Agents & Brokers Overview / Curriculum Board

Curriculum Board

Overview
Mission Statement
Goals
Board Structure and Appointment Term
Term Length
Qualified Applicants
Current Board Members
Curriculum Board Meetings, Agenda, and Minutes
Curriculum Board Subcommittees
Senate Bill 263 Life Insurance Subcommittee
Long-Term Care Subcommittee
12-Hour Ethics and California Insurance Code Objectives and the California Department of Insurance Ethics Training Course Development and Review Guidelines Subcommittee
Annuity Training Course Outlines Subcommittee

Overview

Pursuant to California Insurance Code section 1749.1, the Curriculum Board (Board) oversees the development of prelicensing and continuing education curriculum for agents, brokers, bail agents, and insurance adjusters, including a list of preapproved courses of study and courses of study for professional designations. The Board also develops standards for education providers and instructors of prelicensing and continuing education courses, programs, and seminars. Subcommittees of the Board are routinely established to develop and/or update education and examination content outlines for all lines of insurance as well as curriculum for statutorily continuing education courses. Subcommittees generally meet twice per month via teleconference calls. Additionally, Board members may be called upon to participate in examination workshops where the licensing examination questions are reviewed for context, clarity, and cultural biases.

Mission Statement

To establish a program of study to prepare all licensees to enter the insurance business fully knowledgeable as to products, code of ethics, the law, and all other aspects of the insurance business in order to function as insurance professionals and maintain high standards to the consumer insurance needs.

Goals

To establish standards which will ensure that those persons licensed as broker-agents shall be well-versed in the knowledge of the insurance code, products which they will sell, and responsibilities to the consumer; and that all licensees shall have undergone fair and equal prelicensing and continuing education.

Board Structure and Appointment Term

Currently, there are 12 Curriculum Board Members. The Board consists of representatives of insurance agents, brokers, and life agents trade associations; representatives of insurance companies and consumer groups; bail agents; and insurance adjusters. At this time, there are no vacant positions.

Term Length

Curriculum Board members serve a three-year term and may reapply to serve consecutive terms.

Additional Requirements:

Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Statement of Economic Interest filing required, Form 700
Online Ethics Training Course every odd year

Qualified Applicants:

Applicants must be subject matter experts for the position being sought. Applicants must commit to attend quarterly Board meetings and participate in subcommittee meetings. Knowledge of the California Insurance Code and the California Code of Regulations relating to the conduct of insurance professionals is required of all applicants.

Current Board Members:

Chairperson Jesse Dogillo was appointed to the Curriculum Board on November 2, 2016. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Curriculum Board. He is the owner of Bay Area Financial and Insurance Services, an independent insurance agency which issues life, health, disability, long-term care, and property and casualty insurance. He also teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a risk management insurance instructor and serves as the current Chapter President of the Asian American Financial and Insurance Professional Association. Chairperson Dogillo was appointed to the Curriculum Board in the life agent representative seat with a term ending on March 3, 2026.

Vice Chairperson Anne Lintz was appointed to the Board on October 6, 2021. She is currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Board. Lintz is the Owner of Anne Lintz Insurance Agency, Inc., a State Farm Agency. Lintz lives and serves consumers in rural and wildfire-prone counties of California, is in the top 50 State Farm agents out of 19,000 in the country for multiple-line sales, and is also considered one of the top farm-ranch writers in the country. She is a member of the California Farm Bureau Federation and serves on the Sutter Amador Hospital Philanthropy Board and the Mule Creek Prison Community Board. Lintz joins the CDI Curriculum Board in the agent/broker representative seat with a term ending on October 6, 2024.

Janise Graham is President and CEO of Leaving In Style, Inc. and Owner/Business Strategist of Entrepreneur’s Insurance Services. Graham assists business owners during all phases of the business cycle, including planning, operations management, finance, funding, marketing, business continuity, and succession planning. She is also a speaker, author, and coach, assisting small business owners with business, employee, and family protection concerns as well as implementing executive benefits and business succession solutions. Graham serves as Business Counselor at Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship-Inland Empire Women’s Business Center, as well as Vice President of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) California Board of Directors and is a current member and Past Board President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Inland Empire Chapter. Graham joins the Curriculum Board in the life agent trade association representative seat, with a term ending on June 16, 2026.

Monique Howard was appointed to the Curriculum Board on June 17, 2020. She is Vice President at Inland Marine of Ascot Group. Howard has 12 years of experience in underwriting and marketing property and casualty commercial liability and inland marine/ocean marine risks and exposures. She is a board member and treasurer of the Pacific Coast Regional Advisory Committee of Inland Marine Underwriters Association and is a member of the San Francisco Chapter of National African American Insurance Association. Howard was appointed to the Curriculum Board in the insurance company representative seat with a term ending on June 17, 2026.

