Responsibilities
Charity Richart is responsible for the onboarding development and implementation of technical training programs for all Property & Casualty personnel. She develops, implements, and maintains processes, procedures and standard documents. Charity preserves an online database for trainings and standard materials to promote adherence to company procedures and guidelines. She is a proactive innovator of training and technical solutions, working on several key projects and practice groups to enhance efficiencies. She participates in various technology initiatives to promote professional development, efficiency, teamwork and commitment to Conner Strong & Buckelew’s corporate goals.
Background
Charity is an insurance professional with over 25 years of claims experience. Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, she spent 9 years with The Graham Company providing claims advocacy services including facilitating claims strategy meetings, overseeing claims, and providing proactive communication between clients and insurance carriers. Prior to her working in a broker advocate role, Charity gained experience as a Claims Representative. In this capacity, she worked with both carrier and Third-Party Administrator firms, managing a wide range of insurance risks across diverse industries in both public and private sectors throughout the nation.
Licenses & Certifications
Certified Strengths Coach – Gallup
Property & Casualty Producer License – NJ, PA & DE
Professional Designations
Associate in Claims (AIC)
Associate in Insurance Services (AIS)
Community Involvement
Charity is an active member of The Institutes Insurance Broker Advisory Board where she provides strategic guidance on educational programs and professional development initiatives, influencing the future of broker education. Charity also participates in The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, where she collaborates with industry leaders to identify emerging trends and serves as a thought leader, promoting industry innovation and excellence.
Responsibilities
Carole Mack leads the Public Entity Practice for Conner Strong & Buckelew which provides risk management and insurance services to governmental entities in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Mack was President of Buckelew & Associates, a real estate and insurance firm located in Toms River, New Jersey. Buckelew & Associates was purchased by Conner Strong & Buckelew in November of 1996. Mack was responsible for overall agency operations that employed a staff of 50 people.
Mack has 45 years experience in the insurance industry and is currently maintaining the Certified Risk Manager, Certified Insurance Counselor and Certified Professional Insurance Women designations. She has successfully completed three parts of CPCU.
She has served on the Board of Directors of Liberty Bell Insurance Company and New Jersey Alliance, Bermuda Captives.
Professional Designations
Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC)
Certified Risk Manager (CRM)
Certified Professional Insurance Woman (CPIW)
Community Involvement
Mack served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Community Medical Center. She is a former President of the Toms River Sunrise Rotary. She is a member and former President of the Board of Directors for Ocean’s Harbor House. Mack has been involved with the Princeton Insurance Company Advisory Council, the Agents and Brokers Advisory Council for New Jersey Department of Insurance, the Selective Insurance Company Producer Council and the St. Paul Producer Council. She is a former committeewoman of the Farmers Home Administration and is also a past chairwoman of the INA Producer Council. She is currently a member of the Toms River Police Foundation.
Responsibilities
Lisa Vanore is responsible for setting the vision and direction for the Claim Advocacy and Consulting Department, a key differentiator of Conner Strong & Buckelew. The department is a 45-member diverse team that is focused on protecting clients. Lisa manages daily operations to ensure efficient claim handling and superior consulting services to our customers. She works closely with senior executives to drive optimization of operational efficiencies, and elevation of client service.
Lisa is also an active participant in the Alternative Risk Practice Group, providing invaluable risk mitigation guidance to organizations across industries.
Background
Lisa brings over 16 years of enterprise-level risk management experience to Conner Strong & Buckelew. Her experience spans various industries including, public companies, hospitality, and higher education where she was responsible for directing claims and litigation management strategies. Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Lisa served as the Director of Risk Management for a large casino, where she spearheaded the development and oversight of comprehensive risk management and loss control programs designed to reduce the total cost of risk.
Education
Temple University, Fox School of Business – Bachelor of Business Administration in Risk Management and Marketing
Professional Designation
RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)
Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS)
Responsibilities
Michele Fields assists clients with all aspects of the claim process, including receiving, analyzing and submitting claims to the insurers. Her duties also involve consulting with clients on coverage analysis, providing guidance and direction, assisting in negotiations with insurers and monitoring open claims. Fields works closely with each client on their claims to ensure that the insurance carriers provide prompt, fair claim handling. She also assists clients with internal claim management. Fields advocates on behalf of each client to ensure that claim resolutions are in their best interest.
Background
Prior to joining Conner Strong & Buckelew, Fields served as a Claim Director in the Multinational Claim Unit of ACE Insurance Group, one of the world’s largest multiline property and casualty insurance companies with operations in 54 countries. In this role, Fields handled complex claims for seven years under the international insurance program for large multinational companies. As part of this work, Fields collaborated with international adjusting companies, colleagues in ACE’s foreign offices, and local defense counsel to ensure appropriate claims handling of non-litigated and litigated matters. She also completed complex coverage analysis that involved the application of U.S. law to the master policy while understanding the potential effect of local laws and procedures of various countries on policy interpretation and claim handling.
Education
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts – B.A. Degree
Boston University School of Law – Law Degree, admitted to practice in NJ
RESPONSIBILITIES
Colleen Vallen is the Forensic Services Practice Leader for J.A. Montgomery Consulting. She provides forensic accounting expertise to clients including pre-loss consulting and post-loss claims services. In the post-loss claims process, her duties include project communication, guidance and planning, documentation management and analysis, financial analyses and modeling, responding to request for information and assistance in settlement discussions. She works closely with our Claims Department to assist clients with internal claims management allowing our clients to focus on their business, not their claim and to ensure claim resolutions are in our clients’ best interest.
BACKGROUND
Colleen has over 25 years of forensic accounting experience and is an expert in her field. Prior to joining J.A. Montgomery Consulting, she worked for a top 25 public accounting firm and served for a period as the practice leader for forensic services. She is highly experienced in the analysis and review of financial information. Other duties included planning and management of engagements, financial investigation and analyses, expert report preparation, assistance with discovery and expert testimony. She has successfully assisted clients in bringing claims to resolution including catastrophic property claims and complex losses such as cyber and crime claims.
EDUCATION
Colleen served as Adjunct Professor at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law.
PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
2026 Risk & Insurance Power Broker Winner
