Meet the team - International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation

Meet the ICMIF team

Shaun Tarbuck, Chief Executive

Shaun joined the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) in 1995 and was appointed Chief Executive in 2005. He has overseen the growth of the organisation from 65 members in 1995 to 200 members in 70 countries today. When he started, the ICMIF name was not known, even in the mutual sector, now it is globally recognised by the insurance industry and key influencers such as the United Nations, the B20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We had 130 delegates at the 1995 ICMIF Conference in Manchester; and, to compare, we had a record number of 410 at our Centenary Conference in Rome (Italy) in 2023.

Shaun developed the first ICMIF Global Manifesto Protecting Lives and Livelihoods in 2015 and as a result has established working relationships with key global policymakers in areas where ICMIF members need to be represented or are leading the way. These include the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); climate change; disaster risk reduction; resilience; poverty alleviation; economic growth; responsible investing; governance; sustainable development and regulation/legislation.

He joined the B20 Financing Growth Taskforce in 2014 during the Australian B20 presidency and was instrumental in setting up the first G20 Insurance Summit which took place in Argentina in 2018, in addition to getting mutual insurers mentioned in three of the recommendation papers from the Summit. In 2015, ICMIF had five representatives from member organisations sitting on various B20 Taskforces.

Shaun has been involved with the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda since the beginning. He spoke about responsible investing at the UN General Assembly in 2014 as the insurance industry spokesperson, making a commitment to invest USD 400 billion by 2020, which ICMIF members have subsequently achieved by themselves. At the 2014 Assembly, industry commitments were made prior to three Global UN agreements being established in 2015. These included the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework); the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) launch in September 2015, and culminated in the Paris Climate Change Agreement in December 2015 at COP21 with Shaun speaking at each of these events.

He has subsequently spoken at all the biennial UNDRR Conferences and many other UN-designated events, mostly on the role that mutual insurers can and do play in the UN 2030 Agenda. He has been instrumental in ICMIF’s three global partnerships that were launched in 2019 with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), resulting in the UNDP ICMIF Insurance Innovation Challenge fund (IIC) that evaluates applicants wishing to boost the financial resilience of underserved communities in developing economies; the UNDRR partnership where together we have built the world’s first resiliency benchmark for insurers, the ICMIF UNDRR Resiliency Benchmark, that is being used by ICMIF members and others; and Accounting for Sustainability (A4S).

Shaun has been integral in developing the ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator in partnership with Swiss Re and in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance (UNEP FI PSI). This is successfully being rolled out to over 25 members this year.

Shaun is a founding member of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), founded in April 2016, and is an ex-officio member of its Steering Group as well as being on the operating committee. The IDF brings together insurance industry leaders with global policymakers from several UN agencies, the World Bank and selected Governments in a unique public-private and mutual partnership to ensure insurance-related issues and solutions are discussed at the highest level. He was the Co-Chair of the IDF Inclusive Insurance Working Group until 2019 and is currently co-chair of the IDF DRR taskforce.

Shaun regularly speaks at conferences and to mutual leaders on the mutual advantage, sustainability strategies, governance and innovation in mutuals, as well as other strategic issues affecting the mutual and cooperative insurance sector and the wider insurance sector. He writes leadership articles and blogs and is regularly interviewed by the global insurance media in both written and video format. He regularly contributes to research projects on the sector, including ICMIF projects and external ones.

He has been a board member of the Climate Bonds Initiative that promotes green bonds for over 10 years and is a board member of International Cooperative Alliance until 2026. Shaun has been invited join the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Insurance sector taskforce in 2023. In his spare-time, Shaun was the vice-chair of the Dunham Trust, an affiliation of several local primary schools for several years.

Shaun qualified as a chartered accountant in 1987 and had various roles in the UK and Bermuda before joining ICMIF. He is married to Francesca with four adult children and one grandchild. He enjoys most sports but particularly rugby union – a sport he has played, coached and refereed.

Liz Green, CEO Designate

On 11 July 2023, Liz Green, former Executive Vice President of ICMIF, was appointed by the Board as ICMIF’s CEO Designate following Shaun Tarbuck’s announcement that he will retire from his current role as Chief Executive Officer in November 2024.

As CEO Designate, her role is to continue to run the core business, as she has done since the start of 2023, but to also work with Shaun to ensure of smooth transition of all the CEO duties by November 2024.

Liz’s former role as Executive Vice President focused on ensuring that ICMIF’s members gain optimum value and that the Federation understands each member organisation’s strategic priorities and competencies.

