Executive Team

US Country Manager

Blessy George, US Country Manager

Blessy George joined AXA Assistance USA in 2011 and has over 21 years of experience in managing legal and compliance matters, particularly related to the insurance and assistance industries. Ms. George was the Chief Compliance Officer for AXA Assistance USA and its U.S. affiliates and subsidiaries for four years. In August 2015, Ms. George was promoted to General Counsel.

In 2020, Blessy has been appointed Country Manager for the US.

In her current role, Ms. George leads the legal, compliance and internal control functions for the organization. Her duties include corporate governance, contract negotiation and management, litigation, regulatory compliance and audit processes to ensure proper internal controls within the organization. Before joining AXA Assistance, Ms. George held various positions at CNA Insurance Companies and Marsh McLennan. Her areas of legal and compliance expertise include insurance regulatory matters including licensing management, privacy & data security, and consumer protection laws.

Ms. George has a JD from Loyola University Chicago. She also holds a BS in Business Administration and a BA in English Literature from the University of Tennessee.

International Medical Director

Cai Glushak, MD, FACEP, International Medical Director

Cai Glushak joined AXA Assistance USA in 1996 and has a long history of medical direction in the fields of international medicine and aeromedical services. Dr. Glushak oversees and ensures quality of medical staff and activities of physicians, nurses and other clinicians throughout all offices of AXA Assistance globally. He ensures application of the highest standards of medical care throughout the AXA Assistance network to support the emergency and planned medical needs of its international clientele.

Before joining AXA Assistance, Dr. Glushak was the EMS Medical Director for the University of Chicago Hospitals for nearly two decades providing medical oversight for ambulance and transport services for the City of Chicago. He has additional expertise in the areas of evacuation and repatriation of acutely ill patients. He is currently on the Board of EURAMI, the European Aeromedical Institute which credentials air ambulance providers.

Dr. Glushak is a member of the National Transitions of Care Coalition and promotes the use of professional medical call centers to address the medical needs of patients worldwide. Dr. Glushak is a Board Certified Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago with a medical degree from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Canada.

Chief Operations Officer

Nicole Perreault, Chief Operations Officer

Nicole Perreault joined AXA Partners US in November 2007 and has over 16 years of experience in the Assistance and TPA industry.

Nicole is Chief Operations Officer and oversees AXA Partners US-based Operations. She focuses on process improvement and automation to continuously streamline and enhance our customers’ journey and provide best-in-class customer service.

In her 14-year tenure within AXA Partners US, she has served in various roles such as Operations Supervisor, Program Director, Director of Claims, and most recently led our Account Management division and was accountable for all client relations and new business implementations.

North America IT Director

Esteban Gomiz Barbera, North America IT Director

Esteban Gomiz joined AXA Partners US as North America IT Director in June 2020 with over 17 years of experience within AXA Partners Group. Esteban joined AXA Partners Spain in 2003 and became Application Delivery Manager & CIO Deputy until 2018. After that, he was the IT Director at AXA Partners Canada until May 2020.

Esteban is passionate about Agile and has built cross-functional international teams with a wide experience in implementation of transformation programs to contribute to the business growth strategy plan. He has solid technical capabilities to drive innovative technology-driven solutions, as well as Cloud and IT Security expertise to ensure high performance and secure environments.

Mr. Esteban holds a Master in Technology Management from La Salle University.

Chief Financial Officer

Klarita Selimaj, Chief Financial Officer

Klarita joined AXA Partners USA in 2007 and is the executive team member with the longest tenure in the organization. In her career of almost 20 years in the Financial Services industry, Klarita has led successful financial teams in various countries of North America and Europe.

What makes Klarita unique is her ability to drive transformation and thrive within a fast-paced business environment. Klarita has consistently built strong relationships across the organization and with our clients. During her time with AXA, Klarita has strengthened our financial controls, refined our data analytics, and rigorously ensured that all statutory and corporate obligations are met.

Klarita Selimaj is a visionary and inspirational leader; she executes her vision through rigorous strategy development and constant monitoring of day-to-day deliverables. Respected as a credible voice in decision making, finding strategic financing partners, and establishing governance boundaries, Klarita leads by example wherever she works. She is currently leading a major strategic shift for transforming AXA Partners USA finance organization from functional and traditional transactional focus; toward business partnership and helping the entire organization creating greater value.

Chief Revenue Officer

Geoffrey Nagle, Chief Revenue Officer

Geoffrey (Geoff) Nagle has been with AXA Assistance USA since June 2015 with over 12 years of experience in the International TPA, Insurance and Assistance industry.

Prior to becoming Chief Revenue Officer, Geoff had leadership roles at AXA as Head of Health Distribution as well as Head of the U.S Health Strategy and Regional Network Management for the Americas.

Prior to his arrival to AXA Assistance, Geoff led the Global Vendor Management and Network Development team for MetLife Expatriate Benefits. In his previous position, Geoff was responsible for building health networks across the globe either with individual hospitals and clinics or through business process outsourcing with large, international PPO organizations in the Americas, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Geoff has a degree in Public Relations / Communication from La Salle University.

Head of Distribution for Travel

Vincent Lhoste, Head of Distribution for Travel

Vincent Lhoste has 24 years of experience and expertise in the Travel Industry. In January 2016, he joined AXA Travel Insurance Headquarters in the UK as Global Sales Director. Vincent Lhoste has been working within several travel industry sectors such as Car Rental (Europcar/Enterprise), Global Distribution System (GDS Galileo Travelport), Tour Operating (Managing Director TUI France ), Travel Trade show (Reed Exhibitions / World Travel Market portfolio) and Travel Insurance (AXA).

Vincent relocated to AXA Partners US in August 2019 to support AXA’s strong ambition in Travel Insurance in the strategic North American region.

In his current role, Mr. Lhoste leads the North American Travel sales strategy and Travel sales activities in the B2C and B2B2C markets, alongside managing AXA Partners Insurance capabilities in the region (Assistance, Insurance and reinsurance).

Vincent Lhoste has an Executive MBA from ESCP Europe.

HR& Comms Director

Ellen Hughes, HR & Communications Director - North America, UK & Ireland

Ellen Hughes joined AXA in 2002 and has over 19 years of experience managing HR within the AXA Group.

In 2020, Ellen has been appointed as HR and Communications Director for the North America, UK & Ireland region within AXA Partners. She also holds the position of HR Director for the US.

In her current role, Ellen leads the HR & Communications team and works to create and deliver our people and comms strategy. She is passionate about developing our people and the culture to engage our teams to deliver great customer service.

Ellen has a BA (hons) in History and Sociology from Cardiff University and a postgraduate diploma in Personnel and Development from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK.