Meet the Team

Mark Vuono serves as Divisional President after previously holding the position of Chief Underwriting Officer since the establishment of Great American’s Environmental Division. Reporting directly to corporate leadership, his primary duties are to oversee the overall strategic goals and objectives of the Division. Accumulating over 40 years of underwriting experience, Mark is an experienced leader and is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania main office.

Prior to joining Great American, Mark held the position of Senior Vice President and Executive Underwriter for a leading P&C global insurance company. While serving in that role, he had corporate home office responsibilities for all pollution lines of business. His duties included business planning, product development, underwriter training, underwriting audit referral and approval of large or complex accounts and product lines.

He began his professional career in 1980 when he joined one of the nation's major waste disposal firms as an Environmental Specialist and Health and Safety Officer. In this capacity, he developed guidelines and procedures as required by Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and safe handling guidelines for chemicals at a hazardous waste treatment facility. In 1981, Mark joined the pollution legal liability division of a global insurance company as one of its original underwriters. He was responsible for overall profitability and became the youngest corporate officer at that time. His broad responsibilities included coverage and underwriting guideline development, supervision and training of personnel, preparation of risk control guidelines and reinsurance placement.

He later served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for a leading environmental insurance carrier where he was responsible for the overall operations of the company. In this role, he developed and managed the underwriting program which began with 300 accounts and $30 million in volume and grew to 2,500 accounts and over $250 million in volume. Mark later managed an operation that oversaw several commercial ventures including retail businesses, residential and commercial property management and management consulting.

Mark’s education includes a Master of Science in environmental engineering technology from Washington State University and a Bachelor of Science in earth science from Kean University.

Barry Geisler currently serves as a Divisional Senior Vice President for Great American’s Environmental Division. In his role, Barry acts as the Chief Underwriting Officer and Senior Division Counsel, as well as oversees administrative and operational support for the environmental business unit. Accumulating over 20 years of working in the insurance field, Barry has earned over a decade of his experience at Great American and is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania main office.

Prior to joining Great American, Barry served as Contracts Counsel for the environmental division of a global insurance company, providing legal guidance with regard to professional, environmental and commercial general liability risks, counseling underwriters with regard to the risk allocation and indemnity issues and providing a legal perspective to underwriting decisions and the drafting of policy language.

Barry earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Bucknell University and his Juris Doctor from the South Texas College of Law Houston. After being admitted by the Pennsylvania Bar in 1996, Barry entered private practice focusing on insurance coverage and defense litigation, handling such matters from initial investigation through trial and the appellate process focusing on construction-related claims, products liability, toxic torts and premises liability matters. In addition, his practice involved counseling clients with regard to policy language, managing risks, reducing claims and proper claim documentation in multiple lines (Commercial General Liability, Property, E&O and Environmental). Barry also handled complex commercial litigation focusing on employment law and contract disputes.

Sara Brothers is a Divisional Vice President with Great American’s Environmental Division, serving as head of the Technical Support Department. In her role, she oversees all technical initiatives and provides expertise in loss control consulting to support the underwriting and claims units. Brothers and her team contribute specialized technical guidance and training to the Division. She is responsible for identifying and communicating emerging environmental regulatory and technical trends as well as understanding how these emerging issues may affect Great American and its insureds. Sara is based out of the New York office.

Sara is a recognized environmental industry expert, who brings over 30 years of environmental consulting and construction management experience to Great American. Her background includes working as a Senior Geologist with extensive consulting and industry experience in the petroleum, industrial, commercial and government sectors.

Before joining Great American, she was a Senior Vice President of a highly respected consulting and engineering company, where she managed the unit responsible for the remediation and assessment of complex closed facilities and oil refineries. During her tenure, Sara formed and led the company’s environmental insurance practice, which specialized in providing underwriting and claims support to the environmental insurance industry. Prior to this, Sara worked in the consulting industry, managing Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action and closure projects in the U.S. and Canada for an international waste management company as well as leading teams responsible for semiconductor facility construction at a multinational corporation and technology company.

