About Risk Information

As a speaker, Brian has been called upon to host seminars for the senior management teams and boards of directors for insurance companies of all sizes, and make presentations on industry trends to agent groups and claims and operations professionals.

Brian started his career in 1979 at the Journal of Commerce, covering insurance and international trade. He continued his reporting on insurance, banking, venture capital and finance at the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1984 he was named Editor of the fledgling Philadelphia Business Journal and helped build it into one of the nation’s largest and most profitable regional business publications. In 1988 Brian was named Managing Editor of the American Banker, a daily newspaper for the banking industry, and in 1990 he was promoted to President of the company’s international newsletter and conference divisions.

In 1993 Brian formed what is now Risk Information Inc., launching Auto Insurance Report, a weekly newsletter, and Property Insurance Report, a bi-weekly. With his wife, Tracie Sullivan, as Conference Director, the company created national conferences for these industries in 1998.

Brian is Vice President of the board of directors of The Prentice School in Tustin, California. Prentice is one of the nation’s leading schools for the education of elementary school students with learning differences.

Brian, a native of New York City now based in Dana Point, California, is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

After helping launch the publishing arm of Risk Information Inc. in 1993 with her husband and business partner Brian Sullivan, Tracie created Risk Information Conferences in 1998. The Auto Insurance Report National Conference is held each spring, and has sold out each time, attracting more than 330 of the industry’s leading executives. The Property Insurance Report National Conference also attracts virtually every major home insurer in the nation, and sells out with more than 225 attendees.

The events are held at some of the finest hotels and resorts in the United States. Tracie has a close working relationship with such outstanding hotel groups as the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and Four Seasons, the Breakers in Palm Beach and more.

In addition to Risk Information Conferences, Tracie has helped create and manage a wide range of successful fund raising events. She has served as event chair or committee member for fund-raising events for Southern California groups such as the Mission San Juan Capistrano and the Prentice School.

Tracie began her career in the corporate planning department of Saks Fifth Avenue, New York. She has been an Associate Director of Admissions for the University of Southern California, opening the school’s first East Coast admissions office, and the University of Pennsylvania. Tracie is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Leslie is a freelance writer with more than 30 years of experience in journalism, business communications, and educational publishing. In addition to serving as the Managing Editor at Risk Information, Leslie is president of HannWriting Inc., her freelance editorial business.

Many of her stories focus on the entrepreneurs and executives who run successful businesses and the people who regulate them. In writing for and about the insurance world, Leslie is adept at translating the arcane business of managing risk into a compelling read, whether in bylined articles or industry reports.

Before starting HannWriting in 2000, Leslie was managing editor of Best’s Review magazine. She began her journalism career as a reporter for daily newspapers in New Jersey.

Leslie graduated with honors from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She lives in the woods of Lebanon Township, New Jersey.

Patrick started his career in presidential politics, managing teams of people registering voters, before joining Risk Information as a reporter in 2008 and conference speaker. He focused on innovation in the insurance industry, demographics, marketing, state regulation and more. From 2017 to 2021 he worked as Account Executive at Carpe Data and Engagement Manager at AAIS (American Association of Insurance Services), before returning to Risk Information.

Patrick, a native of Philadelphia now based in Chicago, Illinois, is a graduate of the Santa Clara University.

Ed covered city government, business and crime for the Peoria Journal Star and Pekin Daily Times in Central Illinois, and then the Elmhurst Press/Downers Grove Reporter in Chicago’s western suburbs. McMenamin is a native of Springfield, Illinois, and a graduate of Bradley University.

Additional biography information pending.