Vanessa Ruck, otherwise known as ‘The Girl on a Bike’ is a high profile rider, adventurer and presenter based in the UK. After a tragic accident on her pushbike followed by seven surgeries over seven years, Vanessa discovered the world of motorcycling, and just as importantly the thrill of exploring the world on them. As a rider she’s pushing the boundaries in a huge array of motorcycle disciplines. From full blown desert rallies, to hard enduro and road touring, to knee down track days, and trials. If it’s got an engine and wheels, Vanessa will be excited.

Vanessa is on a mission to show that nothing is impossible if you work hard enough, even as a slightly reconstructed person following the accident. Instead of adding to the sometimes-toxic media landscape filled with ‘all so perfect’ lives, she’s real and honest, sharing the highs and the lows. Showing the strength needed to come out stronger against life’s curve-balls. She believes it’s about realising that wanting to quit is normal, that anxiety and stress can be overcome and that with the right mindset and strategies anything is possible. Born from real life experiences, she brings highly relatable lessons and tools to help face the battles and challenges of life.

As a force to be reckoned with, she’s a rider, racer and adventurer living with ongoing pain, and is determined to make the most of every day despite her past, and help others do the same. Vanessa will be joining us with her energetic real-life experiences following her life-changing story from accident to becoming a rider and international racer who has now ridden in over 28 countries.

Please do give Vanessa a follow / like: Instagram| Facebook| LinkedIn| YouTube| TikTok

François-Xavier first joined Allianz Partners in 1997, managing medical evacuations and repatriations under the banner of ELVIA. He then held different roles across Medical Assistance in France and as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Medical Global Competency Center (MGCC) Europe-Brussels. Now Group CMO, François-Xavier is leading the Allianz Partners medical community and overarching all activities involving medical competence across the Group.

In parallel to his career at Allianz Partners, François-Xavier remains an active emergency physician with the SAMU, the French emergency medical service.

Daniel has over 14 years of experience in the health insurance industry and has an in-depth knowledge of the healthcare system in Switzerland.

He has worked several years for two major Swiss health insurance companies in management positions and then joined Medi24 as Key Account Manager in 2015. Over the years he progressed to Head of Products and Sales and is currently Chief Sales Officer (member of the Executive Board) of Medi24. During his time, the patient contacts were expanded from 300,000 to 1.5 million in 2022.

Medi24 is part of the Allianz Group and in this context provides digital health services in the EU, APAC and UAE region.

Katie Crowe is a tech-savvy, award-winning global communications expert with 23 years of experience on both the agency and client side. Katie has advised and counselled senior leadership teams in the tech industry, including FTSE 100, FTSE 250, and start-up companies, due to her passion for technology and innovation. In 2021, she was honoured with three industry awards: the Travolution Best PR Campaign, the TravMedia Best PR Campaign, and the National Insurance Awards Communications Team of the Year.

As the Global Head of PR and Communications at battleface, a tech-enabled travel insurance provider, Katie has led the global PR strategy to successfully build the battleface brand in the U.K and U.S. She is responsible for a team of people and has retained global PR agencies in the U.K and U.S. Katie has extensive experience with strategy and message creation, public relations planning, media relations, crisis support, event management, content creation, executive profiling, and international coordination.

Her tech-related experience extends to her role as a PR consultant, in which she has developed and delivered PR campaigns for clients in the tech industry such as Skyscanner, PADI EMEA, and PKF Francis Clark. She additionally has held a number of leadership roles, including global PR manager at TNS and European PR manager at Avid Technology.

Katie holds a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in French, Russian, and Linguistics from the University of Brighton and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish. Outside of work, she enjoys leading an active, healthy lifestyle with her teenage children and her two-year-old Labrador, Benji, as well as travelling and connecting with people from all over the world.

Lauren Gumport is the Vice President of Communications & Brand at travel insurance disruptor, Faye. She has over ten years of experience in launching high-growth startups to global audiences and is passionate about the mix of travel and tech and how the combination of the two transforms experiences. With a data-driven approach to storytelling, Lauren has reached international markets and driven startup growth exponentially. Her travel commentary and expertise has been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes and more.

Elliott Draga is the Chief Commercial Officer at Nordic Insurance Software (NIS).  NIS is a leading global provider of insurance back-end platforms for travel, health and private medical insurance. Elliott has led NIS’ geographic and product market expansion in recent years and is now responsible for the company’s overall commercial strategy, including continued growth into new market segments and reinforcing that NIS remains the market leader for travel, health and private medical insurers and assistance companies across the globe.

Elliott is also the Vice President of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIA). Elliott has been a member of THIA since 2014, and was a founding member of THIA’s Innovation Lab.

Alan Abreu is a seasoned professional with almost 20 years experience in insurance, having worked with the largest global names in the industry. Alan’s experience includes product development, sales, underwriting and brokerage development. Alan is passionate about cyber risk management and for the last 8 years has focused exclusively on cyber risk. Prior to joining BOXX Alan led Cyber for Chubb Iberia, headed Tech and Cyber for Hiscox for Iberia, and was Cyber Growth Leader in Marsh Spain.

Alan lives in Madrid with his wife and two children.

Mark joined The London Clinic in February 2020 as Head of PMI Relationships and Product Development where he is responsible for driving key strategic relationships with both domestic and international insurers as well working with the wider clinic team to drive innovative proposition and product development across all customer groups.

Prior to his role at The Clinic, Mark worked for Bupa in a number of senior management positions across their portfolio of services. This included running their claims department, leading the transition from a single site outsourcing operation in Mumbai to a dual site in Delhi/Jaipur with a different third party company and personal accountability for numerous key hospital provider negotiations and relationships.

Jason is the Chief Revenue Officer at The Phia Group LLC (via its affiliate Phia International) and guides the organisation’s product development, business development functions, client success, and channel partnerships. Prior to his time at The Phia group, Jason was Vice-President US Markets for another cost-containment company, where for nearly 10 years, he contributed at various levels of claim settlement, dispute resolution, R&D, product development, sales, and leadership. He also founded JCDC in 2014, which is a cost-containment company that catered to International payers with exposure in the US. In order to expand its reach into International markets, The Phia Group acquired JCDC in 2020. As such, Jason’s network of industry partners, contacts and clients are spread all over the world.

Jason or ‘Jay’ (as he is so often called) is a self-professed and proud ‘nerd.’ He is a consistent contributor to industry periodicals, and a regular speaker at conferences that address medical cost-containment issues for multiple insurance industries. Jason loves to work hard, play hard, travel, and spend time with his wife, Kim and their four children – Aleithea, Kairus, Xeidan and Mohzen.