Officers

President
Vern Steiner
President & CEO
State Compensation Insurance Fund

Vernon Steiner was appointed President and CEO of State Fund on June 9, 2014. Vern has 30 years of insurance industry experience, the majority in workers’ compensation. As the President and CEO, he reports directly to the Board of Directors and is responsible for the day-to-day operations at State Fund.

Vern began his career in 1990, as a Claims Examiner. Early in his career, Vern experienced the workers’ compensation system from the point of view of a third party administrator, a self-insured/self-administered employer and a managed care organization. In 1995, Vern joined AIG as a Service Center Manager, and by 2003, when he left AIG, he was the Regional Vice President, Northwest. He worked for CNA from 2003 to 2007, starting as the Vice President, Field Operations and ultimately Vice President, Workers’ Compensation. Prior to joining State Fund, Vern served as Senior Vice President, Claims at Zenith Insurance from 2007 to 2014.

Vern was a member of the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute’s (WCRI) advisory board from 2009 to 2016, and he served as the California Workers’ Compensation Institute's (CWCI) Board of Directors Chairman and as a member of the Fraud Assessment Commission from 2014 to 2016. He is currently on the CWCI board, the executive committee of the board, and has served on the WCIRB Governing Committee since 2014.

Vice President
Rick Ferguson

CEO
SIF Idaho Workers’ Compensation 

Rick Ferguson, CPCU, ARe, is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia and began his career with the St. Louis commercial division of Aetna Property and Casualty in 1987. After a decade of working with Aetna and Traveler’s largest commercial accounts, Rick served as the Director of a multiline public entity insurance pool based in Boise, Idaho. Today, Rick is the CEO of SIF, Idaho Workers’ Compensation, a company dedicated to serving Idaho’s private and public sector employers and their workers.

Vice President
Kellie Mixon

President & CEO
New Mexico Mutual

Kellie Mixon is President and CEO of New Mexico Mutual, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurance provider. Ms. Mixon has been with the company for 27 years serving in several senior leadership roles during her tenure. She holds a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from New Mexico State University. As CEO, she is advancing the company’s legacy of innovation and providing service excellence for policyholders, workers, and agent partners. 

The Los Alamos native was recognized as a 2019 Woman of Influence by Albuquerque Business First. She is a graduate of Leadership New Mexico and serves on the Board of Directors of United Way of Central New Mexico, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, New Mexico Chamber of Commerce and Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails.

Vice President
Terry Miller

President & CEO
SFM Mutual Insurance Company

Terry has worked at SFM for over 30 years and became President and Chief Executive Officer in November 2018.  He previously practiced with KPMG (formerly Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.), the largest international independent auditing firm.  Terry currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Reinsurance Association (WCRA) and as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota.  He is also a member of the Minnesota Society of CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs and the CFA Institute.  Terry graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of St. Thomas.

Vice President
Marty Welch

CEO
Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance

Martin J. Welch is Chief Executive Officer of Hawaii Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company (HEMIC), the largest writer of Workers’ Compensation insurance in the state of Hawaii. Welch has over 35 years of experience in the Workers’ Compensation and Property Casualty insurance industry. He spent the first 25 years of his career with Wausau Insurance Companies, followed by 6 years with Employers Insurance Group (EIG), where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer, before coming to HEMIC in 2012.

In addition to serving on the AASCIF Executive Committee, Welch serves on the Board of Governors for the American Property Casualty Insurers Association (APCIA), the Board of Governors for the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), the Finance & Investment Committee of the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, and is Chairman of the Local Leadership Board for the Arthritis Foundation of Hawaii.
 
Welch received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Illinois, earned his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation in 1982 and has received additional business certifications from the Tuck Management School at Dartmouth College and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Vice President
Michael Bourque

President & CEO
The MEMIC Group

Michael Bourque became the second President and CEO of The MEMIC Group in September of 2017. Bourque began his career at MEMIC in 1995 and over two decades rose to the position of Senior Vice President for External Affairs. In that role, he oversaw government and community relations and corporate marketing efforts that helped drive the growth of The MEMIC Group from a single state workers' compensation carrier to a super-regional specialist with offices across the Eastern Seaboard and more than 20,000 policyholders across the country. His efforts helped position the company as an industry leader in workforce safety and compassionate advocacy for injured workers. This contributed to The MEMIC Group being recognized by ACORD as the Best Workers' Compensation Company in America in 2018.

Bourque has served on industry and nonprofit boards of directors. Currently, he is on the board of the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), chair of the University of Maine Board of Visitors, and chair for the Thrive 2027 effort of the United Way of Southern Maine.

 

Secretary/Treasurer
Terry Leve
Chief Legal & Corp. Resources Officer
Pinnacol Assurance

Terry Leve has served on the AASCIF Executive Committee, and as its Secretary and Treasurer, since 2019. He previously served on its National Issues Committee, beginning in 2014. Terry is Chief Legal and Corporate Resources Officer for Pinnacol Assurance in Colorado. As Pinnacol's general counsel, corporate resources executive and board secretary, he provides advice and counsel to the board of directors and senior management on legal, governance and corporate matters. He leads the company's legal services, compliance, security, special investigations, facilities, and corporate services functions. His legal services responsibilities include overseeing litigation, commercial transactions, subrogation, regulatory affairs and federal legislative activities, and his corporate services responsibilities include overseeing medical records, mail and print services. Leve also directs Pinnacol's ethics officers and its crisis management team. Terry is an accomplished executive and legal professional with 30 years of experience. Prior to joining Pinnacol, he was general counsel for the State of Tennessee's Division of Health Care Finance and Administration. Before that, Leve was chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Sitel Worldwide, a leading global process outsourcing provider with 57,000 employees and locations in 25 countries. He presently serves as a board member of Cake Insure Inc. and the Colorado Civil Justice League.

Past President
Jason Clark
President & CEO
CompSource Mutual

Since March 2009, Jason Clark has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of CompSource Mutual Insurance Company; where he has previously served the role of Executive Vice President and also formally led their claims operation. Mr. Clark is a member of the Board of Directors for Paycom Software where he serves as the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and also serves as a member of the Audit Committee. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma State Chamber, a President of the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds (AASCIF), Founder and Vice President of Kids’ Chance of Oklahoma, a member of the Board of Directors for United Way of Central Oklahoma, a member of the Oklahoma Economics Club, and the OK Business Roundtable and has previously served in leadership positions for multiple industry and trade associations. Mr. Clark has over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry specializing in workers’ compensation insurance. Mr. Clark earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Central Oklahoma.