Commissioner Lara announces appointments to Curriculum Board and CAARP Advisory Committee

News: 2023 Press Release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today announced several appointments to help drive forward the California Department of Insurance’s mission to protect consumers. These appointments include naming new members Janise Graham and Doug Smith, as well as reappointed members Monique Howard and Sandra Moriarty, to the Curriculum Board and Nona Tirre Miranda to the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan (CAARP) Advisory Committee.

“I am pleased to announce these appointments to the Curriculum Board and the CAARP Advisory Committee,” said Commissioner Lara. “These appointments include a diverse group of individuals who all share a history of taking action to support the needs of Californians. I am confident they will be valued members to their respective boards.”

The Curriculum Board oversees the development of pre-licensing and continuing education curriculum for agents and brokers to uphold professional standards that protect consumers. This includes a list of preapproved courses of study as well as courses of study for professional designations. This Board also develops standards for providers and instructors who offer courses and other training to licensed agents and brokers. 

The Governor and California State Legislature created CAARP to provide auto insurance for motorists unable to obtain coverage in the private market due to their driving records or other extraordinary circumstances. One program within the plan -- the California Low Cost Auto Program -- aims to provide affordable liability insurance to income-eligible good drivers by assigning them to private insurers based upon the companies’ share of the auto insurance market. The CAARP Advisory Committee provides policy advice to Commissioner Lara on matters affecting the operation of its programs.

The next Curriculum Board meeting will be held on July 20, 2023 and the next CAARP Advisory Committee meetings will be held on August 22 and 23, 2023. More details are available at: www.insurance.ca.gov/boards. Public members of the CAARP Advisory Committee receive $250 per meeting. All other positions are uncompensated.

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Media Notes:

Newly appointed members include:

Curriculum Board:

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 andPast 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.

Doug Smith is Director of Policy and Coalition Building for Public Counsel, a nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to advancing civil rights and racial and economic justice. Smith manages Public Counsel’s policy advocacy and coalition partnerships across eight legal projects, promoting a coordinated strategy to transform unjust systems and build durable community power. He is a frequent speaker on community development and movement lawyering, and his writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development, among others. He also teaches courses on community lawyering at Occidental College and co-taught the Community Economic Development Clinic at UCLA School of Law. Smith joins the Curriculum Board in the consumer group representative seat, with a term ending on June 16, 2026.

Monique Howard is Assistant Vice President at Allied World Insurance Company with 15 years of experience in underwriting and marketing commercial property and casualty exposures. She is a board member and Treasurer of the Pacific Coast Regional Advisory Committee of Inland Marine Underwriters Association and is also a board member of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of National African American Insurance Association. Howard joins the Curriculum Board as an insurance company representative with a term ending on June 17, 2026.

Sandra Moriarty, CPCU is an Insurance Specialist for the non-profit insurance organization, United Policyholders (UP). As a subject matter expert, she helps UP’s Roadmap to Recovery Program guide disaster survivors and legal professionals through the insurance claims process. She is an insurance claim consultant, expert witness and licensed public adjuster and often conducts continuing education classes for claims adjusters on various subjects. Moriarty joins the Curriculum Board as a consumer group representative with a term ending on June 17, 2026.

CAARP Advisory Committee:
 

Nona Tirre Miranda is owner and operator of a State Farm Insurance agency for the last 13 years in Claremont. Tirre Miranda is the recipient of the State Farm Top 100 New Agents within the United States, the Woman of the Year award by then-State Assemblywoman Norma Torres in 2012, and the Small Business of the Year award by then-State Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod in 2011. She serves as President of the Claremont Rotary Board of Directors and is Chair for the City of Claremont Police Commission. Tirre Miranda has been reappointed to the CAARP Advisory Committee in the producer representative seat with a term ending on July 12, 2024.