ITIC Global Advisory Committee

Sharon is an experienced leader in the travel and health insurance sector, with over 20 years of experience in international travel, risk management, and global assistance operations. At Allianz Partners, Sharon plays a key role in supporting international travellers and expatriates through thoughtful leadership and a strong focus on operational delivery.

With a self-confessed customer obsession, Sharon is dedicated to consistently delivering first-class service and seamless customer journeys. She brings a deep knowledge of supply chain management, continuous operational improvement, and quality management initiatives, as well as commercial acumen and proven stakeholder management skills.

Sharon’s leadership philosophy is grounded in purpose and trust. She sets high standards for herself and her teams, prioritising engagement, resilience, and high performance. As a mentor, she focuses on recognising and building on individual strengths.

A pioneer at heart, Sharon has led the successful implementation of new systems throughout her career, championing innovative approaches that improve service delivery and efficiency. Driven by a clear sense of fairness and impartiality, Sharon’s work continues to shape how the industry delivers support to travellers around the world.

Natalya Butakova is CEO of AP Companies Global Solutions, leading international independent third-party administrator (TPA), healthcare management, cost containment and emergency medical assistance company. Natalya has been with AP Companies since 2005, having previously worked in private hospitals. Within AP she has been involved in business development projects, client management, new office set-ups, sales and digitalisation processes. “Growing together with AP has been inspiring and exciting,” she says. “Work has never been routine and monotonous for me, but rather always challenging, developing and motivating. Helping people to live a better life and getting better healthcare by itself is a huge motivator.”

AP Companies is a leading international independent TPA, healthcare management, cost containment and emergency medical assistance company, and has the largest direct medical provider network in 185 countries. AP is at service 24/7, successfully meeting the medical needs of clients from all types of industries, whenever and wherever they need us. Our professional experience, flexibility, determination and medical provider network capabilities help us to find a solution to satisfy any type of medical need and service expectations. As an international company with local presence in more than 30 countries across the globe, we bring together knowledge and experience, while understanding capabilities and cultural differences when accessing medical care by expats, professional workers, travellers, and local insured members. AP’s specialist Cost Containment team consistently achieves significant savings and carefully controls the expenditures of its clients.

With a career spanning over 25 years in financial services, insurance and assistance, Alastair Crossley now leads the Global Travel Solutions team at AXA Partners. He is responsible for the end-to-end value proposition, innovation, commercial framework, customer solution delivery & implementation for the AXA Travel Insurance offering globally. Having started his career in asset finance, Alastair soon moved into a commercial role in the UK for an automotive data services business, before joining the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) as Head of Motoring Services. In 2020, Alastair joined AXA Partners to head their Global Roadside Assistance programme, before switching industries to lead the Travel Solutions team. An accomplished public speaker, Alastair regularly covers travel and travel insurance topics from Security to Sustainability and Insuretech to Risk.

Elaine is the Global Health Benefits Europe Account Management Director for Small and Midsize Employers. With more than three decades of insurance and employee benefits industry experience, of which more than 20 have been dedicated to global employee benefits, Elaine is a seasoned leader who offers a client-centric approach, deep strategic insights, and a commitment to excellence.

Elaine is currently responsible for driving growth and retention strategies, developing talent, and overseeing relationship management initiatives across a diverse portfolio of small to midsized global clients in the UK and Europe. She ensures that clients receive high-impact solutions that align with their evolving needs in a complex global environment.

Elaine holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and brings with her a deep passion for delivering value through collaboration, innovation, and a relentless focus on client outcomes.

With over 30 years in travel insurance, starting as a Lloyd’s broker, then in retail B2C with Columbus Direct and now at Collinson, Lloyd has enjoyed supporting ITIC over the years, and is still open to new ideas and opportunities. He also chairs the travel committee at the ABI, often working with the UK Ombudsman, the FCA and FCDO to promote our industry and improve customer outcomes.

Heading up Collinson’s £200m+ travel insurance product line, he has responsibility and oversight of all UK & European schemes where Collinson are delivering an insured solution to a client or direct to the consumer. He enjoys travelling, video gaming, golf, and socialising, mostly surrounded by a lovely and patient wife, two grown-up daughters yet to abandon them and a dog who can open doors!

