The Speakers

Prior to joining the Division, Heather spent five years as the Health Care Policy advisor to the Commissioner of Health and Social Services. As chief advisor on Medicaid policy, behavioral health system reform, and special projects, she focused on building relationships with stakeholders, providers, policymakers, and consumers in order to build consensus and buy in for departmental priorities.

Heather also spent six years as a legislative staffer including two years as the Chief of Staff to the Senate President. She developed and carried successful legislation for Senator Pete Kelly including a large Medicaid reform package estimated to save $400 million over six years and financing a $35 million patient housing facility at Alaska Native Medical Center. Heather is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University.

Margaret Varlamos

Instructor

Margaret Varlamos (CPCU, AIC, AU, LUTC, ACS, FLMI) is the owner and primary instructor of ILP. Margaret has been in the insurance industry since 1983. She started out in Omaha, Nebraska as a claims adjuster for life and health insurance. In 1989 she moved to Alaska, and for the next 14 years, worked for a State Farm agent selling all lines of insurance. She now owns Insurance Consultants of Alaska as well as ILP of Alaska.

Margaret has earned numerous insurance designations including: Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, Certified Insurance Counselor, Associate in Underwriting, Associate in Customer Service, Life Underwriting Training Council Fellow, Certified Insurance Service Representative, Fellow in the Life Management Institute and Associate in Claims.

Margaret has been teaching insurance classes in Alaska for the CPCU society, The BIG I (Independent Agents and Brokers Association) the Insurance Association of Alaska, The National Alliance and other fine insurance organizations. She is often asked to speak to non-insurance groups about insurance related issues as well. Audiences find her to be knowledgeable, enthusiastic and funny. Margaret makes insurance fun!

Gabe Gonzales

Instructor

Gabe Gonzalez, CIC serves as the Region Operations Manager for Safeco/Liberty Mutual in the Northwest Region. With over 28 years of experience championing Independent Agent development, Gabe has built a career around one simple belief: agents succeed when they succeed together. His passion lies in bringing agent partners to the table, fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, and building the kind of relationships that make a real difference in the marketplace. When he's not connecting people and celebrating agent accomplishments, well… he's probably thinking about how to do more of it.

Gabe Gonzalez has built a broad and diverse career with Safeco/Liberty Mutual, spanning customer service, human resources, sales, marketing, and regional operations. He began in the Licensed Customer Service unit, representing agency partners, and later moved into a supervisory role within the department. He then transitioned into Human Resources as an HR Generalist, supporting employee relations and recruiting for call center operations.

Gabriel later joined the Sales organization as the Personal Lines Territory Manager for Western Washington and Alaska. He subsequently moved into a Marketing Consultant role, where he led regional communications and agent engagement efforts. During this time, he also co-created the Customers for Life program. Since 2014, Gabriel has served as Region Operations Manager, overseeing Personal Lines and Commercial Lines sales teams, as well as the regional marketing and events team. In this role, he provides strategic direction and operational support to agency partners through agency best practices presentations, marketing symposiums, and broader marketing and agency operations initiatives.

Zachary Gleason

Instructor

Zachary Gleason has worked in the agent and broker business since 2007. He began his career in commercial P&C at Aon, where he worked on a range of strategic projects and initiatives. He later managed a 32-person agency in Houston and a 300-plus employee agency in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

He is a licensed agent, earned his ARM designation, and holds an MBA from Duke University. Since founding Atlante nearly 10 years ago, Zachary has worked with independent agencies across the U.S. as an integrated leader and subject matter expert. His work focuses on helping agencies implement practical strategies for leadership, sales growth, and service operations, all with the goal of helping agencies grow and remain independent.

Brad Norris

Instructor

Brad Norris, ASP, is Manager, Loss Control with Alaska National Insurance Company, a CopperPoint company. He brings 20 years of safety experience, including 10 years in insurance, helping clients identify exposures, reducing losses, and translating survey findings into practical risk improvement strategies.

Expertise include:

Management | Occupational Safety | Vehicle Safety | Communication

Sustainability |Leadership |DOT Compliance

Technical Skills:

BSCP Certified ASP | OHSAS 18001 Certified Internal Auditor |

5S Certified Region Manager | Kaizen |

Ives Training Certified Master Trainer | OSHA 500 and 510 Certified |

American Heart Association Basic Life Safety First Aid, CPR, and AED Trainer | American Society of Safety Engineer Member since 2010

Greg Sandrock, CIC

Big "I" Chair Elect: IIABA

Greg Sandrock is a primary owner of The Cornerstone Agency in Tampico, Illinois. He was installed as Big “I” Chair Elect in September 2025. Sandrock was the president of Big I of Illinois and served as their national director, prior to joining the Big “I” Executive Committee in 2022. Over the years, he has taken on key leadership roles, including serving as a member and chairman of the Big “I” Crop Task Force, as well as a member of the InsurPac Board of Trustees, the Big “I” Steering Committee, and the Big “I” Government Affairs Committee. In particular, Sandrock is a passionate advocate for the importance of crop insurance. Using his expertise and strong connections on Capitol Hill, he makes sure farm agents’ concerns are heard and addressed during crucial farm bill negotiations. Sandrock owns The Cornerstone Agency along Todd Mickley and his sons, Luke and Tyler. It is a family-owned business that serves clients across Illinois and the Midwest from five locations. Founded in 1896, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing more than 25,000 agency locations united under the Trusted Choice brand. Trusted Choice independent agents offer consumers all types of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products—from a variety of insurance companies.

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