She is working towards her Master’s Degree in Executive Coaching and Mentoring and has achieved Master Practitioner Level in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). Liz has previously held a board seat at Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and sat as a Governor on two school boards.

Before joining ICMIF in 2012, Liz spent 13 years working in senior communications roles for the UK life insurance sector at Swiss Life (UK) and then for Royal Liver Group before it was acquired by the UK’s largest mutual, Royal London Group. Before then she was a PR consultant specialising in financial services accounts.

She has spoken at a wide variety of ICMIF conferences, board and executive meetings as well as representing the Federation at other non-ICMIF conferences and symposiums.

Liam Carter, Senior Vice-President, Resilience

Liam is an accomplished leader in change management, sustainability, and resilience strategies with over a decade of diverse experience across global industries.

At Accenture (2012-2016), he managed the change of many large-scale IT and SAP implementations for worldwide mining and utilities companies, focusing on training and stakeholder engagement. At Deloitte (2016-2017), he provided human capital advisory services, specialising in financial services. He then moved to Tiger Brands (2018-2020), where he led internal communication strategies, notably launching the company-wide ROARR! platform.

Currently, as Senior Vice-President, Resilience at the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) (2021-present), Liam drives resilience initiatives, disaster risk reduction, and sustainability efforts. His work includes overseeing the ICMIF Resilience Benchmark and collaborating with global partners such as the UNDRR. Since 2023, Liam also serves as a Board Member of UNDRR ARISE, focusing on public-private partnerships to achieve the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Throughout his career, Liam has demonstrated a strong ability to innovate and implement strategies that enhance business resilience and communication across multiple sectors and geographies.

Yvonne Hautenne, Senior Vice-President, Events

Yvonne Hautenne is Senior Vice-President at ICMIF with responsibility for the management of global events including budget control; venue and vendor negotiation; logistics, liaison with host (usually an ICMIF member organisation); and maintenance of a high level of positive member experience at all ICMIF conferences, seminars, training courses, governance meetings and online events. Based at the head office Manchester (UK), Yvonne is also a member of the Senior Management Team, reporting directly to the ICMIF CEO for delivery of the Federation’s strategic goals.

Prior to joining ICMIF in 1997, Yvonne had proven experience in project management in various industries including textiles, safety protection systems, cosmetics and graphic design/print. Over the past 26 years at ICMIF, Yvonne has held roles in several departments at the Federation including communications, HR, operations and more recently, events management.

As a member of the Senior Management Team, Yvonne regularly attends ICMIF Executive Committee and Board meetings. During 2024, Yvonne is working on the Biennial Conference to be held in Buenos Aires in November 2024as well as managing a smooth CEO transition from Shaun Tarbuck, current CEO, to Liz Green, CEO Designate. Yvonne is also assisting with the Brand and Marketing Forum, logistics for governance meetings, training programs and other events. She is also providing valuable analytical research to enhance member services.. Looking ahead, work has also begun on the 2026 Conference and the International Year of the Cooperatives.

Sabbir Patel, Senior Vice-President, Emerging Markets

Sabbir is responsible for overseeing the Emerging Markets team at ICMIF and oversees the ICMIF 5-5-5 Mutual Microinsurance Strategy which was launched in June 2016 to scale up mutual microinsurance in five countries where members are already operating. The objective is to build resilience in communities and develop insurable populations by providing financial education, risk reduction and affordable need-based insurance products.

Sabbir joined ICMIF in 1996, starting work on a member directory and the company’s finances. He then also worked on investment and agricultural networks, website, conference sponsorship and the ICMIF Series of Mutual Funds. In 2004, he took over as Managing Director of ICMIF’s capital support facility Allnations Inc and made several investments to support the development of member companies in Africa and Latin America.

In 2005, he was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, taking responsibility of the emerging markets department as well as the Federation’s finances. He oversaw a global cooperation with the Takaful sector including joint conferences, newsletters, an ICMIF Takaful website and the promotion of the concept of microtakaful. With the support of the ICMIF Development Committee, an ICMIF microinsurance tool was developed in 2010 and successfully run across the globe for different stakeholders. He was also actively involved in working with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to develop guiding principles and an Application paper for the regulation of mutual microinsurance. Throughout his tenure member partnerships were facilitated through annual seminars on microinsurance, a regular newsletter and technical exchanges.

In 2015, Sabbir was also appointed CEO of the ICMIF Foundation to lead the ICMIF 5-5-5 Mutual Microinsurance Strategy which has issued over two million policies to low-income individuals to date.

