Executive Leadership

Marc Schmittlein serves as President & CEO of CopperPoint Insurance Companies. He joined the company in 2016, bringing more than 30 years of commercial insurance experience.

Under his leadership, CopperPoint has been on a journey of transformation to realize its vision of becoming the leading regional commercial insurance company for the western United States.

Prior to joining CopperPoint, Schmittlein spent over 30 years at The Travelers Companies, Inc. His most recent position was President of cyber business and Co-President of business insurance. He also served as President and CEO of the small commercial division known as Select Accounts, a $2.7 billion division of Travelers' Business Insurance that included workers’ compensation, business owner's policy, umbrella coverage and commercial auto.

Schmittlein also held leadership roles in the commercial divisions of St. Paul Companies and Aetna.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Allegheny College. He currently holds the designations of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter and Accredited Advisor in Insurance.

Schmittlein serves on the board of directors for Banner Health, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the advisory board of the Arizona Chapter Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Sara Begley is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of CopperPoint Insurance Companies. She joined CopperPoint in 2008 and became General Counsel in 2014.

In her role, she oversees all legal functions and regulatory affairs for the company.

Prior to joining CopperPoint, she served as the Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Insurance.

Begley holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Arizona State University, earned her law degree from the University of Arizona and achieved a designation as a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).

Begley is an active community leader. In 2018, she was named General Counsel of the Year by the Phoenix Business Journal and received the Ronald McDonald “Heart of the House” Award. In 2019, she was named one of Arizona’s Most Influential Women in Business. She received a special Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Corporate Counsel in 2021. Begley serves on the board of directors of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and the Arizona Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund.

Tom Collins serves as Senior Vice President & Chief Underwriting Officer for CopperPoint Insurance Companies.

In his role, he is responsible for leading the organization's team of underwriters to work with select agents and brokers to realize CopperPoint's business and operating strategies. He joined CopperPoint in 2017, bringing more than 30 years of insurance experience.

Collins spent his early career rooted in California workers' compensation. Throughout his career, he has held positions of increasing responsibility at Safeco Insurance Company, Georgia Casualty and Surety, Holman & Company, CNA and Westfield Group.

Prior to joining CopperPoint, he served as Assistant Vice President of Commercial Lines Underwriting at Grange Mutual Casualty. There, he was responsible for a team of approximately 90 underwriting associates and field personnel and charged with bringing in $230 million of standard and specialty lines premium.

Collins earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics at California State University in Fullerton. He holds designations as a Charted Property Casualty Underwriter, an Associate in Commercial Underwriting, a Certified Risk Manager and an Associate in Commercial Underwriting, Management. He is also a Certified Insurance Counselor.

He serves on the board of directors for the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona.

Rachel Davis-Schultz is Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer & Enterprise Operations.

She joined CopperPoint in 2019 as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer and was promoted to Executive Vice President the following year. She is responsible for leading all aspects of human resources across the CopperPoint Family of Insurance Companies.

In 2021, Davis-Schultz assumed additional responsibilities for all operational divisions for the company including the Operational Resource Center, Claims & Policy Contact Center, Premium Audit and Billing & Collections.

She brings over 21 years of experience in human resources management, benefits, talent management, employee engagement, culture transformation and more. Throughout her career, Davis-Schultz has been involved in several major acquisitions and successful integrations and has led teams that have experienced significant organic and inorganic growth.

Most recently, Davis-Schultz served as a Senior Human Resources Director – PBM Operations for Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager and a Fortune 20 organization with $100B+ in annual revenue. In that role, Davis-Schultz and her team supported all of the enterprise operations including pharmacy ops, call center and the operations strategy team.

Davis-Schultz earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Purdue University and a master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Lindenwood University. She attained the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification from the Society of Human Resources Management.

She serves on the board of directors for UMOM New Day Centers of Phoenix.

Dana Ferestien is Regional President, Alaska & the Pacific Northwest. 

He joined the company in 2015 and most recently served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Liability Claims.

