Our team has more than 35 years of combined experience in conservation, land management, restoration and related financial assurance. We have worked on or helped develop thousands of restoration, invasive species management and other resource management projects with the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) in forty-three (43) states and three (3) territories. Based on our experience in the field and with regulators, we can comprehend and appreciate the complexity of your projects.
Key Team Members
Chris Baker, Managing Director - Conservation & Ecological Restoration
With more than 23 years of experience in the field including as the founder and leader of a nationally scaled nonprofit, American Conservation Experience, Chris understands ecological restoration project design and implementation and is familiar with the terms and key concepts of conservation activities. He also brings prior experience as co-founder and VP of a retail insurance agency that specialized in the conservation market. Chris’ combined experience as a conservation practitioner and an insurance intermediary offers very unique perspectives that help streamline the development and delivery of insurance and bonding solutions for the conservation and ecological restoration market.
Hannah Wendel, Senior Business Developer - Conservation & Ecological Restoration
Hannah brings more than 15 years of experience across nonprofit organizations and federal land management agencies, managing conservation programs and complex restoration initiatives. Prior to joining Great American, Hannah served as a nonprofit conservation program director, where she developed, led, and managed multi-stakeholder field projects in partnership with local, state, and federal agencies. She also held a senior administrative leadership role with a national conservation corps, overseeing organizational compliance, insurance, and risk management functions. This combined field and administrative background enables Hannah to understand the diverse technical and compliance driven needs of the growing conservation and ecological restoration market and allows her to connect broker partners and clients with specialized contract bond solutions for ecological and restoration focused conservation projects nationwide.
Daniel Walsh, Underwriter – Conservation & Ecological Restoration
Daniel graduated with honors from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Risk Management and Insurance. He has more than three years of experience in wetland restoration project research, data analysis and risk underwriting.
Dave Ferron, SVP - Innovative Markets Division
Dave has overall responsibly for Great American’s Innovative Markets Division and brings more than 30 years of experience in finance, risk management and insurance. During his nearly 20-year tenure at Great American, his roles have focused on complex specialty financial and casualty coverages and new market development. Dave has nearly five years of financial assurance program development and underwriting experience within state and federal ecological restoration markets.
Great American Insurance Company
For more than 155 years, organizations and people have trusted us to protect them.