Sabbir is a qualified chartered certified accountant (FCCA) and holds a Master’s degree at the Institute of Development and Policy Management (IDPM), Manchester and a CII Diploma in Insurance. He has represented the sector on many global platforms and written numerous articles on mutual microinsurance.

Vanessa Smith, Senior Vice-President, Operations

Vanessa Smith is Senior Vice-President, Operations at ICMIF with responsibility for finance, HR, IT and management of the head office in Manchester (UK). She is also part of the Senior Management Team which supports the ICMIF CEO in the delivery of the Federation’s strategic goals.

Before joining ICMIF in 2003, Vanessa’s background was in accountancy and since joining ICMIF she has held a number of roles including Reinsurance Technician and Member Engagement Manager. She was also instrumental in the launch and engagement with the Latin American Reinsurance Group (LARG) during its early years. The Group is a unique collaboration between a number of ICMIF members and was formed in order to allow these members to purchase reinsurance collectively and provide access to technical and reinsurance training.

As part of her current role, Vanessa coordinates and manages the ICMIF Board of Directors and Executive Committee annual meetings. She also holds an ex officio seat on the ICMIF/Americas Board of Directors and manages the governance issues for the ICMIF/Americas regional association.

Ben Telfer, Senior Vice-President, Membership

As Senior Vice-President, Membership, Ben has oversight and provides strategic direction across all of ICMIF’s member services, communications, networks and events.

Ben leads ICMIF’s Business Intelligence function that is focused on strategic research of emerging trends, best-practice strategies and innovations in the global cooperative and mutual insurance sector. The team is also responsible for delivering ICMIF member-only webinars and managing the strategic content available to members via the ICMIF Knowledge Hub. Ben also oversees all of ICMIF’s financial research and statistical analysis on the global cooperative and mutual insurance market and members’ financial information.

He is secretary of the ICMIF Intelligence Committee, a sub-committee of the ICMIF Board which is made up of more than 25 strategic leaders from member organisations. Ben also has responsibility for ICMIF’s activities in North America as member engagement lead for the Americas region. Ben designed and launched ICMIF’s Young Leaders activities, which has grown since 2017 and now offers a comprehensive range of activities and initiatives to help member companies develop their young and emerging talent.

Ben has over 10 years’ experience in the financial service industry. Before joining ICMIF in 2011, he was a research analyst for the corporate finance arm of a global information service provider. He has a Bachelor’s (B.A) Degree from the University of Manchester (UK).

He has also collaborated on a number of external research reports, written numerous articles for external publications, and delivered presentations and workshops on the latest trends and issues impacting the cooperative/mutual sector.

Mike Ashurst, Senior Vice-President, Reinsurance & Learning

Mike Ashurst is a Senior Vice-President at ICMIF, responsible for reinsurance and learning and development services. He organises the biennial Meeting of Reinsurance Officials (MORO) that attracts around 100 reinsurance professionals from across the globe. On the learning side, he runs the ICMIF Advanced Management Course and several bespoke development courses, as well as some new online offerings. Mike also facilitates ICMIF's HR forum.

Mike has been in the (re)insurance industry since 1989, working for three years at The Co-operative Insurance in the UK as a reinsurance technician. He joined ICMIF in 1993, working initially as a reinsurance technician then later providing reinsurance intermediary services to ICMIF members. He has conducted development courses and workshops all over the world. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Mike is secretary of the ICMIF Reinsurance Committee and has organised several networking forums focused on talent development, and has written articles and blogs for ICMIF and various external publications on the topics of reinsurance and talent development.

Catherine Hock, Senior Vice-President, International Relations

Catherine Hock is Senior Vice-President, International Relations. She monitors legislative and regulatory requirements which could potentially affect ICMIF members. Her involvement also includes participation in conferences where she presents and explains the characteristics of the mutual and cooperative insurance model.

Catherine has over 20 years of experience in financial services. Before joining ICMIF in 2013, she was Deputy Secretary General at the Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe (AMICE). She has a good knowledge of public administrations, having worked for the United Nations (at the Secretariat and in the field) and the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Catherine is responsible for member engagement and ICMIF’s work programme with Latin American members and has established working groups with members on Capital Maintenance and Sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

She authored the Practical Guide to Understanding Mutual Insurance and several position papers on behalf of ICMIF members to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on topics including financial stability, reporting requirements, risk management, governance and climate change risk.

