Justin Gardner

Justin is the Chief Executive Officer for Signal. He has been a member of the Signal team since 2017, initially serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer. Justin has over twenty-five years of experience in the insurance market, both as a senior underwriter and reinsurance broker. Prior to joining Signal, he was Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Specialty for Willis Re. He also worked at General Reinsurance Corporation for twenty-two years, where he served as Global Ocean Marine Manager and Chief Underwriting Officer. Justin has a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.Sc. in Finance from London Business School. He has served on the boards of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters and American Hull Insurance Syndicate and is a member of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and National Cargo Bureau.

Tony Filiato

Anthony R. Filiato, Esq., is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Signal. He also serves as a Director and as Assistant Secretary of Signal Mutual. Prior to his employment with Signal, Mr. Filiato was Senior Counsel within the marine department of the law firm Mendes & Mount. He worked his way through college and law school as a clerk with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. Mr. Filiato received his B.A. in History from Fordham University in 1985 and his J.D. from Fordham Law School in 1988.  He is admitted to the Bars of the states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, and the Maritime Law Association of the United States (MLA). Mr. Filiato currently serves on the Board of Directors of the MLA and is Past Chair of its Standing Committee on Stevedores, Marine Terminals, and Vessel Services and holds Proctor in Admiralty status. Mr. Filiato currently chairs the Insurance Committee of the National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE) and has served on the Industry Partners Committee of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA). 

Rick Hayes

Rick serves as Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Performance for Signal. He is responsible for overseeing the organization’s operational performance and infrastructure, as well as improving efficiency and effectiveness across all functional teams. Prior to joining Signal, Rick was a member of PwC’s insurance advisory practice, working with industry leaders throughout the US and Global Commercial Insurance markets. He brings over ten years of experience in the operations and strategy space, spanning the entire insurance value chain and multiple lines of business. In addition to consulting experience, he has a background in underwriting and account management, having spent time as an Excess Casualty underwriter at Arch Insurance Group. Rick graduated from Colgate University with a B.A. in Political Science.

Bert Iams

Bert was hired in July 2022 to lead Signal’s newly formed GovCon unit. In this role he has responsibility for leading the development and growth of Signal's Defense Base Act (DBA) offering, servicing the unique needs of our government contracting clients. Prior to Signal, Bert worked at AIG from 2006-2022, most recently serving as their Head of DBA. Bert has over 27 years of commercial insurance experience, with a broad understanding of property casualty insurance including DBA and workers’ compensation. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where he double majored in mathematics and engineering.

Richard Lubert

Richard is Signal’s Senior Vice President of Safety & Member Performance. In this role, he partners with Members to implement cultural change, optimize human and organizational performance, foster operational excellence, and cultivate incident-free environments. He assists Signal’s Members in creating inclusive and accelerated plans that transform safety attitudes and align health and safety approaches to Member goals. Prior to joining Signal, Richard worked for General Electric for thirty years, holding roles across a variety of business units, including legal, human resources, sourcing, and HSE. He was also appointed GE Energy’s Senior Executive for Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability. During his tenure there, he partnered with executives, clients, unions, and governmental agencies to provide strategic leadership for 500 facilities in over 100 countries. Richard received his Bachelor of Science from Purdue University, Juris Doctor from Union (Albany) Law School, and Master of Business Administration from Columbia University. 

Yvonne Poster

Yvonne Serves as Chief Financial Officer for Signal. She is a financial executive and CFO/Controller with over 30 years of international experience in property/casualty insurance, reinsurance, hedge fund company operations, accounting, financial and management reporting, information technology and regulatory compliance. Yvonne has an established track record of building highly motivated finance teams, partnering with CEOs of growing business units, and leading large finance transformation initiatives. She possesses keen skills in strategic planning, financial re-engineering, process optimization, due diligence reviews, finance and business transformation. She has had responsibility for budget and forecast management, P&L management and reporting, SEC, IFRS and Solvency II reporting. Most recently, Yvonne served as Global Head of Financial Transformation for AmTrust Financial Services, where she led a variety of global systems transformation projects as well as the enterprise financial systems team. 

Gia Sawko

Gia joined Signal in 2023 as the Chief Claims Officer. She brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the Property Casualty Claims Industry. Most recently, she was the Director of Claims for Gradient AI, a leading AI insurtech innovator and essential claims partner to Signal. While at Gradient AI, Gia specialized in providing cutting-edge artificial intelligence and predictive analytics technology to insurance companies, helping them expedite the return of injured workers, minimize claims costs, and enhance overall claims activities. Prior to Gradient AI, Gia worked at Gallagher Bassett as Vice President of Business Impact and Claim Best Practices, functioning in a similar capacity by designing, delivering, and maintaining best-in-class claims technology solutions. 

Phil Schellhorn

Phil serves as Chief Underwriting Officer for Signal. Initially hired in 2017 as one of three underwriters on the team, he was appointed as an Officer in 2021. In his role, Phil is responsible for developing underwriting procedures and strategic initiatives, overseeing all aspects of the Mutual’s underwriting function, and ensuring appropriate services are coordinated and delivered to all Members of the Association. Additionally, Phil manages the relationship with the Mutual’s State Act Companion Program carrier and the development of new product offerings for Signal Members. Phil has over fifteen years of (re)insurance industry experience. Prior to joining Signal, he worked at General Reinsurance Corporation for over ten years, where he served as Vice President and North American Marine Manager. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College with a double major in Finance and Government.

Dewey Winebrenner