Chapter History

The California El Camino Chapter of the CPCU Society serves the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and San Luis Obispo County.  The California El Camino Chapter is an offspring of The Los Angeles Chapter,  which was originally commissioned in 1945 as The Pacific Chapter,  and started out in 1984 under the leadership of our first Chapter President, James J. Buttitta, CPCU.

2022 Year in Review - El Camino CPCU Chapter:

On behalf of the El Camino CPCU Chapter, we adapted our communication methods to accommodate and keep our chapter members and insurance professionals well informed. We continue to discover new opportunities and different ways of serving our industry. We hope the New Year continues to move us forward in a positive direction for everyone!

This past year our CPCU Chapter offered a mix of interesting meetings, activities, and events for everyone with relevant insurance topics and outstanding speakers

Here are some of our chapter’s main goals and accomplishments including highlights of meetings & events throughout the year.

2022 Goals & Accomplishments:

By experimenting with a variety of meeting formats we identified the ones that seemed to work best for our chapter outreach including mostly monthly virtual Chapter educational meetings, an in-person session and we tested a hybrid meeting approach.

We continued to offer networking opportunities with our local CPCU chapter colleagues from the Los Angeles & Orange Empire Chapters and other chapters.

This past year, the Sacramento Valley Chapter, Los Angeles, and San Diego Chapter joined us for our virtual Ethics presentation, we brought back an in-person fun networking event at the Odyssey Restaurant with the Los Angeles chapter and we co-hosted our 3rd Regional CPCU All Industry Day (IDay) Conference with all the California & Hawaii Chapters. We continued our educational outreach through our links with CSUN, SMC, and Cal Lutheran.

2022 Highlights of Chapter Meetings and Events:

In January, we kicked off the New Year with a presentation via Webinar with Michael Ray, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, MBA who is Executive Vice President of Wildfire Defense Systems, Inc. Michael is also a member of the El Camino CPCU Chapter.  Michael gave us a great session on “Overview Of Wildfire Defense Response Services”.  As we all know, wildfire risks have become a common topic in the state of California, in fact, throughout the western U.S. The scale of these events and their growing impact have made wildfire risk one of the leading issues in property insurance. We were taken on an interesting journey learning more about this growing risk, where it is headed in the face of global warming trends and innovative systems and suppression services available to combat the problem.   

In February, we provided an educational webinar on “Earthquake Preparation” which was brought to us Janiele Maffei, Chief Mitigation Officer of the California Earthquake Authority 
(CEA), Sacramento. This presentation covered the earthquake risk and historical quakes in California, with an emphasis on Earthquakes in So. California. The presenter highlighted the importance of residents to protect and strengthen older homes with a seismic retrofit that will withstand strong earth shaking.  While the timing of earthquakes is uncertain, over some period it is almost certain that a damaging one will occur.  Preparation can substantially improve our outcomes. 

In March for Ethics month, we had two-chapter activities, the first was a virtual chapter meeting on March 10th with a presentation given by Ulises Castellon, CPCU RPA/CEO of Fire Cause Analysis (FCA) and Past President of the Sacramento Valley CPCU Chapter.  Ulises provided us with a thought-provoking session on “Ethics – Insurance and Beyond” that facilitated an understanding of the importance of sound ethical decisions in the insurance profession.  The course covered the importance of general ethical guidelines and the motivations to be ethical, as well as addressed specific ethical concerns for all insurance industry professionals.   

For the second chapter activity on March 20th we entered the CPCU Society’s Ethics Awareness Month Activity Contest. Our chapter's Ethics meeting presentation on March 10th reached 120 people consisting of CPCUs, Candidates & Non-CPCUs who registered from 13 different states. Of the 94 people who attended the live webinar, 62 were CPCUs who received CPCU CE credits. The others attended for a variety of reasons including the Ethics education and/or State-specific DOI CE credits.  As other California chapters received notices about our March 10th event, they also asked to join us. Included were attendees from Sacramento Valley, Los Angeles, and the San Diego Chapters. We also extended our chapter's Ethics invitation to the 374 All Industry Day attendees from our 2021 virtual IDay event that went out across the country.

Our March “Ethics” event received a great deal of exposure for our chapter and the CPCU Society.   

In April, we held two different events, the first one was a virtual chapter meeting on April 14th on “Current Issues in Workers Compensation Insurance” presented by Sara Widener-Brightwell, General Counsel of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI). This meeting included a workers’ compensation overview that covered COVID-19 updates, statutory and regulatory activity, and recent case law. 
Our second activity on April 21st was a nice show of support for the Claims Interest Group - CPCU Society Roadshow Event.  The Roadshow meeting notice was distributed to our chapter members, candidates, and other insurance professionals on “Jedi Response: Predictability and Modeling of Wildfires and Other Natural Catastrophes”.  The presenters were Ulises Castellon, CPCU/Fire Cause Analysis (FCA), Michael Brown, CPCU/Golden Bear Insurance and Ramya Sunad, CPCU/USAA.  This interesting thought-provoking session covered severe weather patterns, climate change, increased urbanization around coastal regions and the wildland-urban interface which is making our industry increasingly susceptible to natural catastrophic risk.  While we cannot prevent ‘the force’ of natural catastrophic events, we can certainly plan, prepare, and become resilient in protecting infrastructure by building a proactive industry and having a “Jedi Response”! 

In May, we had another informative session which was our “first hybrid Chapter meeting” with some attendees meeting in person and others watching the session via Zoom.  The presentation on “Reinsurance – ESG and Underwriting” was conducted by Todd J Hess, FCAS, MAAA/Head of Risk Management P&C Reinsurance Americas at Swiss Re.  ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has been a big topic in the investing world for some time as companies realize those factors can affect profits directly and affect how their company is seen by investors. Most obviously is the need for property insurers to consider whether environmental factors such as climate change will increase the risk of wildfires and natural catastrophes resulting in a larger focus on company sustainability and resilience.  

In June, we learned about “Nuclear Verdicts: Taking the “Nuclear” out of the Verdict through Effective Adjusting and Investigative Techniques”.  Our presenters, Peter Schifrin/President of Schifrin, Gagnon & Dickey, Inc. (SGD) an Independent Insurance Adjusting company and Richard Harer/Vice President of Specialized Investigations a private investigation explored some of the more recent strategies being utilized by unscrupulous public adjusters, attorneys, medical providers, and others, who continue to develop creative and questionable strategies to force the insurers into quicker and more costly settlements. The discussion included expensive and questionable medical procedures, "reptile brain" theory trial tactics, partnering with “factoring" (investment) companies, submitting time limit demands, to name a few. In some cases, these tactics have generated multi-million jury verdicts.  This session provided practical and effective methods of adjusting and investigating claims to expose and mitigate claims involving these questionable and controversial strategies prior to litigation.  

We were dark in July this year. 

On August 18th, we co-sponsored a joint networking mixer event with the Los Angeles Chapter for an evening of conversation and fun at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills.  It was so nice to network in person over drinks and appetizers.  During this event, 28 attendees came together to network and have a nice time in a relaxed atmosphere.  We welcomed some New Designees from both chapters, and everyone enjoyed a great time networking with other CPCU’s & other industry professionals.  We really miss the in-person interaction with each other, and it was great to see some new faces during this social event.  We’re looking forward to doing it again in 2023! 

In September we held two great meeting events.  The first one was on September 9th on “CEO Action for Racial Equity”.  The discussion was led by Carrie Lane-Johnson, a fellow for CEO Action for Racial Equity.  Carrie shared her experience with us that this Fellowship is a first-of-its-kind, business-led initiative that mobilizes CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ helping signatory organizations to advance policy change at the federal, state, and local levels. 
The Second meeting was another in-person event at CSUN on September 22nd with the focus on “INSURANCE CAREERS: INDUSTRY PANEL DISCUSSION”.  This was our 7th Annual Educational meeting with Dr. David Russell and his students attending CSUN who are pursuing a degree and career in the insurance industry.  We always look forward to this very special event which continues to be a unique opportunity for us to give the students a new perspective and an overview of some of the different branches of the insurance industry.  We had several chapter members participate in a panel discussion addressing their views, journey & careers within the insurance industry.  This year’s esteem panel included Lorena Bendig/Underwriting with Employers Compensation, Rong 
Rong/Actuarial with Swiss Re, Danielle Yarbrough/Finance with Farmers Insurance, Steve Rivera/Brokerage with Liberty Company, Samson Tam/Premium Auditing with the Workers’ Comp Rating Bureau and Judy Lee/Claims with Progressive Insurance.  We are grateful to Dr. David Russell for his continued support of our chapter and giving of his time and energy in educating past, present and future CSUN students about the Insurance Industry.  He has been a terrific advocate of our chapter and enhances an understanding with his students about how the CPCU designation can help achieve higher goals and why learning does not end with a bachelor’s degree.  We are looking forward to the 8th annual CSUN event September 2023. 

On October 20th, we celebrated our 77th Annual All Industry Day Conference and 3rd Regional Annual Event in a virtual format with all the CPCU Chapters of California including El Camino, Los Angeles, Orange Empire, San Diego, Sacramento, Golden Gate, and Hawaii Chapters joining us as sponsors for this long-standing CPCU event.  Together, we had over 200 attendees from 
all over the country. Our IDay featured engaging speakers whose presentations included a variety of important topics on Risk Management, Personal Lines & Auto, Employee Retention, Parametric, Diversity & Inclusion, Property Inflation, and Nuclear Verdicts. We also had a session that included new designee recognition, memorials, and award presentations.  It was exciting to see that our own Chapter President, Ed Combs, CPCU was awarded this year’s Rie Sharp award for his participation and volunteerism in the CPCU Chapter/Society Events.  In addition to serving on the El Camino Board, Ed also Co-Chairs the Education Committee for the All Industry Day Conference.  Congratulations go out to Ed for receiving such a well-deserved honor.  The El Camino CPCU Chapter also granted a $1,500 Scholarship to one lucky CSUN Student, Neeka Miremade, a junior Financial Planning major who took CSUN's Insurance Operations Seminar course that follows  the CPCU 520 curriculum and was team taught by CPCUs and other professionals from Farmers Insurance.  We also were excited to learn that our IDay virtual conference made the Insurance Journal Magazine.  This magazine provides regional, national, and international news and information to the insurance industry.  We’re very proud that to have hosted another successful event!

On November 10th, we enjoyed an interesting topic on the California FAIR Plan presented by Phillip Irwin, Public Relations Representative California FAIR Plan Association.  The California FAIR plan has always been an important player in the California insurance market.  But events during recent years, particularly increased wildfire activity, have produced explosive growth and significant challenges for this carrier. Phil, driven by his passion to serve as a knowledgeable resource to consumers and brokers in the Wildland Urban Interface provided us with information about how the FAIR Plan works and gave us a better understanding of the insurance options available to property owners in high fire risk areas.  

In December, we held our Annual CPCU Holiday Luncheon and the Installation of the 2023 Chapter Board Officers & Directors. During this event we held two “Good Works” Drives.  The chapter came together to hold our 1st Food Drive providing support to the West Valley Food Pantry and our annual collection of Toys for Tots was delivered to children in the Ventura County area.  Both “Good Work” Drives were a success!  

Please welcome our 2023 Board of officers: 

• President: Christina Fenimore
• President-Elect: TBD
• Vice President: Alice Chien
• Treasurer: Donna Munsch
• Secretary: Tami Singer
• Director: Carol McDonald
• Director: Derek Ferrendelli
• Director: Vanessa Toureau
• Director: Paul Cunningham
• Director: Jon Wilson
• Director: Rong Rong

• Past President: Ed Combs

Along with all the accomplishments this year, we are especially proud that our chapter had 15 New Designees from a variety of insurance agencies and carriers complete their CPCU.  

We are very pleased to welcome Julia Angold, Cirino Bernardino, Yuo-Ling Bernards, Marisa Capra-Cunningham, John Carey, Janson Findley, Sheridan Fowler, Jeffrey Hilborn, Srikanth Kanakagiri, Armen Khachatryan, Andrew Shaffer, David Skaggs, Ananda Lakshmi Thalupuru, Olivia Villasana and Claire Elizabeth Ettema Williams.  We hope you’ll consider joining us as a Chapter Volunteer and future Board member.  We’re a fun group!    

Your CPCU Board is finalizing another year of great speakers, presentations, and fun events in 2023.  Kicking off the New Year we are hosting an open discussion on “IoT and Insurance” from 12:00 to 1:00 (PST) on January 12th.  Our featured speaker is Shannon Lewandowski, Program Development Director for Business Data and Analytics at Great American Insurance.  You don’t want to miss this virtual presentation. 

If you’re interested in getting involved in the chapter as a volunteer, please contact any of our chapter leaders to discuss opportunities or contact our 2023 Chapter President Christina Fenimore, CPCU at [email protected] or Past President/Ed Combs, CPCU at 818-590-6526 or Email Ed at [email protected] or Chapter Director Carol McDonald, CPCU AIM at (805) 405-9891 or Email Carol at [email protected].

Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy Safe