Meet Brotherhood Mutual
Brotherhood Mutual is an insurance company primarily serving churches, non-profits, schools, and other Christian organizations. For over 100 years Brotherhood Mutual has insured America’s churches and related ministries. Brotherhood Mutual insures more than 65,000 churches and related ministries and offers its MinistryFirst property and liability coverages in 47 states and the District of Columbia.
Brotherhood saw the need for medical insurance within the values-based industries and has added new divisions in order to serve church medical needs. This created the need for a new role of senior vice president of affiliate operations.
With new growth and responsibility, Mark Robison, Chairman & President of Brotherhood Mutual, needed someone to help run a new division. The senior VP of affiliate operations is responsible for leading the agency enterprises operationally and strategically, bringing plans and issues to the planning committee and their respective board of directors for approval.
They are also responsible for working with the CEO and fellow executive team members to establish long-range goals, strategies, plans, budgets, and policies. Brotherhood wanted someone on their team who had experience in the insurance industry, and who can help expand what is being built. Another core component of the Brotherhood Mutual position was looking for someone who is passionate about serving the church.
Marrying a faith and business mind
After many conversations with the board at Brotherhood, both our consultant and recruiter traveled to Fort Wayne, IN to learn more about their DNA, and to gather better insight into what to look for when finding and presenting candidates to the organization. It’s important to make sure that the organization and the potential candidate are on the page with the mission and vision of the company.
Our consultant interviewed Brotherhood’s staff, and what needs should be addressed while looking for the senior affiliate operations role.
The team thought their new senior VP should be a senior leader from a para-ministry setting. They didn’t necessarily need to have experience in the insurance industry, but would need a strong financial understanding if they didn’t have the experience. Culture-fit was also a large aspect of what the search team was looking for, with Christ at the center of every thing they do.
After collecting this helpful information, the search began. Back at Vanderbloemen, our consultant and recruiter teamed up to find the best candidates for Brotherhood Mutual. After multiple interviews, and finding the right candidate for Brotherhood, the board was pleased to hire Abel Travis as senior VP of affiliate operations.
A new addition to the leadership team
Abel is from Michigan he and his wife Alexius have two kids. Abel has over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry. Throughout his career, he moved up the ranks from director to AVP to VP to chief underwriter. With an innovative, entrepreneurial mind and a servant’s heart, Brotherhood knew Abel would be able to drive growth in this new area.
His vast experience is what makes him a great addition to Brotherhood Mutual, and we know he will excel in this new role.
