2024 Break Out Awards NORTHEAST SOUTH MIDWEST WEST
SAMANTHA WARE Senior resolutions analyst II, team lead
United Educators Insurance
Bethesda, Maryland
Samantha Ware began her career as a paralegal, intending to attend law school, but after developing an interest in internal employment issues while working in the general counsel’s office at Amtrak, she found her calling at United Educators Insurance, which she joined in 2012. After starting in an entry-level claims position, she now leads a team handling claims related to the reciprocal risk retention group’s general liability and educators legal liability coverages.
What’s the current state of your sector of the insurance market?
United Educators has a steady retention rate. We’re financially stable, and the market appears to be stable.
How do you use, or think you’ll use, AI in your job?
I hope we can use artificial intelligence to address the task-oriented things that we do, to allow us room to innovate.
What’s a problem that needs fixing in your sector?
The effective transfer of knowledge across all levels and functions is a challenge. Because many of us find our way to insurance and grow by trial and error, we tend to focus on individual, rather than collective growth. The more we share our stories, the better we are at bringing others along to champion this work.
What is something about you that would surprise people?
Growing up, my local dance studio was a home away from home. To this day, I can do a pretty mean time step.
Favorite family tradition?
At the end of each day, I ask my son, “What was the best part of your day, the worst part of your day, and tell me something you’re grateful for.”
What did you want to be when you grew up?
An orthodontist. I thought braces were really cool.
