Anna Daley, AVP, Data and Application Security at Travelers, took risks to find her place in the world, then found her career home protecting others from risk.
When Anna immigrated from Poland at age 20, she put herself through college by waiting tables. “America was seen as a place where opportunities are endless, and all you need to do is work hard and persevere to be successful in life and have a bright future.”
Although Anna had never seen a computer growing up in Poland, she instantly discovered joy in technology and found great reward in writing programs that helped people do their jobs. She was hired to write a data loss prevention program for a friend’s company – her first foray into cybersecurity. She took to it instantly, and from there, Anna was hired to create the entire security program for a local start-up company.
When Anna joined Travelers in claim – she has never looked back. In fact, she only wishes she had found Travelers sooner.
“I love the work I do. We are using tech to simplify our cybersecurity, making it easier for people to do their jobs. And I love that Travelers is a very caring company, generously giving to the community and invested in employees’ growth and happiness. Diversity is highly valued and supported here, and Travelers puts a lot of energy into developing and promoting women.”
After creating and implementing a risk and security program for a large Travelers business unit, including a multi-year strategy, she went all-in, earning a master’s degree in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity is what truly captured her interest, and her wealth of IT knowledge gave her a unique advantage in understanding and avoiding cybersecurity pitfalls. Fully understanding risks requires an understanding of how web applications are built, how information travels through systems, and how everything is connected and works together.
“Cybersecurity and technology are evolving at a rapid pace. It’s really intriguing to me – there is always something exciting to learn about. Travelers enables my professional development by providing the latest technologies and tools, whether it is for application development or security concepts.”
As a leader in Travelers’ Cybersecurity team, Anna is implementing new cutting-edge product development tools that will be used by the entire engineering community to both identify and repair vulnerabilities while simplifying the engineering experience.
“It’s a great opportunity to make an impact on a large scale, on something very important: preventing security issues. It feels wonderful to give people a tool that they can use every day, to make sure that the product is sound from the time they start writing the code to the time they push it to production.”
As Travelers transitions more technology to the cloud, enhancing its service offerings, Anna is making sure that its systems and information remain secure.
“The cloud brings in new areas of focus from a security perspective, but also provides a powerful functionality.”
To supplement her on-the-job learning, Anna studies tech trends in her spare time and stays closely connected with peers.
She is also an active member of T200, a national community of women in tech that was co-founded by Mojgan Lefebvre, EVP and Chief Technology & Operations Officer at Travelers.
“It is amazing to work with a team of truly talented individuals who gel together – our team is really close. We genuinely like working with one another, and there’s a level of professional comfort that we have with each other. We can have transparent discussions, give each other feedback and ultimately come up with the best solutions.”
Anna’s family – her husband and two children – enjoy “outdoorsy” activities year-round; especially snowmobiling, skiing and hiking, which means lots of vacation time in Vermont. You’ll also find Anna outdoors at home, tending to the backyard garden oasis she created – where there are no risks; only peace, tranquility and relaxation and a world away from it all.
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Travelers is home to more than 1,000 veterans and former service members in various roles directly related to the skills and knowledge gained during their military careers. This blog is a part of a series that showcases our military employees and their career stories.
As U.S. Navy veteran Zack Maxey approached the end of his 20-year military career, he participated in two veteran programs that afforded him the time and the stability to establish connections and gain valuable civilian work experience. This ultimately led him to employment at Travelers.
Read on to discover how Zack, now a Business Systems Analyst, navigated his transition and the advice he offers those who are approaching or beginning the process of bridging the gap between military service and civilian work.
What is your military background?
“I served just over 20 years in the U.S. Navy as an Aircrew Survival Equipmentman, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. Throughout my career, I worked on aircraft and personnel-mounted survival gear for five type/model/series aircraft across three platforms at six different duty stations. Additionally, I completed six deployments on aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.”
Describe your current role at Travelers and how the work of you and your team answers the Travelers Promise.
“I am a Business Systems Analyst, currently supporting an Agile team, aligned to the Work Orchestration Circle within the Business Capabilities Office. We deliver key functionality in task management and support to customers, stakeholders and end users, while communicating with business units to ensure a smooth and effective product flow throughout the lifecycle.”
What are some of the skills that you gained in the military that continue to help you in your role at Travelers?
“Some of the easy answers are communication, time management, adaptability, and accountability, but there are many others. Collaboration is one. The military includes people from vastly different backgrounds working closely together. The ability to collaborate effectively, while still accomplishing the larger mission is vital in the military and in any workplace.
Another one is attention-to-detail. Understanding and following instructions and procedures we bring an added dynamic to the team.”
