News

2026 Don Hurzeler Scholarship Available

This benefit is named in honor of Don Hurzeler, the 2005-2006 National President of CPCU, who, as a long‑standing member of our chapter, generously provided support and professional encouragement to insurance professionals for many years.

The Chicago-NW Suburban CPCU Chapter has established a $1,000 scholarship grant for an active (paid) chapter member or an eligible member of their family. Past award recipients are listed below. Thank you to all who participated and to the committee members for their dedicated service.

Application Form  Eligibility Requirements

Any additional questions, contact the Scholarship chair Katy Hoffman [email protected]

Sebastian Wise awarded 2025 Don Hurzeler Scholarship

Sebastian Wise was born in Winfield, Illinois. He has resided in Illinois his whole life, fourteen years in
Bartlett and five years in Roselle. He is a proud graduate of Trinity Lutheran School in Roselle and Lake
Park High School. Always a resolute student, he made Honor Roll or Highest Honor Roll all four years of
high school. As a member of multicultural family, he speaks conversational Spanish. During his youth, he
was a proud member of the Bartlett Raiders football organization. His passion for sports continued in
high school. He was also a regular volunteer at the Our Savior Luther Church in Carol Stream. His
volunteering included a wide range of activities from managing stock at the annual garage sale to
organizing the sport events for the kids that attended vacation bible school. Sebastian attends Loyola
University Chicago and is majoring in Sports Business Management. He is a member of the Rambler
Brotherhood and Loyola Football Club. He recently finished his first year with a 2.933 GPA, and he will
be studying abroad in Rome, Italy, in the fall.

In his spare time, he likes to lift weights to remain physically fit and practice amateur photography.
Currently, he mostly spends his time working two part-time summer jobs, meeting up with friends, and
spending quality time with his family.

In the future, Sebastian hopes to continue living in Chicago. He also is interested in giving back to the
community through coaching local youth football programs. Sebastian plans to continue his education
through continuing to keep up with innovations in the Sports Business Management field.

CPCU Society Chicago-Northwest Chapter Achieves Platinum Designation

The Circle of Excellence Program provides chapter leaders with a framework to assist in providing a consistent member experience, supporting Society strategic goals and delivering value and services to members.  As a volunteer leader, you play a critical role in conveying the CPCU Society’s value to our members.

2021 saw our chapters continuing to work through challenges figuring new ways to meet members’ expectations and needs. Many of our chapters have responded to the pandemic in extraordinary ways and we thank you for continuing your commitment to making a difference.

I am pleased to announce and congratulate you and your chapter!  The Chicago-Northwest Suburban Chapter has earned the PLATINUM Circle of Excellence for 2021.  Your accomplishment has been shared with all members in our recent Membership Monday communication and a listing of all chapters and their achievement are posted online. 

While we are no longer providing chapters with physical circles to attach to a plaque, make sure to check out our digital graphics available for recognition.  Please share this achievement with your members so they are aware of your efforts that helped earn your chapter this recognition.  Remember to thank those responsible for your Circle of Excellence results and recognize them for their leadership during these most exceptional of times!

Thank you for helping us to meet our goals in providing relevant knowledge, empowering professionals to succeed and in engaging future generations of leaders.   Thank you for your dedication, your time and your resolve.  Please extend our congratulations to your leadership team and all chapter members who planned and participated in your many activities during 2021.

Best wishes to the Chicago-Northwest Suburban Chapter for continued success in 2022!

Continuing CE Credits

Be sure to stay current on your CE credits.  

Click here to learn how to earn credits.

Message From our President

I wanted to take a moment and share my excitement for the upcoming year. To begin with, thank you for your confidence in allowing me to be your president for 2022.  I will work closely with the board to ensure that this year will be impactful and engaging.

We are still virtual at this time so it is even more important that we remain connected.  Our monthly meeting will include a target speaker and two spotlight speakers.  The spotlight speakers will be one long time member and one newer member.  Please do not miss a meeting or you will miss an opportunity to get to know your fellow members.

