Leadership
RYZE Claim Solutions’ executive leaders are vital to our continued success.
Walter Leddy
Chief Executive Officer
Walter Leddy is the Chief Executive Officer of RYZE Claim Solutions and brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across service-focused industries. Most recently he was the CEO of US Field Services at Davies – a leading professional services and technology firm serving insurance and highly regulated markets. Previously, Walter was CEO of IAS Claims Services which was acquired by Davies in 2021. Earlier in his career, he served as GM/Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Rackspace, a leading managed cloud services provider and held strategy and operations roles at Hewlett-Packard and Delta Air Lines.
Walter is passionate about building great service-focused insurance claims organizations that empower talented Employees and independent Adjusters to deliver outstanding service experiences to our high-value Insurance Carrier and MGA partners.
Walter holds an M.B.A. degree from University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a B.S.in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.
Ken Scott
Chief Operating Officer
Ken Scott leads operations across RYZE Claim Solutions, bringing a track record of scaling growth and building high-performing teams in the P&C claims space. Before RYZE, he spent six years at Davies North America, most recently as SVP of Growth and Account Management, and earlier led customer success for Fortune 500 accounts at Rackspace. He's a CPA with an MBA from SMU's Cox School of Business and a finance degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Scott St. John
President, Chief Claims Officer
Scott leads claims operations for RYZE clients, bringing more than 30 years of experience in the claims industry, including 15 years at Fortune 100 companies specializing in property and casualty insurance. He joined RYZE in 2022. Scott holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The Ohio State University.
Michael McLaughlin
Executive Vice President, Certus
Michael leads Certus, RYZE's national TPA division delivering casualty, liability, construction, auto, and excess claims services to specialty and casualty carriers and MGAs across all 50 states. He brings extensive experience as a leader for both TPAs and carriers across commercial and personal lines claims, with a background spanning property and casualty and workers' compensation claims management and several specialty lines of business. He joined RYZE in 2022 as Head of Commercial, growing those operations before moving into his current role. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts from Bridgewater College and a Master of Science in Public Policy from Drexel University.
Theresa Decker
Executive Vice President, Lender Placed
Theresa Decker has worked with RYZE for more than 20 years, with a focus on Third-Party Administration as well as the overall operations for the internal desk functions of the claims department .She has extensive knowledge in the handling of forced placed and REO claims and currently leads our Lender Placed Team. Prior to joining RYZE, Theresa had more than 20 years of experience in the insurance claims industry working with various companies.
Troy S. Hansen
Executive Vice President, Leading Edge, Acorn, and MITIGATE
Troy leads strategy, performance, and growth across RYZE including the Leading Edge, Acorn, and MITIGATE™ divisions, overseeing operations, client delivery, and business development across multiple specialty service lines. With nearly 30 years of claims industry experience, Troy founded Leading Edge Claims Service in 2007 after beginning his career as an Independent Adjuster, Trainer, Claims Manager, and as a General Commercial Adjuster with The Hartford. He serves as the Executive Account Manager for key client relationships and works closely with leadership teams to drive operational excellence, innovation, and long-term growth. Troy holds an Associate in Claims (AIC) designation and is active in NACA, NAIIA, TAMIC, and the Dallas Claims Association.
David Christopher
Vice President, Commercial Operations
David brings more than three decades of insurance industry experience to RYZE, with deep expertise across property claims, adjusting, and all lines of P&C insurance. He served over 14 years as Executive Vice President of Leading Edge Claims Service and, before that, owned three Allstate agencies across Texas. David studied at Texas Tech University.
Emilie Schmitz
Chief Human Resource Officer
Emilie leads people strategy, culture, and workforce governance at RYZE, supporting employees and independent contractors across 36+ states. She brings 16+ years building HR infrastructure across fast-scaling, private equity-backed organizations. Emilie is PHR and SHRM-CP certified and is pursuing her Executive MBA at Rollins College's Crummer Graduate School of Business.
Eric Conway
Controller
Eric brings over 15 years of financial management and reporting experience to RYZE, including senior finance roles at Raney's LLC and nearly nine years at MarineMax, where he advanced from Assistant Controller to Regional Controller. He began his career at KPMG, building a strong foundation in audit and SEC compliance. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Accountancy in Accountancy from the University of South Florida.
Matt Daughters
Director of Business Development
Matt leads business development at RYZE, drawing on more than two decades of sales and strategic account leadership in the claims and insurance services industry. He spent over six years as Strategic Accounts Director at Davies Group and has held national sales roles at One Call Claims and Donan Engineering. Matt holds a bachelor's degree in Business Marketing from the University of Northern Colorado.
Pamir Patel
Head of Innovation
Pamir Patel joined RYZE in March 2021. He has more than 20 years of insurance experience and worked extensively in developing business processes not only in insurance but also in Industries like telecom and IT distribution. He also has been a part of risk management and mergers and acquisitions in his prior assignments. Pamir oversees RYZE’s IT department and special projects. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and an MBA in Marketing.
Pamir holds Property & Casualty General Lines License in Florida and Adjuster license in NY , CA and Florida.
How Can We Help You?
RYZE Claim Solutions stands with you, providing support and information grown from our commitment and desire to be of service – whenever and wherever you need us.