Senior vice president, underwriting counsel and product development manager
QBE NORTH AMERICA
A self-professed builder, innovator and lifetime learner, Carol Zacharias thrives on “working with teams striving to create something new, something better and something that makes a difference.” She says there’s still much to be done as the insurance industry faces new challenges, competitors and ways of doing business. “Today’s risks are often new and certainly more sudden, dramatic and complex,” she says. “It is imperative that we lead rather than fall victim to transformational change by embracing diversity and inclusion, expertise, and innovative thinking – now more than ever.”
Prior to joining QBE, Zacharias was deputy general counsel for ACE North America, now part of Chubb. She has also served as chair of the American Bar Association Business Law Section’s Business Insurance Committee and vice chair of the Professional, Officers’ and Directors’ Liability Law Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section. She also co-chaired the insurance subcommittee of the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s Committee on Corporate Counsel and was a member of the board of ACORD. She attended law school at New York University, where she received a master’s degree in corporate law, and she is a member of the US Supreme Court bar and the federal and New Jersey bars.
Zacharias says her 30 years in the industry have been fulfilling. “I have been part of building great insurance businesses, working with wonderful leaders and amazing peers,” she says. Zacharias has been published in a securities law textbook and the Nasdaq Guide to Going Public, along with a variety of periodicals, and has been quoted in various media outlets. She is a frequent speaker and has taught professional liability at New York’s College of Insurance, now part of St. John’s University.
Zacharias encourages those new to the industry to choose an organization with a culture that reflects their values, to absorb every learning opportunity and to build their professional brand with a body of trusted advisors, mentors and colleagues. Most importantly, she advises newcomers to gravitate to an organization that offers significant levels of work and challenges. “Do not be complacent,” she says. “Always drive towards achieving your goals.”
