Executive Management

John A. Logan - Founder, CEO and Chairman of SafeGuard Guaranty Corporation, Mr. Logan is an experienced, multi-industry serial entrepreneur and new product developer.  Starting his first venture in 1982 at age 25, he has been a founder, partner or major contributor in five successful startups in the business brokerage, entertainment, publishing, HR software and insurance industries.

One of the first civilian recipients of the "Hammer" award during the Clinton administration, for a joint project between the US government and the Yellow Pages publishing industry, Mr. Logan also spent 11 years with Ameritech and SBC (now part of AT&T) as Senior Director of New Product Development. During that time Mr. Logan also served as Chairman of the Direct Delivery Network, a consortium of all the major Yellow Pages publishers across the United States.

At Ameritech, Mr. Logan was accountable for more than $83 million in revenue and was responsible for consecutive years of record growth in the White Pages division.

At Peopleclick, recruited personally by then CEO, Curt Witte to direct the development of the now world leading HR software organization's sales infrastructure, Mr. Logan was part of the executive team that led the fledgling startup's revenue growth from $1 million in 1999 to $42 million in recurring revenue in 2001, capturing 52 of the Fortune 100 as clients along the way.

Prior to incorporating SafeGuard Guaranty Corporation, as President of Business Benefits Solutions Network (formerly the Macedoin Consulting Group - an employee benefits/insurance development and research firm and brokerage agency), Mr. Logan spent four years thoroughly researching the insurance industry from the inside out at the executive level.  Representing industry giants like Aflac, Assurant (formerly Fortis), Mutual of Omaha and many others, he was able to identify processes and business models that the conglomerate insurance companies use to ensure success of new product offerings.  As one of the top 50 (of 4200) Aflac broker/agents in North Carolina in 2004, Mr. Logan’s innovative ideas on Health Savings Account based products and large account targeting strategies granted him ready access to C-level decision makers at Aflac, and provided him with an insider’s view of the strategic analysis and product development processes at one of the most successful niche market insurance companies.

A published author and accomplished artist as well as an innovative entrepreneur, Mr. Logan focused his creative talent and exacting analytical skills to develop an insurance based product that provides both wealth creation and much needed financial protection for married couples worldwide.

Applying life insurance actuary statistical data to the Marriage Assurance^sm market, Mr. Logan was able to create SafeGuard’s contrarian business model. The same business acumen and online marketing techniques that helped grow Peopleclick from a struggling start-up to a world leader will be applied to SafeGuard’s business strategies.

Matthew M. Sutton – Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Sutton has been an innovative and successful Systems Engineer for 9 years.  Mr. Sutton has assisted multiple companies from the startup phase to success including positions as CTO of the Macedoin Consulting Group  and Operations Engineer with world leading HR Software ASP Peopleclick, Inc. in tandem with Mr. Logan.  As former co-owner of Adrenix Computers in Clayton, NC,  Mr. Sutton appeared in the June 7th, 2004 subscription edition of Forbes Magazine in his IT Consultant position for Capital Resource Solutions, LLC.  Mr. Sutton is a graduate of North Carolina Central University.

Thomas B. Mayo III – Chief Financial Officer. Financial services management in the banking and insurance industries for over 30 years.  As President and Co-Founder of Swift Insurance Brokers in Chicago, IL (1998-2009) and CEO/CFO of CMA Holdings, Chicago, IL (1996-1998) a $10 million holding company of a property casualty insurer. Prior to 1996, Mr. Mayo’s experience in various Vice Presidential roles at First Chicago NBD/First National Bank of Chicago (1979-1996 - acquired by JPMorgan Chase) included an international stint in Paris, France and have demonstrated his unique capability for entrepreneurial thinking within the highly regulated financial services industry. Mr. Mayo received an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago, IL and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

Kenneth M. Fries – EVP of Distribution & Strategic Alliances, Mr. Fries has a solid track record of exceptional performance in the insurance industry dating back to 1983. As Assistant Vice President, Office of Project Management & Efficiencies, Annuity Division for MassMutual Financial Group in Hartford, CT, and various positions within The Hartford Financial Services Group, Hartford, CT including Vice President, Agency Strategy, eBusiness & Technology and Assistant Vice President, Client Consultative Services, eBusiness & Technology, Mr. Fries’ extensive carrier and agency experience in the insurance and financial services industry has demonstrated success in creating distinctive strategies and translating them into sales through a distribution approach combined with technology. Mr. Fries managed his own independent insurance agency from 1990-1997 and began his insurance career with Aetna Life & Casualty, Hartford, CT. Mr. Fries has a Bachelor of Science, Accounting (awarded in 3 years) from the University of Hartford.

Board of Directors

John A. Logan (Chairman) – See above.

Benjamin L. McSwiney - Mr. McSwiney served as President and CEO of Bell & Howell Worldwide Mail Handling Systems, Duplex Products and Whitestar Graphics. He also served as Vice President and General Manager of Williamhouse in Scottsdale, PA, a subsidiary of Williamhouse-Regency, a manufacturer and printer of specialty paper products. Mr. McSwiney held the position of Executive in Residence at North Carolina State University in Raleigh (1998-99), giving instruction in strategic planning and implementation at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Mr. McSwiney is the co-founder of the “Cure for Parkinson’s Foundation”. He has served as a board member for Points West Corporation and Galaxy Motorsports. Mr. McSwiney was also formerly the owner of Stellarcon, Inc. and co-owner of Pointswest Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Active Data Services, Inc., a business process outsourcing firm.

Adryenn Ashley – Ms. Ashley is a member of the Institute for Certified Divorce Financial Analysts, the International Association of Divorce Financial Planners, and the Financial Divorce Association. Ms. Ashley is the author of several books, numerous divorce-related articles, and speaks at seminars and to regional groups addressing the financial elements of divorce. She is also a Licensed California Real Estate Mortgage Broker.

Ms. Ashley is a passionate marriage and family support activist and lobbyist. She is a successful independent film producer with many credits through her company 21st Century Pictures Group, including the documentary “Anarchy Ahead – The Harvesting of American Families” which investigates the human and financial costs caused by profiteering in the family law industry. Her first feature “Metal”, won much critical acclaim including the Jury Prize at the Pan African Film Festival and Best Picture at the Seattle Underground Film Festival.

Ms. Ashley’s most recent book "Every Single Girl's Guide to Her Future Husband's Last Divorce," is a sassy financial guide that brings humor and attitude to an otherwise touchy, challenging subject and a must read for any girl marrying a divorced guy.

She is a veteran online marketing expert with multiple active websites, including WowIsMe.net which teaches the “shameless art of self-promotion” across print, broadcast and interactive (web) media. Ms. Ashley holds a Masters Degree from Sonoma State University, a Bachelors Degree from Dominican College of San Rafael, and has over 100 hours of training in Mediation. She is also certified in Negotiation and Conflict Management. Ms. Ashley is also a member of the American Bar Association's Family Law section.

Richard M. Hecker - Mr. Hecker is a founding partner at BootStrapper.com, a Startup consulting and incubation group. Mr. Hecker has been a serial entrepreneur since High School in 1998 when he started his first business, Review Master, aggregating and selling test notes and reviews for exams & NYS regents. He then went on to found a successful stock analysis website while still a teenager. This led him to merge his site with that of another young entrepreneur and the two partners then developed a multi-million dollar interactive ad agency and email house, ClickZen Worldwide in 2000. In 2003, Mr. Hecker created a separate lead generation division, ZenFinancial, a large call center outsourcing firm specializing in outbound telemarketing of financial services. ZenFinancial was spun off into a separate company that he led for 2 years and then sold in 2005. Since then, he has founded SeedingIT.com, The Global Seed Capital Network and the BootStrapper Group, and has been consulting for various startups in marketing strategy & finance and has invested in and co-founded a number of small startups.

Mr. Hecker is currently working on building a next generation ad exchange and number of innovative projects including TakesAllTypes.org, a non profit he co-founded, which received critical acclaim from the NY Times & Techcrunch for being the first “useful” and “meaningful” facebook application. Mr. Hecker received a Bachelors Degree in Finance from Binghamton University.

Laura Bennett - Ms. Bennett is the Chief Embracer and Co-Founder of Embrace Pet Insurance, a direct-to-consumer provider of pet health insurance based in Cleveland, Ohio. Embrace Pet Insurance’s next-generation health insurance products for cats and dogs remove the need for pet owners to face the choice of necessary, but costly, medical care against the life of their pet.

Ms. Bennett has over 17 years of insurance industry experience, including her 5 years working at Embrace. Previously, she worked for The Canada Life Assurance Company in Toronto, Canada for 12 years, in a number of different leadership roles in asset-liability management, strategic planning, and business development, and 4 years in the Dublin, Ireland office. Just prior to Embrace, she was the CFO of the Canadian Life Assurance Company's individual life and health businesses, developing the role through the company’s demutualization.

Ms. Bennett and Alex Krooglik, Embrace Pet Insurance Company's founders, met in 2001 at The Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia while doing their MBAs. After a classmate's cat got sick and cost several thousand dollars to get well again, they began to investigate the pet insurance market in the US and discovered how underserved the market was. They then wrote a pet insurance business plan in their second year of business school and eventually won the 2002-03 Wharton Business Plan Competition with the idea. Ms. Bennett received her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where she graduated as a Palmer Scholar and Siebel Scholar in 2003. Embrace Pet Insurance was founded a short time later. She was also awarded by her peers The Class of 2001 Leadership Award, presented to the student in the graduating MBA class who most exemplifies the spirit of Wharton in terms of leadership, teamwork, scholarship, and service.  She majored in Strategic and Entrepreneurship Management.

As Chief Executive Officer of Embrace, Ms. Bennett is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company, as well as the company’s strategic direction. She also fills the financial and insurance roles in the company, including the accounting, actuarial, underwriting and fund-raising activities, as well as the HR and Communication functions. Ms. Bennett also sits on the Embrace Pet Insurance Company’s Board of Directors.

Ms. Bennett also holds an honors mathematics degree from the University of Western Ontario (Canada), is an actuary (FSA,), and holds the chartered financial analyst designation (CFA).