Annual Meeting Speakers
Greg Biryla
New York State Director, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
Greg Biryla serves as New York’s Senior State Director for NFIB, the state and nation’s leading small business advocacy association, representing thousands of small, independent businesses across every community in New York. Prior to joining NFIB, Biryla lead Upstate United, a coalition of trade groups and chambers of commerce from across Upstate New York focusing on pro-business policy reform and economic development. Greg and his wife Ashley live in Rochester, NY where she owns and operates her own independent fitness studio and is a proud NFIB member.
Tim Dean
Chief Executive Officer, Marshall & Sterling Inc. and President, Professional Insurance Agents of New York (PIANY)
Timothy Dean was elected to his current position as CEO of Marshall & Sterling Enterprises, Inc. in 2020. Prior to this appointment, he served as president of Marshall & Sterling Enterprises from 2009-2020, and vice president and branch manager for both the Poughkeepsie and Wappingers Falls, New York offices of Marshall & Sterling Insurance from 2005-2009. He started with the company in 1985 as an account executive, managing many of Marshall & Sterling’s largest accounts.
A graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Dean is both a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM.) He is an active community volunteer, and currently serves as chair of the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency, and chair of the Vassar Brothers Medical Center Board of Directors. He also serves as president of the Professional Insurance Agents of NY, as well as a board member for Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress and the Nuvance Insurance Captive. He is also a Charter Member of Hudson Valley Start Up Funds I & II.
Previously, Dean served the community in a number of leadership roles including board chair for the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce, board chair for the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, chair and board member for the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley, and board member for United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region. He was also the 2010 chair of the Dutchess/Ulster Start! Heart Walk for the American Heart Association.
Lev Ginsburg
Director of Government Affairs, The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Lev Ginsburg, Esq., director of government affairs for the Business Council of New York State, is primary lobbyist responsible for health care, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation issues. He is a graduate of the University of Buffalo and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Prior to his legal education, Ginsburg served as a staff member for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, a political campaign coordinator and marketing director. He was a staff attorney with a national telecommunication company, handling real estate leasing and title issues for mobile communication antennae sites. More recently, Ginsburg served for seven years as attorney and staff supervisor with the former Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform (GORR). At GORR, he handled stakeholder outreach and regulatory oversight over many State agencies. While Ginsburg’s regulatory oversight work covered a broad range of issue areas, he focused on health, labor and environmental regulations.
Acting Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris
New York Department of Financial Services
Adrienne A. Harris was nominated to lead the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) by Governor Kathy Hochul in August 2021. Acting Superintendent Harris began her career as an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City representing a number of U.S. and non-U.S. based corporations in various forms of litigation and regulatory matters, before accepting a position at the United States Department of the Treasury under President Obama.
While at the Treasury Department, Acting Superintendent Harris served as a senior advisor to both Acting Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Mary Miller, and Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin. Her work ranged from financial reform efforts to identifying solutions to the student loan crisis, analyzing the nexus between foreign investment and national security, and working to promote financial inclusion and health in communities throughout the country.
Following her time at the Treasury Department, Acting Superintendent Harris joined The White House, where she was appointed as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, as part of the National Economic Council. In this role, Harris managed the financial services portfolio, which included developing and executing strategies for financial reform and the implementation of Dodd-Frank, consumer protections for the American public, cybersecurity and housing finance reform priorities.
After leaving the White House in January 2017, Acting Superintendent Harris went on to serve as general counsel and chief business officer at States Title, Inc. (now DOMA), which provides a more simple and affordable closing experience for homebuyers. Prior to being nominated, she also served as a professor and as faculty co-director at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy’s Center on Finance, Law and Policy at the University of Michigan, as well as a senior advisor at the Brunswick Group in Washington, D.C.
Monaliza Seepersaud
Associate, Hodgson Russ LLP
Monaliza Seepersaud is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice. She represents management on all aspects of labor and employment law. Prior to joining Hodgson Russ, Seepersaud was an assistant corporation counsel at the New York City Law Department, where she worked on a broad range of employment litigation matters. She has appeared on behalf of numerous New York City agencies in federal and state court and has represented agencies in cases involving the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Seepersaud has written various articles on the NY Hero Act for Hodgson and Russ and has spoken at multiple labor and employment programs since joining the firm. She holds a B.A. from Hunter College and J.D. from Emory University School of Law.
Tom Stebbins
Executive Director, Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York (LRANY)
Tom Stebbins is the executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York (LRANY), a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to reform of New York’s costly civil justice system. Prior to joining LRANY in 2011, Stebbins was a project manager for Horizon Wind Energy, where he developed multiple commercial-scale wind farms in New York and the Northeast United States. Prior to joining Horizon, he worked for PBS flagship station WGBH-TV, where he coordinated the national marketing and promotion efforts for programs such as NOVA, Masterpiece Theatre and Antiques Roadshow.
Stebbins has spoken to dozens of organizations across New York—from Buffalo to Brooklyn, from Rotaries to multi-national business conferences. He has been published or quoted in over one hundred publications, including, The New York Times, NY Daily News, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist, and he has been interviewed on numerous broadcast radio and TV shows, including, NPR, Fox News, and 1010 WINS. Stebbins is personally devoted to the issue of head injury and has worked with his family to build three homes dedicated to the care of people affected by head injury. He has a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and an MBA from Cornell University.
Executive Deputy Superintendent for Insurance My Chi To
New York Department of Financial Services
My Chi To is the Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Insurance Division at the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), which regulates nearly 1,800 insurance companies with assets of $5.5 trillion. In that role, she oversees the regulation and supervision of the life, property and casualty, and health insurance industries in New York State, which is the 7th largest insurance market in the world. Prior to joining NYDFS in January 2020, she was a partner in the restructuring group and global insurance practice of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. She received an M.Phil. in Politics from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She received an LL.L. and LL.B. in Civil Law and Common Law from the University of Ottawa and was a law clerk to the Hon. Claire L’Heureux-Dubé of the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court of Canada.
Heather Trela
Director of Operation and Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government
Heather Trela oversees the day-to-day operations of the Rockefeller Institute and serves as the executive director’s primary liaison with management, staff, and other stakeholders. Her research focuses on federalism issues with an emphasis on marijuana policy. She was a doctoral candidate at, and holds a master’s degree in political science from, the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy as well as a bachelor’s in economics and political science from Hartwick College.
Stephen Zogby
National Director, Big I NY
Executive Vice President, Scalzo, Zogby & Wittig, Inc.
Steve Zogby was born and raised locally, graduating from Mohawk Valley Community College, SUNY Brockport, and Leadership Mohawk Valley. In 1992, Zogby, along with Gary Scalzo and Leon Wittig, started an independent insurance agency; Scalzo, Zogby & Wittig, Inc. in Utica. He currently serves as the State National Director for Big I NY, representing New York as a board member of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. Zogby has served on many insurance company agent advisory councils over his 30+ years in the industry, and is currently a member of the advisory board of Adirondack Insurance Exchange. In his community he serves on the Board of the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency; is president and board member of the Mohawk Valley Community College Foundation; and a board member of the Stanley Center for the Arts.
Deb Zawisza, Senior Principal, Aite-Novarica Group 
Kayvan Farzaneh, head of marketing, CAPE Analytics, Inc.
David Gritz, Co-founder and Managing Director, InsurTech NY
Alexander Zhykh, Chief Executive Officer, Draivn