Date: Wednesday, May 11, 12:00 pm

Location: Zoom

Speaker:  Rita Williams-Bogar, MBA, CPCU, ChFC, President & CEO at Personal Development Solutions, LLC

Topic: Protecting Your Ethics

The environment in which we work and conduct business presents professionals with a number of potential ethical challenges. The remote environment has further compounded this fact. Join us to discuss a few of these challenges and come away with actions to mitigate them.

Please register here.

Greetings CPCUs!

I had the opportunity to attend the Global Insurance Symposium on April 19th-21st. The Symposium brought more than 400 industry professionals from around the globe to Des Moines. Participants from our local insurtech accelerators, BrokerTech Ventures and the Global Insurance Accelerator, were part of an InsurTech Expo on opening night of the Symposium. We heard informative sessions from a variety of speakers, including CEOs of several insurers with local operations and from the head of the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator. I even spotted a couple of our local CPCUs moderating discussions and breakout sessions. It was a wonderful event that really highlighted the knowledge and talent Iowa brings to the insurance industry. The Iowa Chapter was proud to be the WiFi sponsor for the Symposium this year. I’d highly encourage you to attend in future years if you are able!

The Chapter hosted a couple of great events during April. The Global Insurance Accelerator joined us for our monthly chapter meeting to share about their founding and mission. They also brought Adjust Square, a member of the current cohort, along to share their story. I always find it fascinating to hear what led founders to take a leap and start their company. 

On Earth Day, a group of chapter members braved the drizzly weather to help clean up the grounds at Living History Farms. Following the volunteer clean up event we enjoyed a social hour at the Chicken Coop in Urbandale. Thanks to all of you who were able to join us for a fun afternoon of service and networking.

I hope to see some of you online for our May meeting which will be a virtual meeting with Rita Williams-Bogar on the topic of ethics. While we’re heading into a break from chapter meetings for the summer months, keep an eye on our social media feeds. There’s likely to be a summer social event during the break!

Sara VanWyk

Iowa CPCU Society Chapter President

Melanie Carlson has been promoted to Product Manager at Milliman.

Christopher Huszar has been promoted to Specialist, Product E&S/Specialty at Nationwide.

Chris Murphy has been appointed to the to the board of directors for the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame.

Have an accomplishment, promotion or award you'd like to share with your fellow CPCUs? Email them to [email protected].

Darren Beverage, CPCU

Agency Field Sales Leader

State Farm

My name is Darren Beverage and I’m the Agency Field Sales Leader for State Farm with responsibility for the Des Moines/Ames Metro Area. My primary responsibilities are to grow the market and to recruit/develop our agency force.

I was born and raised in Bloomington, IL and I relocated to Iowa in 2004 to attend Drake University. After graduating from Drake, I worked as an agency team member in Des Moines and as an independent contractor agent in Indianola, IA. I assumed my current role in 2018.

I’m a huge believer in continuing education--in addition to the CPCU, I’ve earned the ChFC, CLU, RICP, ChSNC, and LTCP designations. I’m also currently pursuing a graduate degree from the University of Illinois.

My wife, two daughters, and I make our home in Carlisle, IA. We love boating and spend as much time as possible at Sun Valley Lake in Southern Iowa!

Name: Carl Bump

Hometown: Des Moines, IA

Alma Mater: Wartburg College, Waverly, IA

Employer: Nationwide Insurance

Title:  Sr Consultant Product Development – E & S Specialty



Insurance Designations: CPCU, ARM

Area of Study: Political Science and Psychology. I also have a Master’s in Public Administration from Drake University

How long have you been a member of CPCU? 14 years

How has your involvement with CPCU influenced your career? CPCU gave me the foundation to my insurance career in product development. The technical insurance foundation it provided gave me the knowledge to be able to dive further into the lines of businesses and to understand the coverage provided. This allows me to create or revise forms to provide coverages for all types of risks.

What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know? When I was a senior in high school, I performed in a community theater production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” I played one of the brothers.

What’s the last book you read (personal or professional)? Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View

Words you live by: “Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Focus on the things you can control. Attitude, effort, focus – these are the things we can control.” Tim Tebow

The 2022 Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, October 18 at The Meadows at Prairie Meadows in Altoona. Those of you in attendance at last year’s event know what an awesome evening it was honoring outstanding members of the insurance industry as well recognizing our scholarship recipients from Drake University and the University of Iowa. We need your help to continue this tradition.

Please consider nominating a distinguished professional who has made an impact on the insurance industry in Iowa. Nominations for 2022 will be accepted through June 30 at: https://iihof.org/hall-of-fame/nominations/. The list of past inductees – many of whom are Iowa CPCU members – can be found at https://iihof.org/hall-of-fame/past-inductees/.

Thank you for your support of the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame. For more information, contact Chris Murphy at [email protected] or Jennie LeGates at [email protected].