Leader's Edge A Council Platform

In this edition of the Politics & Risk podcast, The Council’s government affairs team is onsite at the Employee Benefits Leadership Forum (EBLF) with Council VP of health policy & strategy Katie King. King oversees the Council of Employee Benefits Executives’ agenda and reveals new insights presented to the group by McKinsey, including findings from McKinsey’s brand new 2024 employer survey. The team also discusses what potential federal budget and tax code decisions could mean for employer-sponsored insurance next year.

Blake Watts, channel partnerships leader for Ochsner Health, has a busy agenda for The Council’s Employee Benefits Leadership Forum [EBLF] this year.
Speaking with Leader’s Edge on the first day of the meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Watts said he was looking forward to conversations with his peers on healthcare point solutions and partnering with the consulting community.

In this podcast, Watts dives into “point solution fatigue” and research that has thrown the value of these services in healthcare into question. He also discusses Ochsner’s focus on value-based care and addressing health challenges in the company’s home state of Louisiana, among other topics.

In this episode we meet Belen Tokarski, President and COO of Mylo.
Tokarski shares inspirational stories of family members who inspire her, how she fell into the insurance industry. And why she’s sticking around.

In the latest episode of Politics & Risk from The Council’s government affairs team, SVP Joel Kopperud interviews Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who has represented Colorado’s 7th Congressional District since 2023.
Having served in the Colorado state legislature for a decade prior to becoming a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Pettersen shares the top issues for Coloradans, including housing and climate change.
As a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Pettersen
also dives deep into the systematic issues that Congress faces when getting work done.

This Spring has seen protests pop up on college campuses all over America.

As a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, student organizations have been demanding action from their universities to divest from Israel. Meanwhile counter protests have also occurred. While some protests have stayed peaceful, others have broken out in violence. Lucy Straker, Focus Group Leader of Political Violence & Deadly Weapons Protection at Beazley, and Matthew Westhoff, Head of North American Commercial Property at Beazley discuss strike, riot and civil commotion policies (SRCC). Additionality they share the risks associated with the upcoming 2024 election and current heightened political climate.

A conversation with GameStop’s Co-founder

Video games, eccentric personalities and past presidential candidates have all made their way through Gary Kusin's career.

The entrepreneur and business mentor is the former CEO of FedEx Office and co-founded the company now known as GameStop. Kusin shares how he started the first large-scale video game retailer, why GameStop surged in the financial market during the meme stock craze of 2021, and how a summer internship at an insurance company changed his outlook on leadership and life. We spoke with Kusin ahead of the April 30 publication of his new book, Always Learning.