Our Team
At Berkley Re Solutions, our team of professionals is a key reason for our long-term success. We are a community of dedicated, knowledgeable, and caring individuals who are empowered to find innovative solutions and provide superior service.
Gregory Douglas
President
Greg Douglas is responsible for the strategic direction and operations of Berkley Re Solutions. Greg has been in the (re)insurance industry since 1982, with assignments in Bermuda and London.
Greg earned his BA in Economics and Political Science at Iowa State University, Ames, IA. He began his career at General Reinsurance as a Casualty Facultative Underwriter and has worked at Continental Insurance, AIG and NAC / XL Re.
Kevin Novak
SVP, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer
Kevin Novak is SVP, CFO & COO where he is primarily responsible for Finance / Accounting, Operations, and Compliance / Regulatory. He has been in the insurance industry since 1999 where he has held various Finance and Operations positions. Kevin assumed his role with Berkley Re Solutions in 2019 but has held the role of CFO since 2012 and COO since 2017.
Kevin holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing and MBA in Finance both from North Central College and has been with Berkley since 2002. Prior experience includes 3 years with Allstate Insurance where he held various finance and planning positions.
Kathy Brennan
SVP, Chief Underwriting Officer
Kathy Brennan is responsible for guiding a team of underwriters in maintaining acceptable risk strategies and ensuring profitability for both casualty treaty and program business. She began her insurance career with five years of primary casualty underwriting, then moved into reinsurance and advanced through varying senior roles in casualty facultative and treaty underwriting at several large reinsurers before becoming part of the founding team of Berkley Re Solutions in 2002.
Kathy earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from Villanova University.
Spencer Coyle
SVP, Chief Actuary
Spencer Coyle oversees the pricing, reserving and financial reporting activities for Berkley Re Solutions. He has over 30 years experience in the Actuarial field covering personal and commercial lines with roles for both insurance and reinsurance companies. He has been a part of the Berkley organization since 2003.
Spencer earned his B.S. in Mathematics from Penn State University and is also an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Joseph Piekarski
VP, Chief Claims Officer
Joseph Piekarski brings over 22 years of insurance claims experience to the Berkley Program Specialists organization. Over his career, Mr. Piekarski has managed exposures that span both commercial and personal insurance across multiple product lines for global corporate, captive, middle market, and small business customers. He also has project management experience through various leadership roles on innovation and process improvement projects. Since joining Berkley Program Specialists in November of 2017, Mr. Piekarski has provided his claims experience, leadership, and insights to our program administrators through his management and oversight of our TPA partners and the implementation of our in-house claims team. Mr. Piekarski is responsible for managing all aspects of our claims from strategic direction to operational excellence, quality management, and analytics. Mr. Piekarski holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Western Illinois University where he graduated with honors.
Mike Kitchens
Vice President
Mike Kitchens is responsible for the production, underwriting, enhancement and management of casualty treaty, program and Custom Turnkey Solutions for the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. He has a diverse casualty background both from the reinsurance and primary program perspective. Mike earned his degree in Risk Management and Insurance from the University of Georgia and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation from The Institutes®. He has spent his career in the Southeast working for both national reinsurers and primary carriers.
Prior to joining Berkley Re Solutions, Mike was a regional manager for a major carrier writing a large book of MGA produced specialty programs.
Kent Watson, CPCU, ARe
VP, Reinsurance Account Executive
Kent Watson is responsible for the production, underwriting, enhancement, and management of Casualty Treaty & Program Solutions. Prior to joining Berkley Re Solutions, Kent was Assistant Vice President of Programs and Fronting at a specialty carrier where his primary responsibilities included marketing for new programs and managing existing program relationships. Kent earned his BA from West Chester University and holds multiple designations from The Institutes®, including Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe).
Nick Rolfes
AVP, Account Executive
Nick Rolfes is responsible for the production, underwriting, enhancement, and management of Casualty Treaty & Program Solutions. Prior to joining Berkley Re Solutions, Nick was Assistant Vice President, Risk Management at a specialty carrier in the non-admitted space where his primary responsibilities included reinsurance treaty placement and risk management. Nick earned his degree in Risk Management & Insurance from Temple University’s Fox School of Business and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) designations from The Institutes®.
Charles Birckhead, FCAS
VP, Actuary
Charles Birckhead provides analysis and pricing support for Berkley Re Solutions as a member of the actuarial team. He has been in the reinsurance industry for fourteen years and is a FCAS with the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Lynn Bryant
Director, Project Management & Innovation
Lynn Bryant is responsible for marketing, product & project management for Berkley Re Solutions and Berkley Program Specialists. She finds creative solutions by developing software-based tools that enhance internal and external efficiencies.
Lynn’s insurance career is diverse, having worked for Utica Mutual in the 1980’s and then leading the Workers’ Compensation Claims Units for Alexander & Alexanders’ third party claims handling division, Alexsis, Inc. Lynn has been with Berkley Re Solutions since January 2003 and has an Arts Degree from Georgia State University.
Thomas Manos
VP, Claims
Thomas has over 30 years experience in the insurance industry. He began his career handling property and casualty claims in the primary market and has been with Berkley Re more than 20 years. Mr. Manos currently manages the claim group for BRS as well as BRAM facultative claims. Thomas received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University. He is also a graduate of Fordham University where he earned an MBA.
Heath Clark
AVP, Claims
Heath brings nearly 20 years of technical claims and management experience to our claim’s organization. A graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University, Heath started his career in Florida as a field adjuster handling all levels of property loss exposures. During his career Heath has managed teams of large loss field adjusters, CAT operations, and assisted his claims departments with data review and analysis. Heath’s focus is on working with the BRS teams’ custom turnkey solutions (Cyber and Workplace Violence) as well as assisting the entire claims organization where needed.
Lisandra Sanchez
AVP, Claims
Lisandra has over 20 years experience in the insurance industry. She manages both facultative and treaty reinsurance claims. She received her undergraduate degree from Temple University where she studied Risk Management and Insurance.
Jeff Cron
SVP, Solutions Leader
Jeffrey Cron, SVP & Solutions Leader, is a member of the Innovations & Solutions Team. Jeff’s responsibilities include the development and management of Custom Turnkey Solutions, tailoring of the developed solutions to meet specific customer needs and providing of logistical support for customer implementation and management strategies.
Jeff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from St. Joseph’s University and a MBA from New York University Stern School of Business in Finance and Strategy. Prior to joining Berkley Re Solutions, Jeff focused on commercial management liability for a national carrier.
Michelle Dicks
AVP, Product Development & Solutions Leader
Michelle is a member of the Products Team. She manages product development initiatives aimed at enhancing the company’s traditional marketplace offerings and expanding into new product areas.
Michelle earned a B.A. from Stanford and is a licensed surplus lines broker. Before joining Berkley Re Solutions, Michelle gained valuable skills working at an MGA and at two Japanese insurance companies.