Why do you think insurance is a good career path following military service?
“Insurance is a good career path following the military for many reasons. It offers stability and great benefits for people and their families. Despite being perceived as a ‘hard pivot,’ there are numerous transferable skills from the military to the insurance industry, making the transition smoother.”
Describe your transition from military to civilian workforce.
“During my retirement process, I received approval to enrol in the Department of Defense (DoD) SkillBridge program. The program, designed to facilitate gap coverage as service members transition, allows them to partner with approved host companies for their last six months of active-duty service. It is a win-win because the military member continues to receive their normal pay and health benefits while getting acclimated with a host company to determine if it’s a good career fit. After I was approved for SkillBridge, I enrolled in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Program Office for the Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) Corporate Fellowship Program.”
What’s the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program?
“The Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program partners with transitioning service members through the DoD Skillbridge program, it expands the resources available to members during the separation process. They offer services such as resume writing, interview preparation and assistance in connecting service members with potential host companies in the civilian sector as they prepare to separate.”
How did you learn about working at Travelers and land on a Travelers fellowship role?
“During the screening process, HOH does a mass resume release to potential host companies. I was contacted by the head military recruiter at Travelers who wanted to discuss the possibility of partnering up with me. His first question to me was, “Have you ever considered working in the insurance industry, and what do you know about Travelers?”
Truthfully, I hadn’t considered it. Given my training and experience, I thought that I would end up working as a civilian in the defense industry, but my wife and I knew we wanted to retire to Connecticut, so learning more about Travelers opportunities made sense.
My Travelers recruiter really went above and beyond for me. He reviewed my resume, discussed what I hoped to gain from my second career and then provided me a high-level overview of various positions within the company. I then interviewed with three different Travelers departments to get an idea of what would be interesting and beneficial to my career.”
What’s working at Travelers like? Describe the workplace culture.
Everyone that I have encountered at Travelers, both during my fellowship and since becoming a full-time employee generally cares about the personal well-being of the people at work. There seems to be a collective understanding that we are all important and that we play a part in a much bigger system, but it begins and ends with the individual and how they are feeling.
From wellness programs to financial benefits and adequate time off, people in managerial roles seem to be concerned with the people instead of the bottom-line.
What is your favorite part about working at Travelers?
“The work life balance. This is something that all service members understand and probably seek when it comes to employment after the military. It was extremely high on my list of what I valued when starting another career, and Travelers has more than delivered. Starting with the hybrid work schedule and resources afforded to employees and ending with engaged and caring leadership, this company has gone above and beyond to help me realize what I’ve always known in the back of my mind: that work life balance is an important aspect of professional life.
Additionally, Travelers places a high value on the skills and determination acquired through military service. Our leaders recognize and celebrate the distinct perspectives that veterans bring, appreciating their invaluable contributions to the team.”
What advice would you give to transitioning or currently serving military members thinking about their next career?
“Start planning early. The process to join the military took a lot of paperwork, and leaving the military can seem just as daunting. Fortunately, you can have the time to do it all, but you have to plan ahead. Different branches may have different requirements for members that are separating, but with advanced planning, identifying what needs to happen and working to align your schedule with any personal goals will make the entire process (and all the paperwork, screenings, and physicals) that much easier.”
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Ever-evolving, innovating and growing, Travelers has opened a new office space in Midtown Atlanta’s Technology Square. The new location will serve as a location for our company’s expanding technology organization, offering new career opportunities in engineering, artificial intelligence and data science, among others.
“Home to some of the most prestigious engineering colleges and universities, Atlanta was a natural choice for our new office,” said Mojgan Lefebvre, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology & Operations Officer at Travelers. “We have had a substantial presence in Georgia for a number of years, and we look forward to creating an even stronger connection in the community by tapping into the wealth of tech talent in the region.”
Travelers has steadily increased its investment in strategic technology initiatives in recent years, with the goal of advancing its innovation priorities: extending its advantage in risk expertise; providing great experiences for customers, distribution partners and employees; and optimizing productivity and efficiency.
The new office, called Travelers Tech – Atlanta, will be located within the Coda building, a 645,000-square-foot facility that includes both Georgia Tech researchers and labs, as well as private corporate offices and coworking space.
“As a hub for innovation, Georgia is excited to welcome Travelers to Midtown Atlanta and looks forward to their impact working alongside our top-ranked higher education institutions,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. “We’re proud to be the number one state for business, and will keep working to bring projects such as this to our communities.”
With a focus on creating customer-centric and digital-first solutions, the Travelers Tech team supports a culture that fosters innovation, design thinking and an agile mindset. Travelers has received several awards for its efforts, including being named twice to the CIO 100 list and receiving three Gartner Eye on Innovation Awards. Read more about technology at Travelers.
