Kevin Trapani, Co-founder & CEO, and Jody Bagwell, Chief Claims Officer — The Redwoods Group
Kevin A. Trapani, Co-founder & CEO — The Redwoods Group
Kevin is an engaged community leader who believes adamantly that each of us has a responsibility to lead from where we stand. He is an active proponent of the power of business as a force for creating positive social change, rebuilding social trust and—where necessary—upending the status quo.
The Redwoods Group, a company which Kevin co-founded in 1997, has turned the traditional insurance model on its head. Instead of seeing claims as simply an expense, Redwoods views them for what they are: frequently painful and sometimes tragic stories involving real human beings. Under Kevin’s leadership, Redwoods has helped transform how youth-serving community organizations transport kids and guard their pools, and it has played a key role in building a movement to prevent child sexual abuse. Today, Redwoods is a social enterprise dedicated to insuring and protecting YMCAs, resident camps, Jewish Community Centers and Boys & Girls Clubs all over North America.
Redwoods, which became an independent insuring unit of Crum & Forster in April 2015, is a certified B-Corporation - among the first B-Corps in the US. In fact, Redwoods has been honored regularly by B-Lab, the non-profit that leads the movement to use business for social change: in 2012 for “Best Overall” and “Best for Community,” and in 2013 and 2014 for “Best for Worker Impact.” In 2019, Redwoods was 13th on the Real Leaders Magazine Top 100 companies in the world for positive social impact.
A 1979 Duke University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Kevin lives in Chapel Hill, NC and is married and the father of three children, one an Elon alumni, one a current student, and one starting at Elon this fall. He is immediate past chair of of United Way of the Greater Triangle (NC) and the Board of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and is currently a member of the Doherty Center Advisory Board. He is also the immediate past Chair of the North Carolina Workforce Development Commission (NCWorks). Kevin was the Social Entrepreneur in Residence and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016-17; he’s been a regular member of the Vestry of the Chapel of the Cross, an Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill, NC and, with his wife Jennifer, he is co-Chair of the annual “We Build People” Campaign for the YMCA of the Triangle for 2019 and 2020.
Jody Bagwell, Chief Claims Officer, The Redwoods Group
Jody received his degree in Risk Management & Insurance from Appalachian State University. Having graduated from App State, Jody joined Auto-owners Insurance in Raleigh—first as a field rep, and then as a branch manager.
He joined Redwoods in 2011, first as a Liability Adjuster, then Claims Director before eventually becoming our Chief Claims Officer in 2017. Jody says he originally gravitated toward Claims because this is where you get to serve people when they actually need your help. At Redwoods, however, he was struck by the fact that service is infused into the culture of the entire company. This allows the Claims department to pursue outcomes that are genuinely fair to all concerned—not just what is best for the immediate bottom line of the company. It also allows our team to bring their full humanity and empathy when responding to each claim. Jody is also leading our new business growth efforts within the Boys & Girls Clubs space, where he is actively working to shape our offering to meet the specific needs of our Club customers.
Outside of Redwoods, Jody is a husband to Paige, and father to two children, Lyla and Molly. He serves as Chairman of the Finance Department at his church.