Sara obtained her Master of Business Administration from UNM Anderson School of Management, her Master of Science in geology from University of New Mexico, and her Bachelor of Science in geology from Harvard University, graduating Magna Cum Laude.

Greg Kelder is a Divisional Senior Vice President with Great American’s Environmental Division, serving as its Head of Claims. In this role, he manages the Division’s Claims department and serves as a member of its Senior Management team responsible for the overall strategic growth of the Division. With more than 30 years of environmental claim experience, he has developed particular business acumen in matters related to emerging environmental risks as well as broader challenges related to pollution, regulation, climate change issues and water policy. He brings specialized claim support and training to the Division and is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania main office.

Greg joined Great American from a leading global insurance company, where he was Vice President of Claims with responsibilities including claims training coordination, environmental portfolio leader and participation on the corporate environmental product board. As a recognized leader on environmental and insurance issues, he has been requested to serve as a speaker for numerous corporations, universities and conferences throughout his career.

He is the President of the Steering Committee for the Environmental & Emerging Claim Manager Association (EECMA). In addition, he also serves on the Board for the Global Water Alliance and is a member of the Environmental Claims Journal Editorial Advisory Board, the Environmental Inn of Court, the PA Environmental Council, and the PA Bar Association.

Greg earned his Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School. He is also a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, holding a Master’s Degree in environmental science and policy. While obtaining his degree at Penn, he was presented the Dean's Scholar Award, the Institute for Environmental Studies Award for Excellence and was chosen as a Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) participant for an Antarctica Leadership Venture.

Eric McCabe is a Divisional Senior Vice President with Great American’s Environmental Division, serving as the National Underwriting Director. Eric oversees underwriting operations for all lines of environmental insurance products.

An attorney with an extensive environmental background, Eric provides expert guidance to his team of underwriters. Eric has accumulated over 25 years of experience working within the environmental field - with over 15 years in environmental insurance. He is based out of New York.

Prior to joining Great American, Eric worked for a large internationally known insurance company. There, Eric gained environmental claims experience as he progressed within the pollution claims unit. After five years of claims, Eric decided to transfer internally to the underwriting group. This is where Eric honed his underwriting skills, dealing with complex accounts and risk transfer solutions.

Eric began his environmental career as an Environmental Chemist, conducting various organic and inorganic analyses in accordance with EPA and ASTM methods. After earning his Juris Doctorate degree, he started working at the Town of Smithtown’s Department of Environment & Waterways (DEW). At that time, the DEW had the largest environmental budget of any municipality in New York State. Responsibilities of the agency included landfill oversight, State Environmental Quality Reviews (SEQR), environmental enforcement, and oversight for town environmental compliance issues pursuant to federal, state and county statutes and regulations.

Kirk Davenport is a Divisional Vice President with Great American’s Environmental Division, also serving as an Executive Underwriter. By leveraging his technical expertise with his underwriting experience, he develops best-in-class solutions for unique environmental liability accounts. He also spearheads the development and management of the Division’s program initiatives. He has accumulated over 25 years working within the environmental insurance field and brings specialized guidance to the underwriting team. Kirk is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania main office.

Prior to joining Great American, Kirk worked for a leading global insurance company where he most recently held the position of Senior Underwriter and underwrote environmental liability insurance related to fixed facilities throughout North America.

Kirk’s career began as a Laboratory Technician, conducting various analyses in accordance with EPA and ASTM methods. He then transitioned to an environmental consulting and emergency response company where he conducted and managed a variety of site investigation and remediation activities pertaining to brownfields, industrial facilities and underground storage tank sites. He was later hired by a leading provider of emergency response, environmental remediation and waste management services where he implemented and managed all aspects of maintenance and remediation activities for industrial clients.

Kirk obtained his Master of Business Administration in environmental management from University of Texas at Arlington and his Bachelor of Science in microbiology from Penn State University.

