Our companies do well,
so we can do good.

Dr. John Strong

Chairman and CEO

John has served at the executive level in the insurance industry for more than a decade following an accomplished career as a physician.

As President and CEO of Greensboro Radiology, Dr. Strong championed the conversion of Greensboro Radiology into a technology company and subsequent leader in health care digital transformation.

As CEO and Chairman of Bankers Financial Corporation, John brings focus and commitment to social responsibility and believes it is critical to the company’s overall success. He has grown collaborative partnerships with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, Metropolitan Ministries, and the Salvation Army.

John has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Duke University. He received his M.D. from Michigan State University. He completed his radiology residency and fellowship at the Duke Medical Center. John serves on several private and public boards of directors.

Rob Menke

President, Bankers Financial Corporation

Rob has more than 40 years of experience in both the insurance industry and information technology sector. At the holding company, he oversees all Insurance strategies and operations. Rob served as the primary architect for the IT platform that remains in place at Bankers Insurance today. During his career, he was instrumental in Bankers becoming the second largest flood carrier in the Federal WYO program, writing $180,000,000 in premium annually. Rob previously served as President and CEO of Riscserv, LLC, an IT insurance consultancy.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Information Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida.

Walt Sykes

President, Bankers Insurance Group

With over 30 years of Commercial Insurance experience, Walt brings both expertise and a strong passion for underwriting. He holds a BA from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and launched his insurance career at RSA as a multi-line P&C underwriter, sparking his interest in complex risk underwriting and innovative approaches to enhance business underwriting efficiency.

Walt held increasing levels of Underwriting Leadership roles with Chubb Limited before leaving to join Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (CorSo) in 2020. He holds the CIC designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research, has a Certificate of Business Leadership from the University of Georgia, Terry College of Business – Executive Programs, and completed the Black Executive Leadership Program of McKinsey & Company.

Walt is passionate about growing talent, fostering diverse cultures, and driving profitable growth through disciplined underwriting.

Brian Kesneck

President, Bankers Surety

Brian has over 35 years of experience in the insurance industry, specifically in surety bonds. Brian began his career with Bankers Financial Corporation (BFC) in 1985 and accepted the role as President of Bankers Surety in 1993. Brian continues to focus on the growth and profitability of bail surety. Brian holds Florida Property & Casualty (2-20) and Managing General Agent (0-60) licenses as well as multiple non-resident licenses throughout the U.S.

Brian earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Newman

President, DecisionHR

Peter has been President of DecisionHR (DHR) since 2014 and has overall responsibility for the strategic direction and the operating activities of the company. Peter joined DHR in 2002 as Chief Financial Officer and has been instrumental in the company’s record growth. Peter previously served as an Audit Manager at Arthur Andersen, where he led audit engagements across many industries, including several PEOs. He also served as an Actuarial Analyst with global advisory consultancy Towers Perrin (renamed Willis Towers Watson).

Peter is a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Florida and a Masters of Accountancy from the University of South Florida.

Ted Moorthy

President, Centricity

Ted joined Centricity in 2022 transforming  the company’s depth in global business leadership and adding to its combined 100+ years of executive-level warranty knowledge and expertise.

Moorthy most recently served as Senior Vice President and President of Lifecycle Services for Likewize, which offers comprehensive protection for tech devices. He was appointed the Executive Lead for constructing consumer-centric and innovative products and services across global markets for warranty and insurance.

Prior to Likewize, Moorthy served as Vice President and Global Business Head, Trade-in & Upgrade at Assurant. In that role, he operated a global business with diverse teams  directing the technology, analytics, digital, marketing, and supply chain operations using a product-oriented approach. He also cemented relationships with key partners in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Moorthy’s background is based in technology. He has a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Pune, India.

Lowell Hays

President, Maverick

Lowell joined as President of Maverick (formerly Bonded Builders) in 2021. Since then, he has led the spinoff of that business from Centricity and refocused the company on a mission to transform the home builder insurance industry.

Lowell’s background is in early-stage technology companies and financial services. Prior to joining Maverick, he was the CEO of Leap Laboratories, an animal and environmental health products company based in St. Louis, MO. Before that, he held several key product and growth roles at Kenzie Lane Innovation, a leading technology venture studio based in Atlanta, GA. He began his career as a Consultant at Monitor Deloitte Consulting.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Engineering degree with a focus in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Ian Barber

Chief Administrative Officer

As Chief Administrative Officer, Ian is responsible for operational and investment strategies at Bankers’ holding company and serves on the company’s executive and investment committees. He leads strategic business development and M&A across the Bankers enterprise, including buy- and sell-side work with respect to companies in all life cycle stages, ranging from pre-revenue to national leaders, as well as running the company’s venture capital arm.  Prior to his current role, Ian spent five years as primary legal counsel for Bankers’ insurance subsidiaries. 

Before joining Bankers, Ian worked in private legal practice at Abrams & Bayliss LLP, where he focused on corporate governance, public company deal flow, and related dispute resolution. Ian began his career as an analyst at Capital One.  He graduated from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and a concentration in Finance and received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the Bar of the State of Delaware, and Authorized House Counsel in the State of Florida. 

Richard Torra

General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer

Richard brings over 28 years of experience handling a wide variety of legal matters, leading the company’s internal and external legal teams, and providing support and proactive legal guidance to the company’s senior executives and directors. He started his career at Bankers in 1994, then from 2001 to 2007 he served as the Assistant General Counsel for a publicly traded Fortune 500 company based out of Boston, MA. In 2007, he returned to Bankers in his current role.

Outside of the company, Richard is an active member of the Tampa Bay legal and business community, serving on the Board of Directors for the Association of Corporate Counsel (Tampa Bay Chapter), and chairing the Salvation Army’s Kettle Classic Golf Tournament Committee (the Pinellas Chapter’s largest annual fundraiser). Richard also sits on the Association of Corporate Counsel’s national Financial Services and Employment Law committees.

Richard earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and Marketing from Florida State University and his J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law, both with honors. Richard is admitted to the Florida and Massachusetts Bar.

Colleen Tabala

Chief People Officer

Colleen has a wealth of HR experience from various roles in the financial services sector, spanning both large and medium-sized companies. Her main focus revolves around propelling the human resources organization to formulate and execute best practices that have a positive influence on every phase of the employee journey.

A significant portion of her career was dedicated to her home state of New York, where she held the role of Global Head of HR at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Colleen’s most recent position was as the Vice President of HR at PennyMac in Tampa.

She holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Post University.

Nathan Schroeder

Chief Information Officer

Nathan has over 20 years in the IT space and has held many different roles throughout that time servicing the technology needs of financial services and insurance companies. He currently provides oversight and leadership throughout all aspects of BFC’s technology landscape including application development and delivery as well as infrastructure, information security, and business intelligence.

Nathan holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Cincinnati.