About us

Head of Policygenius Agency

Nicole leads teams focused on making it easier for people to shop for and secure insurance coverage through Policygenius. She brings over 20 years of experience across life, disability, and P&C insurance, with a strong background in digital distribution, sales, and operations. Nicole works at the intersection of carriers, technology, and consumers driving growth by aligning business goals with what customers actually need. She also served as the President of the Life Insurance Direct Marketers Association (LIDMA) for three years and is now serving as the Immediate Past President to help advance industry collaboration and access. Nicole holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College and is committed to building solutions that simplify insurance and expand protection for more families.

Head of Sales & Revenue Operations

Anthony leads sales and revenue operations initiatives focused on driving sustainable growth, strengthening carrier and client partnerships, and improving alignment across teams. He brings extensive experience in insurance distribution, sales leadership, and revenue operations, with a background spanning life and annuity solutions and technology-enabled platforms. Working closely with cross-functional partners, Anthony focuses on improving sales effectiveness, optimizing processes, and supporting distribution partners with the tools and insights they need to succeed. He is known for building and mentoring high-performing teams and fostering long-term relationships grounded in trust, transparency, and accountability. Anthony is committed to keeping the customer at the center of every decision, with a focus on delivering clarity, consistency, and long-term value across the insurance experience.

Head of Underwriting & Fulfillment

As Head of Fulfillment, Mike leads carrier relations, quality assurance, and funnel operations, ensuring a seamless experience from application through policy issuance. With 14 years of experience in life and annuity insurance, he brings deep industry expertise and operational rigor to scaling high-performing teams. Over the past nine years at Policygenius, Mike has played a key role in building and optimizing fulfillment infrastructure to drive efficiency, accuracy, and carrier partnership excellence.

Head of Marketing

Ben leads the marketing organization, driving brand growth, engagement, and customer acquisition. He brings a strong track record of building high-performing teams and scaling D2C marketing initiatives at leading organizations, including Allstate, Crocs, and Omnicom Media Group. At Policygenius, Ben focuses on connecting people with the right insurance solutions by translating complex products into clear, human-centered stories that resonate with consumers. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Head of CRM

Sara Erickson leads CRM at Policygenius, where she oversees lifecycle strategy and customer communications, guiding prospects through the shopping experience and supporting customers post-purchase. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in building data-driven programs that strengthen customer relationships, increase engagement, and drive loyalty and retention. Prior to Policygenius, Sara helped high-growth organizations build and scale their lifecycle marketing programs, turning one-time buyers into loyal customers.

Head of Partnerships

Usman serves as Head of Partnerships at Policygenius, where he leads the company’s performance and affiliate partnership strategy to drive diversified, high-quality customer growth. He is responsible for shaping and scaling a strategic partner ecosystem that delivers sustainable acquisition while strengthening long-term business resilience. Prior to joining Policygenius, Usman held partnership and growth-focused roles at leading social platforms including Pinterest and Quora, where he developed data-driven strategies that connected brands with engaged audiences at scale. His experience across performance marketing and platform partnerships informs his disciplined, analytical approach to building durable, high-impact relationships that create long-term value.

Chief Executive Officer

As Chief Executive Officer at Zinnia, George Esposito leads the company's vision to simplify insurance through innovative technology platforms. His career spans insurance, reinsurance, distribution, administration, technology, product delivery, and asset management, giving him deep expertise in modernizing how products are developed, distributed, and serviced across the ecosystem. Since joining Zinnia, George has served as EVP, Head of Insurance Platforms, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. In these roles, he helped shape the company's technology, platform, and TPA strategy, advanced Zinnia's end-to-end platform capabilities, accelerated adoption of innovative solutions, and gained a strong understanding of the enterprise priorities that support Zinnia's growth. Before Zinnia, George served as President, COO, and General Counsel of Everly Life Insurance Company and as Deputy General Counsel at Nassau Financial Group. He began his career as a corporate attorney at Milbank LLP and Pepper Hamilton LLP, advising financial institutions on complex strategic and regulatory matters. George holds a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D. from New York Law School.

President

Ash Sawhney is President & CRO at Zinnia, where he manages Zinnia's core business lines. With more than 35 years in the insurance industry, Ash specializes in tech-enabled automation that helps carriers and distributors grow revenue, improve efficiency, and enhance the end-to-end annuity experience. Prior to his current role, Ash served as Chief Revenue Officer at Zinnia, and previously as President of Insurance Solutions North America at Ebix. He also held senior roles at State Street, including Vice President of Global Strategy & Development. Throughout his career, he has guided some of the industry's leading carriers and distributors through digital transformation and exchange enablement. Ash holds an MBA from the Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. He is known for his deep client focus, strategic mindset, and decades-long commitment to innovation in the life and annuity space.

