Hippo has hired Kelly Wolf as chief human resources officer. She will lead Hippo’s HR team and is responsible for critical people-centered functions including employee relations, talent acquisition and management, and leadership development.

With 20-plus years of experience leading diverse HR organizations, Wolf joins Hippo from online retailer Zulily, where she was VP of People, overseeing human resources, talent acquisition, DEI and more. Prior to that, she led various people-centric teams at Amazon and Shopbop.com including employee relations, talent management and leadership development.

“Kelly has a proven track record helping high-growth companies build successful teams, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the Hippo family,” said Rick McCathron, president and CEO of Hippo. “The people at Hippo are the foundation of everything we do, and we look forward to having Kelly’s expertise in strengthening the workplace experience for our employees.”

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Texas Mutual announced that President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Gergasko will retire in early 2023 after 40 years in the insurance industry.

During his tenure with Texas Mutual, Gergasko served in various leadership positions for nonprofit and industry organizations, including chair of the American Heart Association Board of Directors in Austin; chair of the Austin Heart and Stroke Walk; member of United Way for Greater Austin’s Campaign Cabinet, which engages local business leaders to fight poverty; founding organizer of Texas Mutual’s cycling team for the MS 150; Executive Committee member of the Texas Business Leadership Council; member of the Austin Area Research Organization; member of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, and more.

Prior to joining Texas Mutual in 2013, Gergasko served in various leadership positions at SeaBright Insurance Company in Seattle.

“When I think about the last 10 years at Texas Mutual, there’s a lot to be proud of,” Gergasko said. “The consistent theme throughout has been our commitment to being a stable force for good across the state of Texas. Texas Mutual’s philanthropic program is second-to-none, making a difference in communities across the state with safety awards, scholarships, philanthropic grants and safety training grants. In 2022 alone, we are investing $12 million in philanthropic funding across Texas.”

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Guidewire has appointed Will McAllister as senior vice president, managing director, EMEA. He will lead Guidewire’s customer-facing teams across EMEA, including sales and delivery services, and will report to President and Chief Revenue Officer John Mullen.

McAllister has more than 16 years of operational experience in software companies, having most recently served as Guidewire’s vice president of EMEA Operations, general counsel and assistant corporate secretary. Prior to Guidewire, McAllister was head of Commercial and Legal with SAS Software and senior Commercial manager with Misys.

This announcement follows the opening of Guidewire’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, in March 2022. In the past year, Guidewire has grown its presence in six countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden) and now has 74 customers in 19 countries in the Guidewire EMEA customer community. In addition to the Dublin headquarters, Guidewire has offices in Denmark, France/Benelux, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.