Our Team

The Associates at Walsh Carter bring with them decades of experience in the commercial, residential and solar insurance industries. We are a cohesive group comprised of educated and experienced individuals who innovate solutions for industry trends and client needs.

 

Brendan Walsh
Principal
Brendan brings over 19 years of experience in life insurance, retirement and estate planning. He spent 13 years at Northwestern Mutual where he was consistently a member of the Million Dollar Round Table and the Northwestern Forum.

Brendan received his undergraduate degree from University of San Francisco. He was a former President of the Irish Cultural Center and sat on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Brendan lives in Marin with his wife, Lisa and has two children, Sophia and Aidan.

Mark Davidson, CIC
Principal
Mark has an extensive background of over 20 years in property/casualty insurance. He has been successful in creating specialized group insurance programs for target sectors, such as Breweries and Auto Repossessors. Prior to becoming a broker he was an account executive and also worked as a property inspector for a pool of Insurance companies.

Mark received his undergraduate degree from California State University, Sacramento.He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association, and holds a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and a Certified Construction Insurance Specialist (CCIS) designation. He lives in San Carlos with his wife, Julie and three children, Kate, Aidan, and Elizabeth.

Greg Yu
Principal
Greg brings over 14 years of experience in the insurance industry. His career started at Northwestern Mutual where he became a key contributor to his team’s continual qualification to the Million Dollar Round Table and the Northwestern Forum.

Greg’s current role at Walsh Carter includes the duties of acting COO. Greg has an undergraduate degree from California State University, Chico and holds a Life and Property Casualty license. He lives in Marin with his wife, Jennifer.

Alexander L. Shkolnikov
VP of Business Development
Alex has an extensive background with over 20 yrs experience in Property & Casualty Commercial and Personal Lines of insurance. He has wide-ranging experience in creating specialty programs for various industries. He has consulted some of the Major Insurance Automation Companies to optimize their product offering. Alex also developed, owned and operated one of the first fully virtual insurance brokerages online. His innovative insurance approach is a great asset to our company.

Marty Shull
VP of Client Relations
Marty brings over 8 years of experience to our insurance team. Marty handles corporate and personal Life Insurance, Disability Coverage, Long Term Care Planning, 401(K) benefits, and Individual retirement planning. Areas of focus include Corporate Buy Sell Review, Business Exit Planning, Valuation, and Strategies as well as Personal Estate Protection and Succession Planning.

Marty received his undergraduate degree from San Diego State University with an emphasis in business management and finance. Marty holds a license in Life, Health, and Property Casualty. A Bay Area San Jose native, Marty currently resides in San Francisco.

Emily I. Sugars
Director of Benefits
Emily comes to Walsh Carter & Associates with over 9 years of experience in the group benefits industry. She began her career in the employee benefits department of a Fortune 500 Company. She has since worked in the brokerage arena as an Account Manager and Account Executive, responsible for the introduction, marketing, strategic planning, sales and service of all types of group health coverage. Her extensive hands-on experience of benefit designs, market competition, and health insurance legislation enables her to leverage her knowledge and problem solving skills to develop creative and custom benefit solutions. Emily’s focus is to help employers design and implement benefits programs appropriate to their specific needs.

Emily has an undergraduate degree from Washington State University and holds a California Life Agent license. Emily is recently married.

Gordon Bowman-Jones
Director of Market Development, Renewable Energy Practice
Gordon Bowman-Jones, CEM, is the technical expertise behind the Walsh Carter & Associates TOTAL SPF solar protection program. He is a Licensed Insurance Broker in addition to 25 years of experience in the energy industry. His valuable contribution to our Renewable Energy Practice has allowed us to focus our custom indemnity packages to "real world" applications in the solar energy industry.

He is a Certified Energy Manager with the Association of Energy Engineers, providing him extensive capability in the technical aspects of the energy industry as well as the complex financial issues prevalent in today’s solar installations. He is a Senior Engineer with the Illuminating Engineering Society, a Licensed Inspector for the City of San Francisco Commercial Energy Compliance Ordinance and holds several patents for innovative energy management devices.

Christina L. Bowman-Jones, ARM
Director, Renewable Energy Practice
Christina has a diverse background of more than 20 years in the insurance industry, focused primarily in commercial property and casualty insurance. Prior to joining WCA, Christina was a senior account executive, servicing accounts for Fortune 100 companies and large Public Entity Pools for a number of the Alpha insurance houses in San Francisco. She was also responsible for negotiating policy coverage for the largest mining company in the world and has experience is the Loss Control aspect of the industry through the Hartford and AIG.

Christina received her undergraduate degree from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. She holds an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and is a CPCU candidate. In addition to being seated on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Ethics, she is an active member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, the Northern California Solar Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association and the American Solar Energy Association. Christina lives in Pacifica with her husband Gordon, her two children Kimberly and Fiorenza, and her four step children Margaret, Wiley, Devon and Lauren.

Yasemin Aksu, CIC, CISR
Senior Account Manager
Yasemin has 10 years of personal and commercial lines experience with a strong focus on state and company requirements. She has completed her Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designations.

Yasemin has an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University and holds a California property and casualty license. She lives in San Francisco to her husband, Serkan.

David Saisi, MBA
Dave is a licensed property and casualty agent and received an MBA from Golden Gate University and an undergraduate degree from Cal State East Bay. With 20 years of accounting and finance experience, Dave brings a strong analytical and customer service approach to Walsh Carter and our customers. Dave is a Bay Area native and currently lives in San Carlos with his wife, Connie, and their two children, Matteo and Olivia.

Walsh Carter & Associates provided expert guidance at a critical stage in my company and designed a comprehensive insurance plan to fit the needs of our growing company at reasonable premiums.

Sterling Pratz, CEO Autonet Mobile