Chief Technology Officer

Brad Medd is Chief Technology Officer at Zinnia, where he leads the development of modern, scalable platforms that power the company's vision. With over 25 years of experience spanning financial services, healthcare, and technology, Brad brings deep expertise in platform innovation, cloud transformation, and agile delivery. Prior to Zinnia, Brad served as Managing Director and SVP at IHS Markit, where he led major technology transformations across diverse asset classes, from leveraged loans to retail brokerage. His approach combines technical depth with a clear focus on enhancing the user experience through thoughtful, future-ready solutions. Brad holds a bachelor degree in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Outside of work, he's an avid outdoorsman with a passion for fly fishing, golf and gardening.

Chief People & Strategy Officer

Elaine Page is Zinnia's Chief People & Strategy Officer, bringing decades of experience as a talent strategist and business leader. Known for driving large-scale people transformations, Elaine has spent her career building organizational frameworks and cultivating high-performing, inclusive cultures. She joins Zinnia from Stripe, where she led people strategy through growth and acquisition. Throughout her career, Elaine has partnered closely with executive teams to align talent, culture, and structure with evolving business goals, always with an eye toward employee experience, leadership development, and long-term scalability. At Zinnia, she is focused on enabling a culture that supports innovation, accountability, and growth.

Chief Growth Officer

Ann Nanda is Chief Growth Officer at Zinnia, where she leads the company's growth organization and go-to-market strategy across business development, sales, account management, industry relations, and marketing. She is responsible for building a unified, disciplined growth engine that expands platform adoption, strengthens client and partner relationships, and drives long-term market impact across the life and annuities ecosystem. Ann joins Zinnia from Prudential, where she spent more than a decade in leadership roles, gaining deep experience across the life and annuities value chain. With a background spanning both product manufacturing and distribution, she brings a market-informed perspective to commercial strategy and execution. She is known for translating industry insight into scalable, repeatable growth, helping organizations evolve from early momentum to structured, high-performing operations.

Chief Product Officer

Michael Celi serves as Chief Product Officer at Zinnia, bringing over two decades of experience launching and scaling complex products in financial services. He excels at building high-performing product teams, driving products to market efficiently, and implementing scalable product design frameworks that align with business strategy. Before joining Zinnia, Michael held influential roles at Deloitte, Prudential, Deutsche Bank, IHS Markit, and ComplyAdvantage. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Management Information Systems from SUNY Albany. When he's not crafting solutions for simplifying insurance, he's out on the trail with his wife and their two gentle (but giant) Rottweilers.

CEO of Zinnia India

Josh Everett is CEO of Zinnia India, bringing high energy and a technology-forward mindset to the world of insurance. With deep expertise spanning life and annuities, from project execution and business process outsourcing to strategy and governance, Josh thrives on transforming operations into engines of innovation and efficiency. Since May 2022, he has led Zinnia's India hub, steering it from a back-office center to a Global Innovation Center. Whether implementing AI, blockchain, or API-driven tools, he tackles complexity with enthusiasm—bringing technology to life as the "engine of meaningful change". Based in Gurugram, Josh holds degrees in Information Systems and Computer Programming.

General Counsel

Olga Kaplan Buland is General Counsel at Zinnia, where she leads the company's legal function and advises on corporate governance, regulatory compliance, strategic transactions, and enterprise risk. With nearly two decades of experience spanning law, finance, and insurance, Olga brings deep expertise in navigating complex legal and regulatory environments to support Zinnia's mission of modernizing the life insurance industry. Prior to joining Zinnia, Olga served as Deputy General Counsel at Nassau Financial Group, where she oversaw legal matters related to insurance, asset management, and M&A activity. Earlier in her career, she practiced at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and held analyst roles at Mintz Levin and Bear Stearns. Olga earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. in Political Science from Wellesley College. She is based in Greenwich, CT.

Chief Financial Officer

Kihara "Key" Kiarie is Chief Financial Officer at Zinnia, where he leads the company's global finance organization and financial strategy to support long-term growth and operational excellence. With more than two decades of experience spanning private equity, corporate finance, and investment management, he brings deep expertise in capital allocation, financial operations, and strategic transformation across public and private companies. Before joining Zinnia, Key served as Chief Financial Officer of Bloomberg Media, where he led financial strategy and operations for the global media organization. He also held leadership roles as Chief Investment Officer at the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), Chief Financial Officer at Revolt Media & TV, and Managing Director at Saban Capital Group. Earlier in his career, he held investment roles at AEA Investors and J.P. Morgan. Key holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.