Michael Lujan is Principal Consultant of Michael Lujan Consulting Group, LLC, which provides health insurance consulting services to insurance carriers and enrollment related projects with a focus on sales strategy and sales channel optimization. Previously, Lujan was the inaugural Director of Sales for Covered California, in which role he created the curriculum required to certify licensed agents to enroll in the program and successfully trained, certified, and appointed more than 14,000 agents in the first year. He is a member and past president of California Agents & Health Insurance Professionals (CAHIPP) and is also a board member of the Employee Benefits Planning Association. Lujan joins the Curriculum Board in the life agent trade association representative seat.

Colbie McRae is President of insureCAL Insurance Agency. McRae started his business in 2015 and, while the business is a full-service agency providing a range of insurance products and services, its primary focus is on serving the agriculture industry. McRae serves as Treasurer of the Western Insurance Agents Association (WIAA) and past board member of the Carnegie Arts Center and Jessica’s House Heart Circle Committee. McRae joins the Curriculum Board in the agent/broker representative seat, with a term ending on September 1, 2026.

Gloria Mitchell is Owner/Operator of Gloria Mitchell Bail Bonds. Mitchell has over 30 years of experience in the bail industry and has owned her agency for 23 years. She is a member of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce and a former California Small Business Association board member. She has been a member of the California Bail Agents Association Board of Directors for 16 years, serving as Vice President of the Executive Board for four years and as President for six years. Mitchell joins the Curriculum Board in the bail agent representative seat, with a term ending on September 1, 2026.

Sandra Moriarty was appointed to the Curriculum Board on June 17, 2020. She is the Roadmap to Recovery Project Coordinator at United Policyholders (UP). Moriarty is an insurance claims educator, coordinating workshops and events as part of UP’s Roadmap to Recovery Program to help disaster survivors and le professionals negotiate the insurance claims process. She is also a licensed public adjuster and presently is a continuing education instructor for public adjusters on various subjects. Moriarity was appointed to the Curriculum Board in the consumer group representative seat with a term ending on June 17, 2026.

Peter Schifrin was appointed to the Board on October 6, 2021. Schifrin is the Chief Executive Officer of Schifrin, Gagnon, & Dickey, Inc., a statewide claims adjusting and investigation company. In addition to his over 30 years of experience as an insurance adjuster, he is also a past board member of the Society of Registered Professional Adjusters and is a member of a number of professional organizations. He is incoming President for the National Association of Independent Insurance Adjusters, which is the national organization over the California Association of Independent Insurance Adjusters, of which he is a past President and current member. Schifrin previously served on the Curriculum Board from 2012 through 2018. He rejoins the CDI Curriculum Board in the insurance adjuster representative seat with a term ending on October 6, 2024.

Doug Smith is Senior Director of Policy and Legal Strategy for Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit economic justice organization and Community Development Financial Institution. Smith manages Inclusive Action's policy advocacy and legal strategies, guiding a coordinated effort to transform unjust systems and build durable community power. He is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Occidental College, where he teaches courses on community lawyering. Additionally, he has taught the Community Economic Development clinical course at UCLA School of Law, and served as an appointed member of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. Smith joins the Curriculum Board in the consumer group representative seat, with a term ending on June 16, 2026.

Samantha Tradelius is the Vice President of Operations of LyteSpeed Learning. Tradelius is a commercial property insurance broker with 25 years of industry expertise. She specializes in commercial lines with a focus on property, professional, and workers’ compensation. Tradelius is the Founder and Executive Director of Sparkle Foundation, a 501(c)(3) with a mission of helping single mothers through enrichment programs, micro-loans to female-owned small businesses, and connecting women to a vast business network. She serves on the Board of Directors for Sparkle Foundation Incorporated. Tradelius joins the Curriculum Board in the agent/broker representative seat with a term ending on March 6, 2027.

Vinh Truong is Founder and CEO of CMT Insurance Agency. He is also Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Duarte. Truong has held a seat on the Duarte Economic Development Commission, has served as a board member of the Santa Anita Family YMCA, and, in 2019, was appointed to participate in Duarte’s Financial Advisory Taskforce. He is also a member of the Los Angeles County Asian American Employee Association (LACAAEA) as an executive advisory council where he represents and advises the organization on matters related to Asian American Employees within LA County. Truong joins the Curriculum Board in the life agent representative seat, with a term ending on September 1, 2026.

Curriculum Board Meetings, Agenda, and Minutes

The Curriculum Board holds three meetings each year: one in February, one in July, and one in October. The 2020 meeting minutes are provided below. The 2021 meeting schedules are also listed below. These meetings are currently held in Sacramento or via teleconference call, Zoom, WebEx, or Microsoft Teams.

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Curriculum Board Subcommittees

A subcommittee is created to review each of the prelicensing educational objectives and statutorily required courses every three years or sooner if there are changes to the California Insurance Code or the California Code of Regulations that affect the course curriculum training material. The Curriculum Board Chair appoints Board members and interested parties to subcommittees. Interested party subcommittee members are appointed to provide their expertise and are not eligible to vote on the final draft documents submitted to the Curriculum Board. The subcommittee meetings are held via teleconference call and the schedule for those calls are determined by the subcommittee members, which the calls are typically held every two or three weeks depending on the material being reviewed.