Bill Haack
Chief Executive Officer
Bill is a founder of Zywave and has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception in 1995. Bill also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Frank F. Haack & Associates, where during his 30-year tenure the firm grew to be the largest independent insurance brokerage in Wisconsin. Today, Bill is instrumental in ensuring Zywave’s mission to provide best-in-class software solutions to its clients.
In addition to his extensive insurance brokerage industry experience, Bill supports a variety of local, state and national organizations. As such, he has served as: a board member for the Florentine Opera Company; Chairman of the Young Presidents’ Organization of Wisconsin; Chairman for the Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation; board member of the Channel 10/36 Friends; and Co-Chair for the Capital Campaign for the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. Bill also served as a board member for Assurex Global and Intersure (an international association of leading insurance brokerage firms).
Acknowledging his leadership capabilities, Bill was named a regional finalist for the 2004 and 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Bill is a graduate of Southern Methodist University.
Jim Emling
Chief Operating Officer
As President and Chief Operating Officer of Zywave, Jim directs the following functions within the company: Product Development, Partner Services, Product Training & Implementation, Creative Services, Data & Analytic Services, Content Management, Information Technology, Project Management, Business Analysis, Product Design and Quality Assurance. He is also responsible for the overall strategic direction and vision of Zywave’s product family, as well as how the company positions itself in the marketplace.
Jim was one of Zywave’s original employees when it was founded and oversaw the creation of every product release in the company’s history. He also created the major training strategies and implementation plans for the Partner Services function, and most of the company’s core operational structures and workflows. Prior to Zywave, Jim was the Chief Information Officer of Frank F. Haack & Associates, one of Wisconsin’s largest insurance brokerages.
Jim graduated summa cum laude with honors as the highest ranked student in his class from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with degrees in both computer science and accounting. He holds a master’s of business administration degree in strategic marketing from Marquette University, where he also graduated summa cum laude with academic distinction.
Dave O'Brien
Chief Marketing Officer
Dave is Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, directing all sales and marketing operations of the company. This is no small feat considering that Zywave serves more than 1,500 brokerage operations all over the United States, including a majority of the industry’s Top 100 agencies.
Dave’s career in sales began in the late 1980s with MetLife as a Large Group Representative working with national brokerage operations on groups with 1,000 or more employees. In 1992, he joined Frank F. Haack (FFH) and Associates, Wisconsin’s largest Benefits Brokerage operation. Recognizing the changing industry, he helped the firm create new technology tools for use with its clients that also changed the sales process. In 1997, Dave spearheaded a new business model for FFH of bringing in outside brokers to help fund the growing technology: the company was named Zywave and Dave traveled the country growing the broker network. Today, with his extensive broker knowledge, he continues to lead Zywave’s sales and marketing efforts to help clients grow their book of business and retain sales.
Dave graduated from the University of Iowa with a major in marketing and a minor in communications.
Joe Gibson
Chief Financial Officer
Joe joined Zywave in May 2010 as Chief Financial Officer, bringing with him over 20 years of progressive experience including financial planning and analysis, SEC reporting and acquisition integration. Prior to Zywave, Joe was Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller at Fiserv, Inc. and had previously served as Group Chief Financial Officer for Fiserv’s Insurance Group. Earlier in his career, Joe was an Audit Manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP serving large, multi-national clients.
As Chief Financial Officer and a member of the senior management team, Joe directs Zywave’s finance and accounting operations, including its treasury operations, strategic business planning and corporate development activities.
Joe earned a bachelor of business administration degree with a double major in accounting and finance from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and is a certified public accountant. He was also featured in Treasury & Risk Management magazine’s “40 under 40” article in November 2006.