Camille Gigoux, Vice-President, Events

After joining ICMIF in 2016 as Events Assistant, Camille worked on all ICMIF events and training courses around the world. She also managed the shift to virtual events during the Covid-19 pandemic. In June 2022, Camille became Vice-President - Events. Her role is to ensure the successful planning and execution of all ICMIF events (including major conferences, seminars, training courses, governance meetings and online events). Camille makes sure each event runs smoothly from start to finish. This often includes managing all aspects of production—from venue selection, equipment rentals and staffing decisions.

Camille has a Masters degree in marketing from Montpellier Business School and speaks three languages (English, Spanish and French).

Before joining ICMIF, she gained event and marketing experience in France, in big corporations such as Ayming Group, Warner Music and Lagardere.

Vicky Hughes, Vice-President Membership

Vicky grew up near Manchester, UK, and has been a dedicated member of the ICMIF team since 2004. As a passionate people person, Vicky excels in building and nurturing relationships through direct engagement, managing a comprehensive 360° view of membership engagement. Her role involves identifying which members are engaged in ICMIF services and how. Deeply understanding member challenges and communicating these effectively, while identifying opportunities for members to fully benefit from ICMIF’s service offerings. She creates tailored engagement proposals that ensure members derive tangible value from their membership, making a meaningful impact on their organizations.

In addition to her engagement work, Vicky oversees the entire membership lifecycle, including joining and onboarding processes, ensuring a smooth and effective experience for members at every stage of their journey with ICMIF. She also plays a crucial role in new business development and membership recruitment at ICMIF.

As the lead for ICMIF’s Brand and Marketing Forum, Vicky oversees a virtual platform that encourages members to share and explore best practices in marketing and brand strategy. Her leadership in this area fosters a collaborative environment where innovative ideas and practical examples thrive.

Vicky also has significant experience in project management, having led the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics, ICMIF’s customer relationship management system, where she successfully guided a team of ten.

Before joining ICMIF, Vicky gained valuable experience in the performing arts and travel industry. Fluent in Spanish, Vicky has lived in several cities around the world, including Madrid, Seville, Lisbon, Lugano, Brisbane, and Seoul, bringing a global perspective to her work.

Outside of work, Vicky enjoys spending quality time with her family, including her two teenage daughters and her Scottish Terrier. She has a keen interest in the arts, which she pursues in her free time.

Steve Leicester, Chief Finance Officer

Steve is responsible for the company’s financial function including accounting, audit, budgeting, treasury, and management of ICMIF’s investment portfolio. Before joining ICMIF in January 2016, Steve worked in the IT and Communications industry as Finance Director for the GK Communications Group before completing a management buyout of Pav Data Systems (a manufacturer and distributor of free space optics equipment). Steve is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant.

Steve is increasingly involved in ICMIF’s work in climate change, green bonds and sustainability and he actively supports the CEO Shaun Tarbuck in his role on the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) board. The CBI is an international, not-for-profit organisation which promotes ‘green’ capital investment projects to build a global, climate resilient economy.

Steve is also involved raising awareness within the ICMIF membership of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) which was established by The Prince of Wales in 2004 with the aim of inspiring action by finance leaders to drive a fundamental shift towards resilient business models and a sustainable economy. As part of ICMIF’s partnership with A4S, Steve encourages members to comply with the organisation’s recommendations as they become mainstream in financial reporting for all businesses.

Steve has written several blogs and articles on the topics of climate change, sustainability and ICMIF’s work with A4S.

Tina Blain, Project Coordinator, Member Services

Tina is a coordinator of ICMIF's range of member-only services, including virtual networks, events and strategic research. She works across different functions of the business, liaising with various project leaders to ensure the delivery of ICMIF's membership value proposition.

Prior to her current role, Tina was Resource Mobiliser for the ICMIF Foundation, where she was responsible for prospecting potential donors and cultivating relationships with potential and existing donors for the Foundation. This included liaising with potential donors, reporting to donors and writing proposals for external funding opportunities. She was also responsible for coordinating the technical assistance for project partners.

Tina is from Manchester in the UK and has enjoyed the opportunity to work in a variety of countries such as Croatia, USA, Belgium, Italy and Germany in the past. She has worked for both public, private and civil society organisations and her skills include bid coordination, business support and stakeholder engagement.

Georgina Compton, Manager, Member Intelligence

Georgina curates strategic intelligence resources on the ICMIF Knowledge Hub, compiling case studies that showcase the remarkable work of our members. Working in ICMIF's research team, Georgina develops qualitative research to complement the financial research Nick undertakes.