Prior to joining Alaska National, Ferestien practiced law for over 15 years.

Ferestien earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Vanderbilt University Law School.

Barb Fuchs is the Senior Vice President, Data Management and Analytics.

She joined CopperPoint in 2019 to lead Data Management across the enterprise, including data management, the Enterprise Data Warehouse, data governance, and statistical reporting. Her responsibilities have since expanded to include Analytics and Business Intelligence.

Barb is an experienced executive with proven success leading information technology and data and analytic functions within the insurance industry. Prior to CopperPoint, Barb spent 30 years at Travelers where she served as Chief Information Officer, International Division and then Vice President, Information Management and Analytics. While there, she also held a variety of leadership roles in IT, business, project management and delivery. 

Barb has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. 

Michael Goldman serves as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development.

His responsibilities include the oversight and execution of the inorganic strategy of the CopperPoint Family of Companies. The strategy includes acquisitions, mutual affiliations, strategic partnerships, assumed reinsurance and other vehicles.

He joined CopperPoint in 2013 as Director of Business Development. Throughout the following years, Goldman held various positions of increasing responsibility.

Prior to joining CopperPoint, Goldman held roles with Zurich and Liberty Mutual.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and a Master of Business Administration from St. John’s University.

Goldman is a board member of the Arizona Business and Education Coalition, the Anti-Defamation League – Arizona region. He’s also a member of the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business Dean’s Council.

Woody Hill is the Vice President of Enterprise Loss Control  for CopperPoint Insurance Companies. He joined CopperPoint in 2020 and is responsible for leading the enterprise loss control function of our family of companies and overseeing the loss control team. He is also responsible for strategic loss control planning and continued development of new tools and technologies to help our policyholders manage risk.

Hill has 37 years of workplace safety, health and leadership experience with specialty workers' compensation carriers, insurance brokers and governmental agencies. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Customer Experience Office, at Texas Mutual. He also help roles of Vice President, Safety & Information Services. where he oversaw field safety services for more than 70,000 policyholders across Texas, Hill help prior leadership roles at EMPLOYERS, ABD Insurance and Financial Services and Cal/OSHA.

Hill serves as the Chair of CopperPoint's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Biology from Eastern Kentucky University. 

Dawn Jaffray is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CopperPoint Insurance Companies.

She joined the company in 2021 bringing more than 30 years of experience of financial management within the property and casualty insurance industry. Prior to CopperPoint, Dawn served as Chief Financial Officer at United Fire Group Insurance (UFG), a publicly traded commercial property and casualty insurer. While at UFG, Dawn’s areas of responsibility included Finance, Financial Planning & Analysis, Rating Agency, Treasury, Billing, Internal Audit, Tax, Actuarial, Enterprise Risk Management, Analytics, and Capital Management. She has also held senior finance roles at Soleil Advisory Group, Westaff, Dun & Bradstreet, CNA Insurance, and Progressive Insurance. She started her career in public accounting and business consulting.

Dawn holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Windsor School of Business and has an active professional CPA CGA accounting license. She was named 2019 CFO of the Year by Corridor Business Journal.

Dave Kuhn is Regional President, California and Executive Vice President, Enterprise Distribution for CopperPoint.

He joined the company in 2018, bringing more than 30 years of experience in the property casualty industry.

In his role as Regional President, Kuhn is responsible for profit and loss in the California region. In his role as Executive Vice President of Enterprise Distribution, he is responsible for setting the overall distribution strategy and approach for the enterprise.

Previously, Kuhn served as Regional Executive for QBE Insurance, where he was responsible for launching their Western region. He also served as Regional President for Hanover Insurance Group, where he oversaw the company's Pacific region. Past positions included roles at Bank of America Insurance Group, The St. Paul Companies and Hartford Specialty Company.

Kuhn earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Le Moyne College. He holds Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate Risk Management (ARM) designations.

Brad Lontz is Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer.

He joined the company in 2019, bringing with him more than 25 years of leadership experience.