Rick Ringenwald is a Divisional Vice President with Great American’s Environmental Division. In his role, Rick’s primary responsibilities range from product line management to contributing to program development and underwriting unique specialty accounts. He is a dynamic member of the Executive Underwriting team, managing a number of key initiatives while focusing on supporting the strategic business of the Division and is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania main office.

He joins Great American from his previous position as Executive Vice President and regional team leader for a leading global advisory, brokering and solutions company. During a successful 15-year tenure there, he directed all environmental brokerage and business development efforts in the Northeast and Atlantic regions.

Rick began his career as an Environmental Consultant, with his efforts focused on conducting environmental due diligence for clients in the mid-Atlantic. He then transitioned to a role as corporate environmental manager at a Fortune 500 company where he was responsible for environmental, safety and health compliance along with environmental due diligence of facilities that were being acquired. He eventually spearheaded the beginning of his environmental insurance career as a regional manager focused on site pollution coverage. The longevity and environmental experience Rick has gained throughout the years has made him a recognized leader within the industry.

Rick obtained his Master of Science in environmental health from Temple University and his Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies from University of Vermont.

Heather Boyd is a Divisional Assistant Vice President with Great American’s Environmental Division. In her current role on the National Underwriting team, Boyd works to provide best-in-class environmental insurance products and services to current and prospective clients. Heather has taken on a valuable leadership role within the Division, managing an experienced team of underwriters while actively participating in the business and budgeting process. With over 20 years of environmental knowledge, she combines her industry experience with best practices to deliver custom insurance solutions to clients and is based out of the Boston, Massachusetts office.

Heather began her career with a leading environmental consulting firm in Massachusetts as an environmental consultant. She later joined a multinational energy corporation, where she served as Site Manager and Environmental Consultant managing remediation and related claims concerns across the Rockies and West Coast. She continued her environmental career with an environmental and social risk management consulting company, consulting on extensive oil and gas development projects in developing countries. Before joining Great American, Heather began underwriting environmental exposures with a global insurance company, drawing from her extensive prior experiences which also include environmental compliance and environmental impact assessments. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in environmental affairs with an English minor from the University of New Hampshire.

Patrick currently serves as a Divisional Vice President for Great American’s Environmental Division. In his role, Patrick works directly with the National Underwriting team as an underwriter and a referral resource for all of the division’s products. Patrick also has the role of manager over all of the National Underwriting team’s associate underwriters, helping to ensure high-quality products and efficiencies for the Division. Patrick has accumulated 20 years working in the insurance field and has been with Great American’s Environmental Division since 2008, served as the regional manager for the Division’s Midwest region until 2017 and is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania main office.

Patrick entered the insurance field as a Personal / Commercial Lines Underwriter with a fortune 500 mutual insurance company and has also worked with a large, publicly traded property and casualty insurance company as a multinational underwriter where he underwrote commercial property and casualty coverages for numerous global companies. Prior to Great American, Patrick worked for a multi-line reinsurer as an environmental underwriter underwriting pollution legal liability and real estate lenders pollution policies. Patrick earned his Bachelor of Science in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He holds the CPCU designation.

Richard Viglianese is a Divisional Assistant Vice President for Great American’s Environmental Division. In his role on the National Underwriting team, he provides unique solutions for key clients by analyzing and implementing environmental liability insurance while also managing a group of experienced underwriters. Rich is a skilled leader dedicated to coaching his team of experienced underwriters and is based out of the New York office.

Prior to joining Great American, Rich began his career at a leading multinational finance and insurance company as an Environmental Claims Assistant working with Secured Creditor and Cost Cap policies. He held various positions of increasing responsibility and ultimately became an environmental underwriter for the New York region. His underwriting focus was initially geared towards small business environmental service and construction industries across the U.S. and Canada. After which, he transitioned his focus to larger national and corporate accounts placing insurance in the Northeast. Rich earned his Bachelor of Science degree in environmental policy, institutions and behaviors with a focus in United States environmental and resource policy from Rutgers University. Additionally, he went on to obtain an Associate’s Degree in risk management from American Institute for Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters.