One of California’s Largest Insurance Agencies Appoints First Woman President

September 2004 (Newstream) — LISI, a leading provider of employee benefits broker services, on September 28 announced the appointment of Becky (Renuka) Patel as president of LISI.

“A woman president in our industry is rare, if not a first,” says LISI Chairman and CEO Philip Lebherz. “But Becky Patel has been shaping the general agency market ever since it first evolved almost twenty years ago,” Lebherz continues.

LISI was one of several companies to be awarded a “general agency” contract back in the mid 1980’s when Blue Cross of California and other carriers began outsourcing broker sales services. Today LISI operates six fully staffed offices in California: San Mateo, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego.

Patel joined LISI in 1985 and has worked in every area of the LISI business before becoming Vice President of LISI in 1994. She helped create and fine-tune each department at LISI from customer service, underwriting and sales, to HR and IT. Patel is attributed with building and managing the LISI team of 150 employees, developing invaluable relationships with carriers, and creating sales models, products and services beyond the industry standard. In addition to her accomplishments at LISI, Patel also developed LISI’s subsidiary, CoPower (formerly the California Employers’ Benefits Alliance). She is known for her acute business savvy and motivating management style.

Patel and CEO Lebherz will continue to work as a team. Patel will become more visible and more accessible to brokers. Lebherz will work on the bigger picture for LISI, the issues that affect the health insurance industry and brokers, and his new Foundation for Health Coverage Education.

About LISI

LISI is one of California’s largest general agencies offering premium sales solutions for California brokers who serve small and large group clients. The company was founded by CEO Philip Lebherz in 1977 in San Mateo, California. Lebherz recently started the Foundation for Health Coverage Education, a non-profit organization with a mission to simplify public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage. His Foundation’s new California Health Care Options Matrix™ illustrates the important role of the broker and provides a valuable solution to communicating health care options for the uninsured. For information visit www.lisibroker.com or call 800-944-5474.