Most recently, he served as Chief Information Officer for the California Dental Association. Prior to that, he was the Chief Information Officer for Nautilus Insurance Group (a Berkley Company). He also spent eight years at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in several IT management and development roles of increasing responsibility.

Lontz received his Bachelor of Science in Computer and Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and his Master of Business Administration from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

He is a member of the AZ CIO Group and serves on the board of directors of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Arizona Chapter. Previously, he served as the Vice President of the Arizona chapter of the Society of Information Management.

Kris Mathis is Senior Vice President, Chief Workers’ Compensation Claims Officer & Risk Management Services for CopperPoint. Mathis joined in January of 2014 and brings more than 20 years’ experience. In his role, Mathis leads workers’ compensation claims services for the enterprise.

Prior to CopperPoint, Mathis served in a progression of managerial and executive leadership positions in claims and field services for insurance carriers including SAFECO, CompWest, SeaBright and the Liberty Mutual Group.

Kris earned a B.A. in History from California State University, Fullerton and a Juris Doctorate from Trinity Law School. He holds a Workers’ Compensation Claims Professional (WCCP) designation and a Self-Insured Administrators Certificate from the California Department of Industrial Relations, Office of Self Insurance Plans (OSIP). He is a past member of the Governing Committee of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) and currently serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI). He also serves on the Advisory Committee for Kid’s Chance of California.

Mark Mooney is Vice President, Underwriting Systems and Product.

He joined CopperPoint in 2019 as Vice President & Head of Underwriting, California and was promoted to Vice President, Underwriting Systems & Technology in 2021. Mooney is responsible for managing the design and implementation of automation solutions for policy systems as well as the development of our overall underwriting product strategy and implementation. 

Prior to joining CopperPoint, Mooney held leadership positions at Union Standard Insurance Group (W.R. Berkley Corporation) and QBE North America. He also held positions at Foremost Business Insurance and Auto Owners Insurance Company.

He holds a B.A. Finance degree from Michigan State University and a CLSC certification.

Thomas Pytel, Jr. is Vice President, Chief Marketing and Corporate Communications Officer.

He joined the company in 2020, bringing more than 18 years of experience, 14 within the property and casualty insurance industry. Pytel is responsible for brand strategy, advertising, corporate communications, digital marketing, consumer research and creative services. He also oversees enterprise and regional community giving to support brand awareness through the company’s community giving partnerships.

Most recently, Pytel served as Vice President, Marketing & Corporate Communications for Mutual Insurance Company of Arizona. Prior to MICA, he was Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications for Nautilus Insurance Group (a Berkley Company). His career also includes time as Vice President, Marketing & Communications for CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company, and as the Global Head of Creative Services for Allied World Assurance Company.

Pytel received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island.

He currently serves on the board of directors for the Greater Phoenix Division of the American Heart Association. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors for the Insurance Marketing and Communications Association (IMCA).

Bob Roland is Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the CopperPoint Family of Insurance Companies.

He joined the company in 2017 with more than 30 years of experience in the property and casualty industry. In 2021, Roland was promoted to assume the responsibilities of Chief Operating Officer. His responsibilities include claims and related processes, data management and analytics, corporate development, internal audit, information technology, program management, Pay as you Go and the integration of alternative growth and acquisitions.

With deep knowledge of property and casualty insurance, he is a respected expert in data management. He has significant experience in merger integrations, having led more than 17 financial integrations, as well as in strategic systems development in which he has led more than 20 large-scale systems development projects.

Previously, Roland served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Financial and Actuarial Operations at The Travelers Company. During that time, he also supported business insurance, effectively managing the flow of data throughout the enterprise and to many external reporting functions. While at Travelers, Roland served on the Business Insurance Strategic Leadership group, the CFO Counsel and numerous steering groups.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management with a Human Resources Concentration from the University of Connecticut.

