Salute was formed in 1992 to recognize and honour the Insurance Person of the Year, someone who has made a significant contribution to furthering the image of the general insurance industry in this province. In 2007 we introduced the Rising Star Award, honouring a person from the next generation, whose professional contributions and dedication to excellence have already made them a leader and a role model in our industry.
The Insurance Person of the Year and Rising Star awards are presented at a gala evening which celebrates the dedication, commitment, and integrity of all the people in our industry.
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| 2011 Insurance Person of the Year Brian Wills BC’s insurance community will be honouring insurance person extraordinaire Brian Wills at the 20th annual Salute insurance banquet on October 27, 2011 at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Brian is a well known Axa Pacific marketing exec and long-time industry promoter.Born in England, and raised in Toronto, Brian moved west in 1978. An Associate of the Insurance Industry (A.I.I.C.), he attended the University of Waterloo, majoring in Mathematics. He is married to wife Jacqui and has two lovely daughters Jennifer (21) and Lindsay (18). Brian started his career with AXA in 1979, when the company was first chartered, and has worked on both the broker and company side. He has held a number of positions within the company, primarily within the Marketing discipline and was appointed Vice President of Marketing in 1998, with responsibility for managing the company’s distribution channel. Brian is also a driving force behind a number of important, and popular, annual insurance events. He is actively involved in the industry and currently serves on the RPV Dinner Committee, an industry-wide political networking event, as well as B.C.I.T.’s Diploma Program in Insurance and Risk Management. Brian was also a founding member of the Salute Committee and is a well deserved recipient of the 20th Insurance Person of the Year Award. |
2011 Rising Star Jeremy Green Jeremy Green is the Regional Vice President of British Columbia for Optimum West Insurance Company, a position which he has held since early 2009. Prior to that, he worked with ING as Regional Branch Manager in Vancouver.Jeremy is the third generation of his family to work within the insurance industry. He has held various positions with independent brokers, Credit Unions and Insurance Companies. He has 18 years experience in this industry and holds his CIOP and CAIB insurance designations as well as a Commercial Pilot License. He is a past Director of CUISA and he currently sits as a Director on the Board of RainCity Housing Society. His support of RainCity as a Director allows him to assist with driving positive changes in attitude on Vancouver’s homelessness issue across multiple socio-economic segments of the population. Jeremy was recently responsible for developing North America’s first Carbon Offset program linked to a residential insurance policy and he has worked hard to improve social and environmental awareness with all companies he has worked for during his career. Jeremy and his spouse are residents of North Vancouver where they are raising their 1 year old daughter. |