Jennifer L. Gillespie, FSA 2000, MAAA

Vice President of Underwriting, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, St Paul, MN

Brief description of the type of work you currently do:

I am in charge of Underwriting for all of our Commercial Business–Individual, Small Group, Large Group, Local Self Insured, and National Employers. My team and I evaluate risk and act as the "go–betweens" for Actuarial and Sales.

Primary Area of Practice:

Health Benefit Systems

Other Areas of Practice/Interests:

General Management, Managed Care

Professional Background:

• 20+ years as a Health Insurance Actuary–at BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota and Fortis Benefits (now known as Assurant).

Volunteer Experience:

• Served three years on the Health Section Council–including terms as Chair and Vice Chair.
• Served three years on the Management and Personal Development Section Council–including terms as Chair and Vice Chair.
• Published articles in The Actuary, HealthWatch, and The Stepping Stone.
• Participated in the Academy's annual educational "hill visits".
• Worked with the SOA staff on projects like: Untapped Opportunities for Actuaries in Health, the Actuarial Competency Framework, and Image of the Actuary.
• Presented during or moderated for numerous sessions at both the Spring and Annual SOA meetings.

Vision Statement:

I think one of the major challenges facing the actuarial profession is competition from professionals with other credentials (MBAs, PhDs in statistics, etc). While there are contributions that many people with different backgrounds can make, we need to be careful not to casually cede opportunities to others. I think the SOA has been addressing this issue from several angles but we need to stay alert. I don't believe that we can ever consider this a "project" that is "finished". We need to keep our contributions in front of the press, keep polishing our image, keep enhancing our education. The current economic crisis may present an opportunity to demonstrate ways that looking at risk from an actuarial perspective would have helped. The crisis could also hurt our positioning if employers and potential clients do not view that we've learned enough from or adapted enough to all the changes in the economic environment. Our basic and continuing education programs need to support us–adapting quickly and helping us to have the tools to be flexible thinkers. We need to challenge ourselves and our colleagues to be active in policy debates and to be visible in other influential arenas. The SOA has many initiatives underway which address this challenge. As a Board member, I would feel compelled to remember WHY the initiatives were begun in the first place and continue to challenge myself and others about whether they are still the most effective way of tackling the challenge or whether at any point we need to change course.