2025 Ones To Watch - Industry Leaders:
Christine Chipurnoi, USI Insurance Services

“I’ve been working closely with Christine at USI for the past 18 months, in my 30+ years of experience, Christine is one of the best industry leaders I have worked with, a gentle powerhouse. She is extremely knowledgeable, skilled, and honest. She pushes to obtain the best results for clients, seeks solutions. She has a thirst for knowledge, always learning, and teaching others. She is incredibly supportive to those she works with, both professionally and personally. Christine leads by example, with the utmost integrity. I am honored to work so closely with her.” - JoAna Dowd, Commercial Lines Team Leader, USI. 

Recent goal and impact: 

A recent goal was to identify and train a successor. A younger woman on the team was promoted to the position of “Producing Account Executive.” She is assuming the role and working hard to fulfill the requirements and expectations of the new position. USI is benefitting tremendously from this shift. When Christine retires, there will be no loss of continuity and the clients will not experience a reduction in service or lack of support.

Best advice for new leaders: 

Become an expert/scholar in your role by continual learning. Through that - a problem solver/advisor. 

Turning problems into opportunities:

Examples - Consulted major client transitioning from owner/developer to 3^rd party GC. Facilitated complete coverage during & after complex transformation. Client in renewal faced a 30+ % premium increase in property insurance for a large NY portfolio. In a difficult insurance market, she got premiums reduced to single digit increase while increasing coverage from $600 million to $1 billion. Client with a high catastrophic exposed portfolio in coastal New Orleans faced a significant property and wind increase. Restructured with new markets and existing lines for a 5% rate reduction and better coverage.

Best books, podcasts, or apps for aspiring leaders:

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Nell Scovell & Sheryl Sandberg HBR IdeaCast Elevate.

Sharing knowledge and expertise:

In her office in the past two years, eight women were hired as part of her 10 member team. Though they are not direct reports, Chipurnoi provides the benefit of her experience to assist the women in their career growth. On a daily basis, she provides thoughtful guidance and offers support to help them perform their duties and navigate the road to success. Chipurnoi holds monthly scheduled calls to assist new employees and is an “on call” ready resource to aid in their transition and success.

Giving Back:

Chipurnoi a member of the mentorship committee for WX and CREW Network and she is currently a mentor within the CREW Network, In her leadership roles with industry organizations, she routinely reaches out to younger women (and men) to listen to their ideas, thoughts, and goals. As she continues the conversation, she provides the benefit of her background and experience to help them along the road to success. When those people with whom she had contact circle back to thank her for something that she said or did that made a difference, the impact of her actions hits home.

Who was/is your role model and/or leadership mentor? Judy Robinson, one of the first women in NYC to own and operate a large commercial insurance brokerage.