Our Incredible Team

Jim Marquis

Principal EVP
Chief Underwriting Officer

e: [email protected]
p: 630.238.2748
m: 773.860.2609

Jim is a Principal and co-founder of Euclid Public Sector Alternative Risk. He has thirty-five years of experience in the insurance industry with a roster of national companies. His underwriting training began as a package and workers compensation underwriter with the former Continental Insurance Company in Chicago.

Focusing his underwriting career over the twenty-five last years with public sector specialists such as Coregis, KEMPES, Munich Re America, Argonaut and Allied Public Risk, Jim negotiated and executed both first dollar and self-insured retention single and group (pool) risk accounts. Along with new business development, Jim’s strengths include a strong knowledge of sophisticated loss-sensitive pricing and exposure rating models, setting self-insured retentions, annual aggregate deductibles, and stop-loss aggregates.

Jim joined Euclid Public Sector Alternative Risk in 2015. In his current position, he is developing national production sources with the goal of building a book of individual self-insured retention accounts and statewide/national pools.

Jim obtained his BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has also earned his CPCU designation.

Chris Connacher

Principal SVP
Deputy Chief Underwriting Officer

e: [email protected]
p: 630.524.3242

Chris began his career with Liberty Mutual out of Columbus, OH. Over the last thirteen years, he grasped an extensive knowledge of reinsurance, pooling, and self-insured business. During that time, Chris has worked with several different super regional and national carriers with a heavy focus on public entity and non-profit sectors. Chris became a principal owner in 2022 of Euclid Public Sector.

Chris obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ohio University in Athens, OH. He holds his CPCU, AIC, and AU-M designations and is currently working with the Tony Robbins Foundation in their executive leadership program.

Kathy Ayala

Kathy Ayala

Vice President Head of Operations

e: [email protected]
p: 630.238.2713

Kathy Garcia

Kathy Garcia

Assistant Vice President
Primary Practice Leader

e: [email protected]
p: 630.238.2737

Kathy underwrites our professional liability products. She currently lives in North Riverside, IL with her husband and three beautiful children and is the 2014 winner of Euclid’s PGC Award.

Tom Barney

Tom Barney

Assistant Vice President

e: [email protected]
p: 630.238.2710

Tom underwrites our property and liability products. He currently lives in Berwyn, IL and holds the AU and AIS insurance designations and is currently working on his AINS designations.

Bill Rini

Assistant Vice President

e: [email protected]
p: 630.200.3606

I began my career as a producer with Huntington Bank’s Insurance Agency in their Columbus, OH office.  I took my first underwriting position 4 years later at a super-regional carrier and have held various positions of progressive responsibility since then including field management roles in Southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana.  I currently hold a CPCU and AIC designation and am working toward completion of an AIDA.  I hold bachelor’s degrees in Communications and American History from Muskingum University in New Concord, OH.

Wade Heiskell

Assistant Vice President

e: [email protected]
p: 847.627.6139

Wade brings over 25 years of commercial underwriting experience to his Assistant Vice President role.  He has spent time with multiple super regionals and has underwritten a diverse portfolio of business from small to middle market main street business to commercial agribusiness across the country.  He has multiple years of public entity and public/private school underwriting experience.

Wade resides in northeast Ohio with his wife and two children and is a lifelong resident of the Buckeye state.  He holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Ohio University in Athens, OH as well as his Associate in Underwriting designation.

Katie Illian

Assistant Vice President

e: [email protected]
p: 630.940.6184

Katie graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with a degree in Communication. She started in the insurance field during college and accepted an underwriting position right after graduation.  For almost twenty-five years Katie has worked for regional and monoline carriers, large multi-line national companies and at an independent agency early in her career.   With this agency and company experience, she brings a commonsense based approach to underwriting and is creative in trying to collaborate with agents to write, renew and service risks.

Katie believes relationships are one of the most important aspects of the business, and works hard to build relationships with brokers and underwriting teams.   She maintains a CIC designation and active producer license.

Working in a hybrid capacity out of her home in Omaha, NE allows Katie to travel to the IL office quarterly and she enjoys visiting with brokers and attending industry events.