MBE Certified MGU and DE&I Firm Appoints Insurance Industry Executives to Its Board of Directors

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MBE certified Embrace Partners, Inc. ("Embrace"), a tech-driven managing general underwriter (MGU) of specialty commercial insurance and surety and a consulting firm focused on cultivating project-ready diverse businesses for construction projects, today announced the appointment of key executives to its Board of Directors. The Board will include Vince Tizzio, CEO, Specialty Insurance & Reinsurance at AXIS; Paul Wendler, Senior Vice President at CAC Specialty; Valerie White, Senior Executive Director at LISC NY; and R. Sharon Smith, Senior Managing Director and Chief of Staff at Ambac Financial Group, Inc. ("Ambac")

Embrace and Ambac recently announced they have formed a strategic partnership in which Ambac has assumed a minority ownership stake in Embrace. 

Claude LeBlanc, Ambac CEO noted that, "David Cayemitte is both a visionary and a tactician, having launched The Cayemitte Group, an insurance brokerage and consulting firm/MBE in 2005. We are excited about this strategic partnership and investment in Embrace and proud to support this mission-driven company."

Embrace Partners is led by industry veteran David Cayemitte, a well-respected thought leader and active participant in the insurance and the MWBE marketplaces. As a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Embrace will respond to and participate in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives. Embrace's mission balances a moral view with a business objective of aligning corporate America in a way that will help bridge the gaps of inequality.

Embrace's operating platform will adopt a "digital-first" mindset, leveraging technologies such as data science, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing to put efficiency and customer experience at the forefront of its model.

Placing insurance with Embrace allows buyers to advance their DE&I platform in exchange for excellent products and services. For example, Embrace has entered a new arrangement with Westchester, a Chubb company that offers commercial P&C excess and surplus coverages sold through wholesale brokers. Through the new facility, Westchester's wholesale distribution partners will be able to place business through the Embrace platform, helping brokers & customers meet their diversity goals through insurance spend. 

Mr. Cayemitte, a former executive at AIG, The St. Paul Companies and Travelers, explains, "Diversity has become a top priority for leading organizations both in the public and private sectors. Insurance procurement and DE&I-focused programs are formidable mediums to advance ESG commitments." He continued "Embrace Partners marks a momentous achievement within the insurance industry and leads a broader movement to broaden economic opportunities for historically marginalized groups. One of our primary goals is to increase participation by minority- and women-owned business enterprises and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in public projects through access to training, working capital, bonding, and insurance placement." 

Embrace has assembled an ecosystem of services that cultivate project-ready small and diversely owned businesses in construction. Embrace will offer educational services through the Minority Business Development Institute, a 501(c)(3) corporation founded by Cayemitte in 2010, and supported by Embrace as a main donor, to provide economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. MBDI-trained contractors have been sourced by companies and government agencies that require diverse spend for development projects, including the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY).

"David and his team are laser-focused on helping underserved populations—specifically, minority- and women-owned businesses and disabled veteran-owned businesses—participate in the construction industry," said Michael Clay, Senior Director of the Opportunity Programs Group and Co-Leader of Procurement for DASNY. "They provide the training, capital access and bonding needed to bid on projects as a primary contractor, which is a game-changer. Partnering with Ambac will enable Embrace to offer these crucial programs to contractors across the nation."

Embrace has already begun to engage other minority-owned vendors to facilitate its mission and circle dollars in diverse-communities, including by hiring Delphin Investment owned by Haitian born CEO Guy-Max Delphin to provide underwriting services, and Blanche LCC, a black-owned CPA firm to provide advisory and accounting services. 

ContactsDavid Cayemitte, President and CEO, Embrace Partners
[email protected]
646-753-1526

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SOURCE Embrace Partners