Kathleen Ziegler is the Senior Vice President of Operations for CopperPoint. She is responsible for overseeing our operations functions, including premium audit, billing and collections, underwriting and agent services, contact center, mailroom and other support.

Ziegler has an extensive background in business start-ups, driving innovation and leading and transforming business within the insurance industry. Prior to joining CopperPoint in 2020, Ziegler served as the Head of Distribution at Blackboard, an AIG-owned technology-focused subsidiary where she was responsible for developing and managing broker relationships and contributing to the overall build of this middle-market commercial insurance start-up. She began her career at Accenture and progressed to roles of increasing responsibility at Zurich, Marsh and AIG most notably Head of Operations and Technology for the US at Marsh and Northwest Region Vice President of Zurich's commercial business market.

Ziegler is a strong proponent of advancing women in business and currently serves on the Board of Directors Fresh Start Women's Foundation. 

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French from the University of Notre Damn and Master of Arts degree in Linguistics from the University of Kansas.

Ken Kirk was appointed to the CopperPoint Board of Directors in 2013. He now serves as CopperPoint's chairman of the board, chair of the Finance and Investment Committee and member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Prior to serving as chair, Kirk served as vice chairman.

Kirk has extensive experience in the insurance industry. He currently serves as president of BroadStreet Partners, an investor in insurance brokerages. He has strong expertise in sourcing and developing insurance agency partnerships, extensive knowledge in agency operations, and mergers and acquisitions.

In 1989 Kirk acquired Insurance West in Scottsdale, AZ., and served as its chief executive officer. In 1995 Insurance West merged with Brown & Brown Insurance where Kirk was regional president until 2010. Earlier in his career, Kirk was with Arthur Andersen & Co

Kirk is founding chairman of the Arizona chapter of Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a nonprofit organization. He also is a member of the Paradise Valley (Ariz.) Country Club finance committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Arizona State University.

Monica Digilio was appointed to the CopperPoint Insurance Company Board of Directors in May 2022.

Ms. Digilio has more than 30 years of experience in C-Suite roles in the hospitality, entertainment, gaming and real estate industries. She has served as the top Human Resources executive at iconic brands including Atlantis, One&Only Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts, Pendry Hotels, and Caesars Entertainment.

Her experience also includes service on the Board of Directors of Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. (NYSE:SHO), and the Advisory Board of Cornell University’s Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship.

LoriAnn Lowery-Biggers joined the CopperPoint Board of Directors in 2015. She chairs the People and Performance Committee and serves on the Finance and Investment Committee.

Lowery-Biggers has more than 30 years of experience in the global finance and insurance/reinsurance industry, most notably serving as President of Lloyd’s of London for North America. She has held executive roles at The Navigators Group, Inc. where she served in various capacities as President of Navigators Commercial Insurance Company, President of Field Operations and Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to Navigators, Ms. Lowery-Biggers served in senior executive roles for Wells Fargo, Inc., Marsh and McLennan, Inc. and Guy Carpenter.

As the CEO and co-founder of BellaVaughan, Inc., Lowery-Biggers leads an award-winning global diamond, design and manufacturing company with collections exclusively distributed worldwide through BlueNile, Inc.

Lowery-Biggers is a board member of A21, an anti-human trafficking group which has received the Mother Teresa Harmony Award, a Presidential Award and a United Nations Award for its work globally.

Michael Mathis joined  the CopperPoint board in early 2022. With a career in information technology spanning over 25 years, Mathias brings extensive insurance leadership experience and deep knowledge of technology. He serves on the board's Audit & Compliance and Finance & Investment Committees. 

Mathias recently retired from Blue Shield of California where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. During his tenure at Blue Shield, he was responsible for all health plan operations and technology accountable for end-to-end service delivery across the health plan business. Earlier in his career with Blue Shied, he also had responsibility for Customer Experience. Before joining Blue Shield in 2013, Mathias held numerous technology leadership roles with Aetna in Hartford, CT.