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The Travelers Enterprise Data & Analytics (ED&A) team recently held its ninth-annual Predictive Modeling Competition with record participation, yielding a winning model poised to enhance the understanding of auto bodily injury trends over time.
Hosted by Business Insurance (BI), the competition challenged teams to develop predictive models using internal policy-level and claim-level data. These models were aimed at providing accurate predictions and explanations to elucidate the drivers of trends within the business.
Kevin Zech, Senior Director and Data Scientist for BI, emphasized that the Modeling Competition isn’t just for data scientists.
“It’s a great learning experience for predictive modeling concepts, but also an excellent way to keep on top of the leading tools and technology in the industry,” he said.
Participants were given structured access to necessary tools and technologies, including gitlab repositories, clean datasets and cloud resources, enabling them to focus on the core task of building and refining models.
Claiming the top spot was team “import pandas as pd,” a nod to programming language Python. Consisting of Hansook Choi and Ben Veasey from ED&A, along with Will Duke from Claim, the team’s model identified key words and patterns indicative of complex and often costly claims.
Ben Veasey, Senior Associate Data Scientist with ED&A, highlighted the team’s approach of simplifying their model for easier optimization.
“We focused on delving into the data and crafting features that could better understand and rectify the data, leading to improved prediction of claim payouts,” he explained.
Despite being new to analyzing Claim Notes data, the team leveraged their experience in processing text data and building machine learning models to develop an automated, quantitative method for identifying claim issues.
Elvis Martinez, Director & Data Scientist for Personal Insurance, celebrated winning third place alongside fellow Take it EC teammate High Seng Chai. “The real win for me is the opportunity to collaborate outside my usual scope,” Elvis remarked. “Working with individuals like Chai allows me to learn from diverse ideas and approaches.”
The Predictive Modeling Competition is one of many initiatives hosted by Travelers to foster collaboration and innovation among employees to solve real-world business challenges. Over the years, outcomes from such events have influenced various products and procedures benefiting customers, employees and the insurance industry at large.
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Travelers recently announced its Working Parents/Caregivers & Allies Diversity Network (WPCADN) as one of its newest diversity networks available to employees.
The Working Parents/Caregivers & Allies Diversity Network (WPCADN) began in 2020 as an employee resource group and has now expanded to provide a forum for amplifying the resources and benefits available to employees who balance their professional roles with parenting, caregiving or both, and for connecting with colleagues in similar life situations.
Lisa Melillo, Group General Counsel of Personal Insurance at Travelers, currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the Working Parents/Caregivers & Allies Diversity Network.
“What we hear from our members is that this is really a community,” Melillo said, “It’s a safe space where people feel as though they can share their unique challenges that they’re going through with their parenting and caregiving responsibilities and know that they’ve got a village behind them that’s facing similar issues.”
The group holds monthly caregiver meetings, a monthly peer-to-peer support group for parents of LGBTQ+ youth as well as special topic speaker events and collaborative events with other diversity networks at Travelers.
“Our members really believe that our events are a combination of educational opportunities to learn about a specific topic and to understand it more deeply so that it can help them deal with their personal situation,” Melillo said.
The group was announced as a formal diversity network in the second half of 2023 and has grown to have almost 2,200 members as of spring 2024.
“We’ve created a really amazing group,” Melillo said, “Whether it’s quick recipes or places to get cheaper diapers or helping out with some of the baby formula shortages, they’ve found a place where they can feel as though they’re not going through things alone.”
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The holidays have ended, winter is ramping up and we only see the sun for a short time each day. Because of all that and more, the beginning of the year is a great time to make new goals for your wellbeing.
Instead of trying to make a change, our Europe Mental Health First Aiders recommend adding something new to your routine and life to boost your wellbeing and outlook on the year ahead. If you are looking for inspiration, members of our team shared activities that lifted their spirits. Perhaps their experiences may motivate you to try something new.
Alexa J.: “Learn a new language”
“I’ve been doing an evening course in French – it has been superbe! French was a subject I really enjoyed at school and I have always regretted not studying it further. I love the language, and although we don’t travel there often, I really wanted to be able to understand and converse more when we are there. After thinking about it for 25 years, I took the plunge and signed myself up for a virtual evening class. It’s been a lot harder than I thought, but I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Mike L.: “Return to an old hobby”
“As Monday night is the only weeknight that I am at home, I decided that I would get back into cycling. Almost every Monday, I get out on my bike with my best mate, and we cycle for 15 miles along the Trans Pennine Trail to Warrington. Then we sit in a pub, have one pint, talk about football and cycle home. It’s particularly brutal weather at this time of the year, but I love it.”