We will have the CPCU Scholarship Grant of $1000 for an eligible student.  Please see the website for additional information.  There will also be plenty of opportunities to volunteer for our good works activities. 

We have an amazing club and it can be even better with the engagement of each and everyone of you.  I hope to see you at our upcoming meetings!

In2Risk 2022

San Francisco has been selected as the location for In2Risk 2022 to be held the week of 11/10/2022 thru 11/12/2022. 

Catch up with your colleagues, learn about the latest in the industry and welcome a new class of designees! 

2021 New Chapter Members

Please join us in welcoming 3 new member to the Northwest Chapter CPCU Society:

• Kate Dempster
• Steven Herris

• Patrick Barrick

Welcome aboard !

Continuing Education Credits

All CPCUs who completed their designation on or before June 30, 2016, were granted an initial reporting period of four years (July 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020​).

To remain in good standing after December 31, those CPCUs must earn and report 24 hours of continuing education before the end of this year.  

After this initial four-year period, the next reporting period will end December 31, 2022 and all CPCUs will be on a two year reporting cycle.

COVID-19 Chapter Updates

We wanted to take this time to update you all on some of the chapter event changes in light of the COVID-19 quarantine.

• The March 2020 Ethics Contest sponsored by the CPCU Society has been cancelled. Our members who attended the March meeting will still get CE credit.
• The 2020 CPCU Society Leadership Summit scheduled for April 30 to May 2, 2020 has been cancelled. Our chapter has elected to apply our Bronze Sponsorship to the 2021 Leadership Summit scheduled for late April 2021 in Portland, OR.
• Our April 2020 chapter meeting is cancelled as mentioned in a prior email.
• Our May 2020 Chapter meeting will not be held in person. We are looking into a virtual meeting, probably held between 7 pm and 8 pm. Please check back periodically to this website for updates.
• The May 7, 2020 Open House at DataCubes in Schaumburg has been postponed. No future date is currently scheduled.

• The May 14, 2020 Hepler Broom seminar has been postponed. No future date is currently scheduled.

We hope you are all staying safe and healthy during these turbulent times. Please continue to check the website for any changes.

Thank you.

Palatine Thanksgiving Basket Program

Picture of Palatine Thanksgiving Basket Program

President's Letter

The Gift That Keeps Giving   

It is with a grateful heart that I take a few moments to share my thanks for an amazing year in Chicago Northwest Suburban CPCU. First, I thank you for the opportunity to serve as your chapter president this year and for your gracious acceptance of my imperfections along the way. One of the most obvious is that I fell quite short on providing you quarterly newsletters here, but no one complained.

Secondly, a big thank you to the board who served us all so well this year, giving of their time and talents. The chapter president does not stand alone and truly the chapter wouldn’t have seen much accomplished if not for them. In case you don’t already know in addition to attending chapter meetings we held monthly board meetings alternating conference calls with in person meetings. Many officers and committee chairs spent additional time fulfilling a number of important tasks.

Thirdly, I’d like to thank all of you for your active participation and attendance at chapter meetings and volunteering often. Some of you shared your gift of knowledge and expertise by speaking or finding a speaker for meetings. All of you showed your generosity by supporting our Good Works, specifically DonorsChoose.org, Thanksgiving Baskets Lots of Love Toy Drive. I’ll be sharing all this good news as I submit our Circle of Excellence report in the next few weeks.

I was so honored to represent our chapter at the annual meeting in New Orleans and pleased to share the experience with one of our retired members as we meet with 2 of our new designees. I attended educational sessions ranging from “Timing is Everything”  and “New Levels of Leadership Learning” in addition to networking events and keynote speakers.

Last, and most importantly I thank you for the gift of friendship! This is a warm, welcoming group of insurance professionals who make our community a better place. As we close the 75th year of CPCU I must say I treasure our founders and look forward to what the future brings with our new leaders.

Happy New Year!