricing analysis for all lines of business. He currently has a team of 20 individuals located in several locations across the country.

Chris has served on the Minnesota Workers Compensation Insurers Association (MWCIA) Governing Committee since 2016 and on the California Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) Actuarial Committee since 2016.

During his 27-year tenure at Travelers, Chris has also held pricing and reserving positions in Construction, Excess Casualty, and Medical Malpractice. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and Mathematics from St. Olaf College in 1989 and a Master of Science degree in Mathematics from Iowa State University in 1995.

BIOGRAPHY OF PETER H. CORNING
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND TREASURER
WESTERN NATIONAL MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

A native of Madison, WI, Pete Corning holds a BBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and obtained his CPA in WI.  After starting his carrier at Price Waterhouse as a Senior Auditor, he then moved to Washington National where he served as a Director of Financial Reporting in the Health Division.  Pete spent the next fifteen years at CUNA Mutual Group in various leadership roles. He joined Western National Insurance Group in 2011 where he serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.  Pete has also served as Director on the Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company Board since 2015.

Pete resides in Plymouth, MN with his wife and 2 children.  A true Badger and Packer fan, Pete holds season tickets to the Badger Football games and looks forward to the winter months so that he can hit the slopes, as he loves to ski.

BIOGRAPHY OF SCOTT TRACY
WC TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
ZURICH NORTH AMERICA

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Scott lived most of his life in the far Northwest and Western Suburbs of Chicago.  He received his B.A. in Management and Economics from Illinois State University and his M.B.A. from Lewis University.  He also holds the designation of Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).

Scott has held a variety of roles since beginning his career in 1986, mainly focused on Middle Market Underwriting and Underwriting Management, as well as technical consulting roles in General Liability and Workers' Compensation lines of business for Middle Markets, National Accounts, and Large Construction.  He is currently employed at Zurich as a WC Technical Underwriting Consultant.  He previously worked at Liberty Mutual and QBE before joining Zurich in 2019.

Scott and his wife recently moved to East Troy, Wisconsin (August 2022).  He enjoys anything outdoors and is an unusual hybrid Bears/Packers fan much to the disappointment of his friends and children in Illinois.