Helen W.: “Make new connections with like-minded people”
“I joined a crime book club last year, which has been lots of fun and got me back into reading fiction. We meet monthly to eat together and discuss a book. The subject matter might be a bit gruesome, but it’s been great meeting other crime fiction fans. Our latest book had a great twist, and next month we are getting a local crime author to come and do a Q&A with us.”
Antony S.: “Celebrate the small wins”
“Last year, I was dealing with some difficult issues with my parents and my son. I worked on being kind to myself and trying to keep challenges in perspective so that they didn’t overwhelm me. Something I found really helpful was enjoying simple pleasures and small wins when I got the opportunity, such as getting my dad out of the house for the first time in months or celebrating my son getting a ‘Shining Star’ award from college.”
Eloise G.: “Travel to a new destination or learn about one”
“My family hadn’t been abroad since before the pandemic, so we decided to go to a French island called Noirmoutier-en-l’Île in August. Even though we didn’t travel far, it felt surprisingly exotic, with beautiful beaches, lovely towns and lots of salt flats. Because the island is so flat, it is great for cycling around, which was a real highlight. My children (aged 11 and 13) absolutely loved it – especially going to the boulangerie every day to buy baguettes and getting a chance to try out their ‘school French’ in real life!”
Travelers Mental Health First Aiders are fellow employees who are professionally trained to provide support to colleagues that may need it. They are knowledgeable about Travelers Europe networks and benefits and can help guide employees as needed. They also offer general education and events to encourage us all to make our wellbeing a priority.
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The Latin “dūcimus,” which means “we lead, we guide,” is Andrew Palmer’s mantra.
“Dūcimus” became part of Andrew’s life when he served in the Canadian Armed Forces – it was his infantry company’s slogan. Over his eight years in the “Forces armées canadiennes,” he worked on developing his leadership skills.
Now, at Travelers, he is free to let his “dūcimus” spirit shine at work – leading, networking and building people up every day. The ability to put his military experience into practice at work (he’s a member of the Military/Veterans & Allies Diversity Network), and Travelers’ strong focus on attracting and retaining veterans, brought Andrew to Travelers nearly two years ago.
As he considered the next step in his career back then, Andrew had a wide range of options, given his military experience and 20 years in the financial, insurance, technology and government sectors.
“What really made me choose Travelers was finding a great opportunity at a world-class organization that has a really strong military experience background. Knowing about the strong military community here, I felt that Travelers aligned with my ethics and experience. Military people stick together.”
As Business Information Security Officer/Technology Risk Director, Andrew says, “My role is to monitor, guide and protect Travelers Canada’s cybersecurity posture. New technology-focused regulations come through me as well. It’s a big role – I manage impacts in Canada from a cybersecurity side, a technology risk side and a technology business continuity side.” Andrew addresses both external and internal risks, assessing vendors and ensuring that employees are adhering to the right controls and processes.
“This role is always evolving. There’s no such thing as a quiet day, as there’s always something new happening within the cybersecurity industry.”
One of Andrew’s favorite moments at Travelers was participating in a diversity and inclusion talk at the Canadian Leadership Conference. He also cherishes the ongoing opportunity to serve as a cybersecurity subject matter expert for the Canada Senior Leadership Team.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie surrounding my role – not just within Travelers, but externally, working with cybersecurity centers of excellence and industry experts, working out what’s happening and creating valuable extensive networks.”
Outside of the office, Andrew is into animation, video games, indulging his “foodie” side at new restaurants, experiencing different cultures through travel (he recently vacationed in Greece) and comedy. He volunteers with non-profits, including an organization focused on ethical IT guidelines, and credits the military for instilling in him the desire to give back to the community.
Another way Andrew gives back is by inspiring and coaching colleagues to become the best version of themselves. “On my team, we work together to accomplish greatness together. I always want to improve and support others. Seeing my team members being successful? That’s what makes me happy.”
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By Lynn Simon-Thomas
Manager, Diversity Engagement
Talent Acquisition
So, you’ve done everything right. You built relationships through networking, you interviewed, and you were offered the position. That’s great!
It’s real. You did it! Now what?
As you begin your new role, it’s extremely important that you take time to truly understand your responsibilities and determine how you’ll add value to your new team. Below are four tips that can help you navigate your new role and help you be successful.
You may have heard the phrase, “No man is an island,” or “There’s no ‘i’ in ‘team’.” As cliché as they may sound, they’re both relevant to a new role, as well as your career.
