Category: Employee Benefits Team

Responsibilities
Scott Davenport brings 32 years of senior consulting and brokering experience to the Employee Benefits Department. As a Public Entity Practice Leader, his responsibilities include the design, communication and implementation of all phases of both qualified and non-qualified benefit plans for hospitals, school districts, not-for-profit organizations, governmental, and industrial entities.

Background
Davenport is a 28 year veteran of the benefits business and among the top public entity benefit consultants in the region. Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew in 1990, Davenport was involved in commercial real estate and mergers and acquisitions of privately held companies.

Education
Glassboro State College – Bachelor of Science

Professional Designations
Registered Health Underwriter (RHU)
Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC)
Group Benefits Associate (GBA)
Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS)

Community Involvement
Davenport is an active fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society as well as the Multiple Sclerosis Association.

Responsibilities
Manuel (Manny) Stamatakis is a seasoned leader with extensive expertise in health and benefit plans. He oversees large, complex clients and provides strategic consultation to ensure clients receive innovative, cost-effective solutions that optimize the performance and quality of their benefit programs.

Background
Manny is a respected business leader and philanthropist with over three decades of experience. He founded Capital Management Enterprises in 1988, a Pennsylvania-based financial services and employee benefits consulting firm, which he later merged with Conner Strong & Buckelew in 2020.

Manny was also a founding member of First Financial Resources, a national financial service organization with over 120 offices nationwide.

Education
The Pennsylvania State University – Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering
Drexel University – Doctorate of Business Administration, Honoris Causa

Community Involvement
Manny is the Executive Chairman of the Board at MISTRAS Group and has been a key member of its Board of Directors since 2002. He previously served as Lead Director, Chair of the Governance Committee, and a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees.

He is Chairman Emeritus of Visit Philadelphia, where he plays a key role in supporting the growth of the region’s hospitality industry, which generates over $5 billion annually and supports more than 125,000 jobs.

Appointed by government officials, Manny has led public/private initiatives to strengthen the local economy and improve Pennsylvania’s role in world trade. He was instrumental in the rejuvenation of the Philadelphia Shipyard and continues to serve as Chairman of the Philadelphia Shipyard Development Corporation.

Manny actively supports numerous charitable organizations, including the American Heart Association, the Boy Scouts of America, the American Cancer Society, the Morris Arboretum, the American Jewish Committee, the United Cerebral Palsy Association, the United Negro College Fund and the Philadelphia Tribune Charities.

He has received numerous awards and honors in recognition of his service.

Responsibilities
Phyllis Saraceni brings more than 30 years of professional experience to the firm. She is responsible for supporting customers and the firm’s benefit consulting staff on a day-to-day basis, preparing legal and regulatory updates and communication, interpreting emerging laws and regulations related to benefits and managing the firm’s benefits audit function.

Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, she was a Principal for Mercer Health and Benefits for nearly 12 years where she supported clients and internal staff in various functions related to health and welfare compliance and legal matters. Previous to Mercer, Saraceni held positions at various law firms specializing in ERISA and benefits law.

Education
Temple University School of Law – Juris Doctorate
West Chester University – Bachelor of Science in Marketing

Responsibilities
Peter Abitanto joined the firm in August of 2020 with 25 years of experience. In this role, he partners with clients to understand their unique needs, performs benefit and financial evaluations, and formulates strategies to deliver innovative, cost-savings solutions that optimize the quality and performance of their benefit programs.

Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Peter served as Senior Vice President overseeing the Employee Benefits Practice at Graham Company. Additionally, he spent 12 years at Brown & Brown where he was Executive Vice President and Regional Benefits Leader in the Northeast. Before this, he spent over a decade working in sales management roles for Oxford Health Plans and UnitedHealthcare. He has served as a board member for the Greater Philadelphia Association of Health Underwriters as well as the South Jersey Association of Health Underwriters.

Education
Lafayette College – Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Business

Professional Designations
Registered Health Underwriter (RHU)

Responsibilities
Michael Dentner has over 30 years of benefit plan management experience and is responsible for advising clients on plan design, underwriting, contribution strategy, population health management and maintenance of their health and welfare plans. As a strategic business partner, he is focused on proactively identifying competitiveness, market trends, utilization patterns and compliance issues to ensure the client has the most effective benefit solution in place to address organizational objectives and financial sustainability.

Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Michael spent 20+ years with other national broker/consulting firms such as Aon, Gallagher and NFP managing employee benefit programs for clients that ranged from 200 – 15,000 employees. He also spent 12 years with CIGNA Healthcare in both a middle market and national account management role assisting clients with the management of their CIGNA medical, dental, life and disability programs.

Education
Temple University – Bachelor of Business Administration

Professional Designations
Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS)

Responsibilities
Michael Hanley has over 15 years of experience in the healthcare and employee benefits industry. His responsibilities include partnering with clients on strategic planning, benefit and financial evaluations, renewal negotiations, and ensuring ongoing service expectations are met. Hanley works with his clients to provide customized, innovative, and cost-effective employee benefit solutions that optimize the quality and performance of their benefit programs.

Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Hanley worked as a Benefits Consultant for Arthur J. Gallagher, focusing on new business development and relationship management. Hanley began his career at RMTS, LLC where he served in both sales and underwriting roles. His responsibilities included selling, underwriting, and analyzing medical stop-loss and group life contracts for new and existing clients.

Education
Pace University – Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Psychology

Professional Designations
Group Benefits Disability Specialist (GBDS)

Responsibilities
Jill Ambrose is responsible for working with clients and prospects on the ongoing design and delivery of wellness services, population health programs, and assessment of current services. Jill’s duties include a strategic review of clinical data for identification of financial opportunities, selection and management of vendor partners, and development of unique products and services for all clients. Jill also supports the service team and the new business team in the delivery of wellness and population health services.

Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Jill worked in healthcare for over 20 years and is a Registered Nurse. Jill has expertise in healthcare administration, operations, research, and direct clinical care. She also has a strong background in regulatory and accreditation, patient safety and quality outcomes as well as telehealth implementation and delivery.

Education
Widener University – Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Post University, American Sentinel College of Nursing and Health Sciences – Bachelor of Science in Nursing & Master of Business Administration in Healthcare

Professional Designations
Registered Nurse (RN)

Responsibilities
Theresa Brogley brings over 20 years of experience to the Employee Benefits Department. She works with the consultant team on initial plan coordination and reporting details for client proposals and the benefit implementation process. Theresa also provides assistance on a day-to-day basis as it pertains to benefits administration for an assigned book of business.

Background
Theresa began her insurance career with Blue Cross in 2002 as an Account Reconciliation Analyst. She was responsible for providing monthly reconciliation reports for a designated book of business that included several large group accounts.

She later accepted a position at IBC’s NJ based subsidiary, AmeriHealth Insurance of NJ, in the Marketing Operations Unit. Her new role as Senior Marketing Operations Coordinator required her to process SEH and 51+ group plan change requests on renewal. She was also responsible for managing AmeriHealth’s Broker Communications hotline.

Theresa received a promotion at AmeriHealth and accepted the position of Assistant Product Manager. Her role in this position required that she assist the Senior Product Management team with the development and implementation of new products that would allow AmeriHealth to stay competitive in the marketplace. She was also responsible for coordinating many pre-sale custom benefit exceptions typically provided for its large public and private sector clients.

Education
Rowan University – Bachelor of the Arts in Sociology

Responsibilities
Stella Carto is responsible for advising clients on all aspects of their employee benefits plans, acting as both account manager and strategic business planner. Stella is also responsible for analyzing and designing complex health and welfare strategies. In addition, she handles the presentation of renewals, regulatory requirements, alternative funding projections, and financial analysis for clients.

Background
Stella brings nearly 30 years of extensive experience in employee benefits, specializing in benefit plan design, funding and financial analysis, compliance oversight, and vendor management for middle-market and large employers across the public and private sectors. Before rejoining Conner Strong & Buckelew in 2016, Stella was a Consultant at Arthur J. Gallagher. She previously spent nearly a decade at Conner Strong & Buckelew in various benefits consulting and administrative roles. Stella began her career in employee benefits at Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) and has significant experience in human resources administration. Stella is a member of the PENJERDEL Employee Benefits & Compensation Association (PEBA), the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP), as well as the International Society of Employee Benefits Specialists (ISCEBS).

Professional Designations
Group Benefits Associate (GBA)
Certified Benefits Professional (CBP)
Retirement Plan Associate (RPA)
Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS)