Elizabeth Ricciardelli of Travelers and David Arick of International Paper Company Join Spencer Educational Foundation Board of Directors
Elizabeth Ricciardelli of Travelers Joins Spencer Educational Foundation Board of Directors
RIMS Board Vice President David Arick of International Paper Company Joins as Ex-Officio Board Member
Board Elects 2023-24 Chairperson, Teresa Black of Chubb
New York, NY (January 31, 2023) – The Spencer Educational Foundation Board of Directors has confirmed the addition of Elizabeth Ricciardelli, Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Travelers to the Board. She is succeeding Peter Heard, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Distribution for Travelers, who had served in the role since 2002.
Elizabeth Ricciardelli currently serves as the Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Travelers, a leading provider of property casualty insurance. As a member of the company’s Human Resources Senior Leadership Team, Ricciardelli is responsible for Travelers’ global recruiting efforts related to all employee levels and functions, as well as employment branding and administration. Ricciardelli has more than 30 years of experience in human resources. Prior to joining Travelers in 2016, she led the recruiting function at Chubb for more than five years. She has also held roles of varying responsibility at Citi, Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers and Lord & Taylor. She received her master’s in organizational psychology from Columbia University and her bachelor’s in marketing from Boston College.
Spencer also welcomes RIMS Board Vice President David Arick, Assistant Treasurer, Global Risk Management at International Paper Company as an ex-officio Board Member. For her year of Spencer Board service, we thank outgoing RIMS liaison Jennifer Santiago, Head of Risk Management and Safety at Wakefern Food Corp., who has been promoted to RIMS Board President.
David Arick currently serves as the Assistant Treasurer, Global Risk Management, for International Paper, one of the world’s leading producers of fiber-based packaging and pulp. His Memphis-based team is responsible for global risk financing and captive management, property conservation and loss prevention, and claim management. Arick has worked in insurance and risk management for over 30 years, beginning his career in claim services at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio. He then progressed through risk management roles at Bank One (now JPMorgan Chase), Abbott Laboratories, Emerson Electric, and General Electric, prior to joining International Paper in 2004. Arick is a member of the board of directors of RIMS, the Risk & Insurance Management Society, and serves as RIMS’ Vice President in 2023. He is also a long-standing member of the M200 Association and is a former chairman and board member of that group. He has previously served on the board of the Fire Museum of Memphis, including a year as chairman, and has also served on various customer advisory boards throughout the course of his career.
Spencer has also named Teresa Black, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, North America Surety at Chubb, as the 2023-24 Board Chairperson. Black has been a Spencer Board Member since 2014 and succeeds Robin Roeder who finished her two-year term as Chairperson in December 2022.
Serving with Teresa Black on Spencer’s Executive Committee is President - Johnell Holly (FM Global); Vice President - Jeffrey M. Cohen (Zywave, formerly Advisen); Treasurer - Kristen Bessette (QBE North America); and Secretary - Bob Thomas (Liberty Mutual). Spencer looks forward to Teresa’s term as Chairperson and will benefit greatly from her business acumen and professional prowess. The Foundation thanks the outgoing Chairperson, Robin S. Roeder of Sedgwick, for her outstanding work over the past two years. Roeder will continue to serve on the Spencer Board. Under Roeder’s two-year leadership as Chairperson, the Foundation experienced record revenue growth and revamped its staff model, attracting several talented industry professionals. Amongst various accomplishments achieved for the Foundation, Roeder’s passion inspired her trading partners also to support Spencer’s mission. These efforts ultimately blossomed into the development of a Risk Management and Insurance program at an HBCU.
Ricciardelli’s, Arick’s, and Black’s appointments are effective as of January 1, 2023.
“Spencer benefits enormously from the experience, insights, and advocacy from a broad range of insurance industry leaders on our Board of Directors,” expressed Ron Davis, Global Head of Customer Management for Zurich, and Chair of Spencer’s Board Composition and Governance Committee. “We’re delighted to welcome new board members Elizabeth Ricciardelli and David Arick. Elizabeth is replacing Peter Heard of Travelers to whom we’re grateful for his past 20 years of active engagement, and David joins as the representative for the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS). We’re also delighted that Teresa Black has been promoted to Chairperson of Spencer. Teresa has an accomplished history with the Spencer Board and has been instrumental in the growing success of our annual gala, while also creating focus around our programs and their impact.”
For more information on the Spencer Educational Foundation, please visit www.spencered.org.
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About Spencer Educational Foundation:
The Spencer Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funding the education of tomorrow’s risk management and insurance leaders through scholarships, grants, internship opportunities, on and off campus experiential learning, and support of risk management/insurance curricula. Since Spencer was founded in 1979, we have awarded nearly $9 million in scholarships and over $8 million in grants to universities and professional institutions impacting an estimated 70,000 students through our programming. For more information, please visit us at www.spencered.org.
Media Contact:
Tandeka Nomvete
External Engagement Director
Spencer Educational Foundation
Email: tandeka@spencered.org