ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Dec. 4, 2014 – InVEST, the insurance industry’s premier classroom-to-career education program, is pleased to announce that Clarissa A. Preston, CIC, APIR, MBA, has joined its national board. Preston is a government affairs advisor with Adams and Reese LLP, and works from their Baton Rouge, Louisiana office. She also serves on the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA) board of directors and as Louisiana Surplus Line Association executive director.
InVEST recently amended its by-laws to add an industry group representative to its board. This effort will further strengthen InVEST as a unified national advocacy platform for sourcing new employees for the insurance industry. NAAIA has worked with InVEST since 2011 and has incorporated InVEST into its strategic goals for the future. Preston will serve as the NAAIA representative on the board.
“InVEST is pleased to announce that Clarissa Preston has joined its board of directors as the first industry group representative on the board,” says Robert G. Slocum, CPCU, CIC, InVEST board chair and president of The Slocum Agency, Inc., an independent agency in Warwick, Rhode Island. “Clarissa brings almost 20 years of experience in multiple disciplines to the table and has long been a champion in the industry for InVEST. We look forward to continuing to work with her and draw from her expertise.”
In her 17 years of insurance experience, Preston has worked as a regulator, as an insurance company producer and as a consumer advocate. She has both regulatory and industry-recognized insurance designations and is a licensed multi-line insurance producer. Preston regularly makes presentations to agents and companies on insurance issues and related topics; teaches continuing education courses; and presents insurance coverage and claims programs to organizations as part of community outreach.
“InVEST is vitally important for the future of the independent agency system and the insurance industry as a whole,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) president & CEO. “Educators, volunteers, agents and industry leaders, like Clarissa Preston, are key to the success of this program as it continues to grow and expand into more schools. We applaud and thank her for her commitment to this critical program.”
Preston is the former head of the Office of Consumer Advocacy for the Louisiana Department of Insurance, where she was the first Deputy Commissioner appointed to this position after its creation by the state’s Joint House and Senate Insurance Committees in 2007. She is active in her community and her numerous projects and associations include: serving as a leader of the Kiwanis Club of South Baton Rouge and as a member of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board hearing committee. She was most recently recognized for her leadership and service as she was awarded the 2014 Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Women of Excellence Award in Business. Preston earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, Baton Rouge Campus.
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, InVEST benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons.
Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry. Each year, the program prepares thousands of students for insurance-related careers with a hands-on curriculum taught in high schools, adult education centers and colleges. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of the basics needed to pursue careers in the insurance industry. For more information, go to www.investprogram.org.
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of approximately a quarter of a million agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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