Mathias has served as a Trustee of Blue Shield of California Foundation, and as a member of several professional advisory boards.  He is the recipient of the CIO of the Year awards from professional organizations and was recognized as a Top 50 Diverse Leader in 2020. Mathias holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Long Island University. 

Judith Patrick was appointed to the CopperPoint Board of Directors in 1992 and served as Chair from 2009 to 2014. She currently serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee and the People and Performance Committee. 

She is a principal of R.G. Patrick Land planning and Development in Tucson. Previously, Patrick owned companies in the Tucson area, including R.G. Patrick Ltd, HP Tradition Homes, JR Development, Catalina Sail & Marine, and Las Brisas Cable. From 1973 through 2000 she held a variety of positions in Pima County government including the Board of Supervisors, Central Permits, and Building Codes. She served as the director of Land Planning and Development Services for Pima County from 1991-2000.

In addition to Board positions with CopperPoint, Patrick serves on the Southwestern Fair Commission, and is a member of the Tucson Airport Authority. She also served on the Pima County Self Insurance Trust Fund and the City of Tucson's Public Safety Retirement Board.

Patrick is a longtime volunteer and activist on behalf of the Tucson Boys Chorus and the Pima Council on Aging. She is an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). Patrick earned a Certification of Public Management from the University of Arizona and an Associate Degree of Public Management at Pima Community College. In 2019 she earned a Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from NACD.

Marc Schmittlein joined the CopperPoint Board of Directors in 2017. He joined CopperPoint in 2016 as President and CEO, bringing more than 30 years of commercial insurance experience.

Under his leadership, CopperPoint has been on a journey of transformation to realize its vision of becoming the leading regional commercial insurance company for the western United States.

Prior to joining CopperPoint, Schmittlein spent 12 years at The Travelers Company. His most recent position was President of cyber business and Co-President of business insurance. He also served as President and CEO of the small commercial division known as Select Accounts, a $2.7 billion division of Travelers' Business Insurance that included workers’ compensation, business owner's policy, umbrella coverage and commercial auto.

Schmittlein also held leadership roles in the commercial divisions of St. Paul Companies and Aetna.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Allegheny College. He currently holds the designations of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter and Accredited Advisor in Insurance.

Schmittlein serves on the board of directors for Banner Health, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the advisory board of the Arizona Chapter Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Mike Tully joined the CopperPoint Board of Directors in 2019. Mike is the Managing Partner of Horizon Strategic Advisors, a strategy advisory firm. He is the former President and CEO of AAA Arizona where he led the transformation of the organization into one of the most dynamic and fastest growing AAA organizations in the US. During his 18-year tenure with AAA Arizona, he also held COO and CFO positions. Tully currently serves as chair of CopperPoint’s Audit and Compliance Committee and is a member of the People and Performance Committee. 

Tully is recognized as one of the first 100 Certified Directors in the U.S.  for the National Association of Corporate Directors and serves on the board for Pacific Southwest Chapter. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Gainey Business Bancorp and OralKleen and serves on several community boards including United Way and McDowell Sonoran Conservancy and is a mentor for the Arizona Commerce Authority Venture Ready Program.

Marita Zuraitis was appointed to the CopperPoint Insurance Company Board of Directors in July 2021.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Zuraitis is a proven leader in the property and casualty insurance industry. She serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Horace Mann Educators Corporation.

Prior to Horace Mann, Zuraitis held the role of Executive Vice President at Hanover Insurance Group, where she also served as President, Property and Casualty Companies. Her exemplary career includes time with The St. Paul/Travelers Companies, where she elevated to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Lines, as well as with United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company and Aetna Life and Casualty.

Zuraitis is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Institutes, the leading provider of risk management and property-casualty insurance education, whose offerings include the premier CPCU® designation, and a past member of the Board of Directors of LL Global, Inc., a trade association with operating divisions LIMRA and LOMA. She is also past Chair of the Board of the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) whose mission is to foster a healthy workers compensation system by gathering data, analyzing industry trends, and providing objective insurance rate and loss cost recommendations.