While you will be responsible for completing your assignments in your new role, you will undoubtedly need assistance from others – your manager, co-workers, mentors – to be successful. Strong relationships in your professional life, or any other aspect of life, are built on mutual respect and clear communication. Never be afraid to put in the work necessary to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
Having a mentor, or mentors, can significantly improve your ability to be successful, not just in a new role, but in your career. A mentor should be someone with whom you would feel comfortable sharing your thoughts, concerns, dreams, and goals. Candid conversations about what is and isn’t going well can be extremely beneficial, especially when you receive honest feedback and guidance from someone you trust.
Building strong relationships involves sharing information, which includes positive career updates. When you land a new role, be sure to make your LinkedIn network aware of your recent career advancement.
In a brief post, use language such as “I’m excited to announce…”, or “I’m thrilled to share…”, or even, “Big news…” to grab their attention. You’ll receive several supportive responses that can enhance your confidence, and you may also reconnect with colleagues from the past who may prove to be helpful in your current role.
Your success is greatly dependent on how you manage your transition, especially within the first three months. There are many books, blog posts, articles and people in your circle that can assist you as you learn your new role, company and work environment.
New beginnings can be both exciting and intimidating, but with a little preparation, a few strong relationships, and some determined confidence, you’ll be successful in no time.
Trust me. You got this!
Lynn Simon-Thomas is Manager, Diversity Engagement within Talent Acquisition. Lynn has over 15 years of experience in recruiting and diversity engagement. She serves as the diversity and inclusion subject matter expert focused on the execution of targeted diverse talent sourcing strategies.
Connect with Lynn Simon-Thomas and other Travelers leaders on LinkedIn.
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The Travelers Promise is about helping to take care of our customers, our communities and each other. One way we are able to deliver on our promise is with our Claim Customer Services (CSS) Spanish Translation Unit. This unit was established in 2016 to help connect with our Spanish-speaking customers nationwide.
The team has serviced more than 360,000 calls since their very first call in 2016. The team not only fields calls but they also offer written translation services throughout our Claim Centers, whether that’s text messages, emails, letters, or voicemail transcriptions.
There are 28 translators across the country including Moises O. who is based in Orlando.
Moises has been a member of the HLADN, Hispanic/Latino & Allies Diversity Network, for five years. Although he was born in Chicago, he considers himself a Floridian as he spent most of his life in Florida.
“I think our perspective as Spanish-speaking employees at Travelers is invaluable to the organization,” Moises said. “Being an active HLADN member has helped me establish connections throughout the organization. When you’re willing to be generous with knowledge sharing, which the DN helps us do, it can help you define opportunities with the company to consider in the future.”
With a career at Travelers, Moises was not only able to use his skills, but was encouraged to. The team recently started joining Claim professionals during virtual visits with Spanish-speaking customers and injured employees.
Taina Cintron, a translator who is also based in Orlando, loves being able to connect with her community and helping others while working. This role provides her the steppingstone to continue learning about the insurance industry.
“I enjoy the community that I serve because I know I am the solution to the language barrier that our internal team faces with the external customer and vice versa,” Taina said. “It’s satisfying helping two people at the same time.”
The Spanish Translation Unit has made explaining forms and next steps in the claim process much easier because it allows customers to see everything in writing.
Effective communication is a huge part of what makes our customers feel secured, respected, and cared for. We encourage you to learn more about our Claim Customer Services Unit.
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Across Travelers, more than a thousand technology engineers write code and develop tools that deliver innovative solutions for our business. Now, a new Engineering Portal helps to simplify and accelerate this critical work.
Kevin De Sa, SVP and CIO of Digital Enablement, explains, “By sharing common templates, the Engineering Portal reduces the time it takes to deploy new solutions from weeks to minutes while ensuring that we are creating best-in-class tools and enabling innovation within a test-and-learn environment.”
The Portal was designed by engineers, for engineers. It’s self-service configuration features common templates and patterns so engineers can build new applications more efficiently and securely while increasing the quality of Travelers’ business capabilities.
“The Engineering Portal is essential to our cloud-first approach and modern architecture principles,” says Andrzej Kobus, SVP for Enterprise Architecture and Emerging Technology. “It facilitates deployment of applications straight to the cloud, positioning us for the future.”
Members of the Tech & Ops Senior Leadership Team recently participated in a hands-on demonstration of the portal. Tracey Cournoyer, CIO for Bond & Specialty Insurance, who participated in the event, says, “This is a significant advancement for our businesses and accelerates the development of solutions for our partners and customers.”
The Travelers Engineering Portal is only one of the technology tools offered to our employees to drive performance for today and transform for tomorrow.
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