Continuity during COVID: Executive of national broker association stands pat

Kent Rowe, vice president of commercial lines for Wedgwood Insurance, is staying on for another year as president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada.

IBAC held its annual general meeting Sept. 23. IBAC announced Monday that its 2019-20 executive will remain in place for an additional year “to provide stability and continuity” amid IBAC’s  ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rowe, who works in St. John’s, is a former president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Newfoundland.

IBAC’s president-elect is Robyn Young, principal and owner of Lundgren and Young Insurance Ltd. in Calgary.

The other three executive officers are chair Chris Floyd and two vice presidents: Linda Dolan and Julia Marshall.

Dolan is an owner of Alport Insurance in Port Alberni, B.C. Marshall is a past president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta. By day, Marshall works in Strathmore as Sharp Insurance’s vice president of government and insurer relations.

Young is also a former IBAA president. She and her brother, A.J. Young, bought their brokerage in 2014 from their parents.

Floyd was president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) in 2014.

IBAC said Monday its 2020-2021 board of directors will be comprised of: Aly Kanji (British Columbia), Paul VanderHooft (Alberta), Dave Pettigrew (Saskatchewan), Mario Reimer (Manitoba), Jeff Gatcke (Ontario), Karen Ritchie (Toronto), Mathieu Brunet (Quebec), Robert E. Kimball (New Brunswick),  Darren Lipsett (Nova Scotia), David Cooke (Prince Edward Island) and Kelly Hickman (Newfoundland & Labrador).

IBAC announced this past May it would not hold its AGM in person.

“We’ve had to find new ways to continue to do the important work of our executive, board, staff and committees,” Rowe wrote at the time. “Although none of this work is happening face-to face, it is still happening.”

Feature image courtesy of Wedgewood Insurance