Reinsurance Association of America Elects Officers for 2023–2024 Year

The Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) has elected Justin O'Keefe, senior vice president and chief underwriting officer—North America and Bermuda at RenaissanceRe, chair of the RAA's board of directors.

Jim Williamson, executive vice president, group chief operating officer, and head of the reinsurance division for Everest Re Group, Ltd., was elected vice chair, and Jon Colello, CEO of property-casualty Americas, PartnerRe, was elected secretary-treasurer.

Mr. O'Keefe joined RenaissanceRe in 2004 and has held a series of senior underwriting roles, including chief underwriting officer of RenaissanceRe's global property segment, before assuming his current position in 2023. Mr. O'Keefe also serves on the boards of Top Layer Reinsurance Ltd., DaVinci Reinsurance Ltd., and Vermeer Reinsurance Ltd. and is involved with multiple other insurance and reinsurance trade organizations.

Mr. O'Keefe earned a bachelor of science in risk management and insurance from St. Cloud State University, where he sits on the advisory council of the Herberger Business School.

At Everest Re Group, Mr. Williamson is responsible for advancing underwriting excellence, digital transformation, innovation, operational efficiency, and data and analytics capabilities across the group and for leading the company's reinsurance division. Prior to joining Everest, Mr. Williamson served as the division president of North America small business at Chubb, where he was responsible for the growth and profitability of Chubb's small and lower mid-market portfolio. Prior to Chubb, he held various senior roles at The Hartford.

Mr. Williamson earned a bachelor of science from Bryant College and a master of business administration in operations from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Colello is a member of PartnerRe's executive leadership team and has executive responsibility for leading PartnerRe's property-casualty business in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and for the company's health business in the United States. Mr. Colello has extensive reinsurance experience and has spent the entirety of his 21-year career in the industry, most recently as president, North America, at AXIS Re in the United States.

Mr. Colello holds a master of business administration from New York University's Stern School of Business and a bachelor of science in business from the University of Vermont.