ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Sept. 20, 2016 – Monique Colizzi, who taught InVEST insurance courses at Charlotte High School (CHS) in Charlotte, Michigan, is the 2016 InVEST Teacher of the Year Award recipient. The program is a key driver to attract new talent to the insurance industry.
“Great teachers, like Monique Colizzi, are critical in the classroom and to the success of the InVEST program which provides much needed financial literacy education and is imperative for the success of the industry,” says Cindy Hower, InVEST board chair and president of Kellerman Insurance, an independent agency in Holton, Kansas. “Ms. Colizzi’s tireless dedication to her students and InVEST has resulted in an incredibly successful program at Charlotte High School. We are honored to present her with this year’s InVEST Program Teacher of the Year award.”
Colizzi has taught InVEST for five years at both Maple Valley High School and CHS, the only high school in the country piloting Epic (an agency management software). A popular teacher and community leader, she was nominated by the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents. Colizzi is president of the CHS Alumni Association, a member of the Insurance Advisory Committee at Olivet College, serves on the Vomberg Trumley Foundation board, Charlotte High School’s Equestrian Team coach, CHS’ SMILE CLUB (promoting happiness and a positive teen environment) founder, a 4-H leader in Eaton County, and active in the Italian American Club of Lansing. Colizzi earned a bachelor’s degree in business at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in educational technology at Western Michigan University.
“The future of the independent agency system is contingent on attracting new talent and InVEST is a key part of this development,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “Dedicated educators like Monique Colizzi are critical and we’re so grateful that they continue to train, inspire and teach the next generation of industry leaders.”
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, Virginia, 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. The high school curriculum is a business-education program that utilizes a hands-on approach which simulates an insurance agency and company operations to prepare students for various business careers and create more knowledgeable insurance consumers. At the college level, InVEST is an information-intensive curriculum of risk management and financial services. 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 Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or 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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