She also coordinates ICMIF’s Young Leaders initiatives, including the Young Leaders Programme held alongside the ICMIF Biennial Conference; and the Young Leaders Forum, a new virtual forum launched in 2023 aimed at providing peer networking and development opportunities for young and emerging professionals within the ICMIF membership.

Before joining ICMIF, Georgina spent three years teaching English in Fukushima, Japan. She holds a BSc in Anthropology from Durham University and an MSc in Bioarchaeology from Bournemouth University. Her Masters dissertation won the 2020 Association for Environmental Archaeology John Evans prize for best Masters dissertation.

Rebecca Compton, Financial Controller

Rebecca joined ICMIF in 2019 as Assistant to Steve Leicester, Chief Finance Officer, in the Finance Department. Before joining ICMIF, Rebecca had over 35 years’ experience working in finance teams including in the insurance sector.

Rebecca is married with two children and a black Labrador. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and spending time with her family.

Nick Dwyer, Research Analyst

As Research Analyst, Nick’s role involves collecting and analysing financial and non-financial data to present in periodic reports on both the ICMIF membership and the wider mutual insurance market. Regular ICMIF reports Nick works on include the Mutual Market Share, Global 500, and ICMIF Members: Key Statistics.

Outside of these reports, Nick collaborates with ICMIF colleagues on any data-driven projects, including specific member case studies and national/regional analysis.

Nick has previous experience in data analysis in the sporting world, and before joining ICMIF in 2021 was working in the banking industry.

Alison Grant, Communications Manager

Alison Grant is Communications Manager at ICMIF with responsibility for all external communications, public relations and social media for the Federation. She also has responsibility for the project management of ICMIF’s reports including editorial proofing and coordination of translations into member languages. Alison sources and publishes news stories on member organisations and collaborates with ICMIF staff and guest authors to produce regular thought leadership blogs, case studies and other thought leadership content which is shared with members.

Before joining ICMIF in 2011, Alison’s background was in marketing, communications and product management in the labelling industry, working for Paxar UK (now Avery Dennison) and collaborating with colleagues around the world at various global Paxar sites and local agents.

As part of her current role, Alison has editing responsibility for reports and publications from the Federation. She also liaises with ICMIF’s Supporting Members to help ensure they gain benefit from their membership and facilitates the sharing of their thought leadership with ICMIF risk bearing insurer members. Alison coordinates volunteer days for the ICMIF team with local charities.

Richard Hyman, IT Manager

Richard is an IT professional with over 9 years’ service at ICMIF. Richard is a progressive who seeks to modernise digital infrastructure; leverage technology to streamline & improve workflows & processes; and leverage IT to rout out new opportunities.

Richard says he is proud to be an employee of ICMIF and fully understands and buys into the inherent purpose-led nature of the cooperative and mutual insurance sector. His role helps underpin the creation and realisation of value for ICMIF’s membership and he operates with this in mind, knowing his work will ultimately help positively impact the communities in which our members serve.

Mike Johnson, Graphic Designer

Mike joined ICMIF in the summer of 2017. In his role as Graphic Designer, he is responsible for putting creative flourishes on ICMIF's media items – including videos, reports, emails - before they are shared with members and external stakeholders. He also designs logos and develops branding for all ICMIF conferences and events.

Prior to joining ICMIF, Mike developed his creative skills in various roles: including as a marketing assistant; a product photographer; and a web content editor. Eager to flex his creative muscles in a print-based role, he took on freelance projects - web design, logo development, theatre photography - in his spare time, to build his portfolio and give him the leverage to apply for bigger and better roles, leading to his role at ICMIF.

Mike enjoys seeing his work displayed in the office and at ICMIF events around the globe. Mike is also proud to have completed a Mental Health First Aid course, which would not have been possible without the support of ICMIF.

Mike looks forward to making new connections, and building better design skills, via ICMIF. There are always new projects on the horizon and Mike enjoys contributing to spreading the word about mutual insurance.

Kelly Wray, Office Administrator

Kelly is the Office Administrator at ICMIF and joined the team in 2016.

She is responsible for providing administrative support to all departments at ICMIF and has a varied role including operations and HR support; helping the finance team; and playing a large part in assisting the membership team. This involves data capture on ICMIF member organisations; generally all data input into the current database; and helping with the Dynamics Project to transfer to a new system.

Kelly has over 15 years administration experience, previously working in the insurance and legal sectors and supervising a team of admin clerks at a local law firm.

Kelly’s life outside of work mainly involves spending time with her boyfriend and very lively baby daughter!