2021 Emerging Leader Award Recipients

Your votes are in, and we have our three Emerging Leader Award Recipients! Congratulations to our 2021 recipients: Austin Bockwinkel, Julianne McAdams, and Jeremy Zacharias. Each recipient provided a statement on what receiving this award means to them. These are included below, along with the bios and industry experience of each emerging leader.

Thank you to all the nominees and to everyone who voted, and congratulations again to our three award recipients!

Austin Bockwinkel of Hauser

Austin Bockwinkel serves as Managing Director of Hausers Portfolio Solutions team. Hauser is a top-100 brokerage firm and the only brokerage in the country with an exclusive focus on Private Equity and M&A. Austin owns relationship development and solution delivery for all of Hausers Private Equity clients and their respective portfolio companies across all business segments including Property & Casualty, Financial Lines, Employee Benefits and Retirement.

Austins area of technical expertise is financial lines, including cyber. Most recently, Austin led Hausers Financial & Professional Risk Team and worked with our clients to identify, mitigate and transfer a wide range of specialty risks such as Cyber, Professional Liability / Errors & Omissions and Management Liability.

Prior to joining Hauser in 2016, Austin spent several years with Aons Cyber Risk Solutions team and Aons Financial Services Group. His responsibilities during his tenure at Aon included co-leading Aons national broking team specializing in the placement of middle market Cyber and Errors and Omissions Insurance and placement of Private Company Management Liability Insurance.

I am humbled and deeply grateful to the PLUS staff and to my industry peers for selecting me as a PLUS Emerging Leader. I would like to recognize my fellow award recipients and those nominated for this years award! Congratulations. While it is great to be recognized individually, this award is a testament to the many wonderful leaders, mentors, coworkers and peers that I have had an opportunity to learn from over the course of my career. This serves as another reminder for me on the importance of paying it forward. I hope to positively influence as many people and outcomes as possible.

Julianne McAdams of Lexington Specialty Insurance Agency, Inc. (an AIG Company)

Julianne has been in the insurance industry for 15 years. Most recently within Lexington’s newly formed Professional Liability division, LexPro, where she manages the South/West zone. She was previously with Validus Specialty from 2018 to 2021 and helped launch the Commercial D&O team there prior to the acquisition by AIG. She was also the South Team Lead for Private/Non-Profit D&O at Zurich Insurance from 2013 to 2018. This is Julianne’s second time at AIG; from 2006 to 2012, she served as a Senior Underwriter in the Aviation division in both Atlanta and London.

It’s an honor to even be nominated and I’m so grateful to be a recipient for this award. I’m lucky to be surrounded by such strong leaders and influential people in this business. I can only hope that one day I will be able to pass along some of the knowledge and expertise I’ve gained in this industry over the past 15 years. Thank you!

Jeremy Zacharias of Marshall Dennehey

Jeremy is a member of the Professional Liability Department of Marshall Dennehey where the focus of his practice is representing and defending attorneys, accountants, insurance producers, corporate directors and officers, and other licensed professionals. Jeremy also represents financial institutions, among other clients, in the defense of individual and class action lawsuits arising from claims under the FDCPA.

Jeremy is an active member of PLUS wherein he achieved his RPLU designation and is an alumni member of the Leadership and Mentoring Program (LAMP). Through PLUS, he also completed training at PLUS University and served as a member of a PLUS task force to revitalize the curriculum of PLUS University to address current trends in the professional liability insurance marketplace. Jeremy is also an active member of Future PLUS and serves as Vice-Chair of the Future PLUS Leadership Committee. In addition, he currently leads a Future PLUS subcommittee task force focused on developing the Future PLUS mentorship program. Jeremy has also served on the PLUS Conference Content Committee for the past two years. 

In spring 2014, Jeremy earned his juris doctor from the Rutgers University School of Law, graduating cum laude and in the top 15 percent of his class.  In 2011, Jeremy earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a co-concentration in Finance and Business Law, graduating magna cum laude from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.

I am truly honored to be selected as one of the 2021 Recipients of the PLUS Emerging Leader Award. This recognition means so much to me, both professionally and personally, and I would not be here right now without the help, mentorship and guidance of many people, including my mentors and colleagues at Marshall Dennehey and my family. Additionally, many thanks to Robbie Thompson and Erin Stephens for their commitment to the future of education, engagement, networking and diversity in the professional liability industry.

The PLUS Emerging Leader Award does not reflect anything I did, but reflects the community around me, including everyone involved in the Future PLUS Leadership Committee, especially the subcommittee tasked with developing our pilot mentorship program. This award additionally reflects the education component provided by PLUS, including the RPLU program and PLUS University.

With the tools provided by PLUS, I am a better advocate for my clients and a better source of knowledge to the insurance professionals I have the great fortune of working with daily. Thank you all so very much.