Laura Hilton has over 25 years experience creating quality-driven, cost-effective global healthcare networks. The architect of a worldwide healthcare network available to over 62 million insured members in 180+ countries, Laura is passionate about leveraging technology to simplify the healthcare experience. Laura has developed customized international healthcare solutions for multinational corporations, family offices, study abroad programs, NGOs and professional sports teams. A graduate of Yale University, Laura speaks five languages.

Patrick Schomaker works in International Business Development for Global Health, which provides flexible health insurance for digital nomads, expats, and globally mobile people who work and live abroad.

He is a sales and marketing expert with nearly 20 years’ experience in the international health insurance industry, and over 25 years in the travel industry generally.

Before moving to Global Health early 2022, Patrick spent 15 years in the aeromedical sector with European Air Ambulance, providing international medical evacuation and worldwide assistance services; and began his career in commercial and contractual relations, pricing and revenue management for Lufthansa and United Airlines in Europe and the US.

With a wide-ranging understanding of the industry, Patrick has worked with clients including insurance and assistance companies, international corporations, NGOs and governments around the world, and is an experienced keynote speaker at international conferences.

Marc’s career started with the company as far back as 1995, on the repat travel desk for Voyageur 24, before ultimately becoming Director of Travel. He is now Chief Operating Officer for the Voyageur Group. From his first ITIC in Global as a delegate in Nassau, Bahamas, and missing just two ITIC Global events since,  he joined the moderating team in Athens 2023 and brings a new energy and style to moderating, and isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions, provoke debate, or laugh at himself.

Ian Cameron is the Founder of the Voyageur Group of which he is the CEO, and which also comprises ITIC, and he is Editor in Chief of ITIJ. He has been involved in events for over 30 years, and as Chairman of the Executive Committee, Ian has been instrumental in developing the ITIC community, bringing industry professionals together to network, share ideas and insights and build their businesses.

Mandy Langfield is Director of Publishing for Voyageur Group. In this capacity, she guides the editorial policy of the company, and ensures the content of the magazines (ITIJ and AirMed&Rescue) is relevant, insightful and valuable to their readers. Furthermore, she is a member of all the ITIC executive committees, consulting with other industry professionals on agenda topics and speaker briefs. 

Patrick has over 20 years of experience in the travel insurance market and currently serves as the AVP of Business Development for Travel Insurance at Optimum Life Reinsurance. He is also the Vice President of the Travel Health Insurance Association (THIA), having been a board member for the past five years and a dedicated volunteer with the association for the last decade.

In addition to his role at THIA, Patrick is actively involved in various industry committees as a member, Co-Chair, Chair, and Board Director for organisations such as the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) and the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA). He plays a key role in organising significant industry events, including a major travel insurance conference for Optimum and a Life & Health insurance conference for the CIA. Patrick is also a speaker within the industry, addressing topics related to risks and behaviours in travel insurance.

Before his current position, he gained valuable experience in group insurance, focusing on pricing, strategic planning, and compensation, as well as corporate evaluation concerning employee benefits, including consulting on pension plans and post-retirement benefits.

Having worked in the industry for nearly 30 years the last 17 as an independent consultant, I have worked on numerous types of projects and supported Insurers, medical assistance companies, claims handlers and suppliers to the industry. I am chairman of the Travel Insurance Claims Committee (TICC) and sit as a guest on the ABI Travel Committee. I act as an expert witness when called upon, especially in mediations and inquests. I feel into international disaster recovery by accident but have travelled the world at a moment’s notice since 1996, which is always an adventure and honour.

Brad joined TuGo in 2003 as Executive Director, Business Development. He’s now Chief Customer Officer and responsible for all customer-facing operations. In addition to overseeing growth in the traditional sales segments, he manages the Customer Operations and Customer Service teams.

Brad brings more than 35 years of insurance experience to the team, 25 of which were spent with AON and Marsh & McLennan, where his role involved providing risk management and consulting services to corporate clients, with an emphasis on medical and health insurance program structure.

Most recently, he served as President of Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada’s (THiA) Executive Board, having previously served as Vice-President. He is still active on the Executive Board in his current role of Past President.

Brad attended Concordia University College of Alberta and the University of Alberta. He has a Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker designation.