Our Board

Blair Richardson, Board Chairman

Blair Richardson joined Pinnacol’s board of directors in 2011. He brings more than 30 years of business experience to the board — including investment banking, financial product sales and trading, senior-level management positions and private equity — as well as a strong background in corporate governance and compliance.

Richardson is managing partner of Bow River Capital Partners, which invests in promising businesses throughout the Rocky Mountain region of the United States and Canada. Previously, he was managing partner of B.E. Richardson Investments. Richardson also spent 12 years with Morgan Stanley, where he served as president of Morgan Stanley Japan in Tokyo, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia in Hong Kong and managing director of the firm’s Equity and Fixed Income Department in New York. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he was a vice president with Goldman Sachs in New York.

Richardson sits on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including National Jewish Hospital, Colorado UpLift, Mizel Museum and Colorado Concern.

John Plotkin, Board Vice Chair and Employer Representative

John Plotkin joined Pinnacol’s board of directors in 2011 and serves on the board’s governance and ethics committee. He is a member of the Denver law firm Gregory & Plotkin, LLC, focusing on commercial litigation. His nearly 30 years of law practice includes corporate governance cases, contract disputes, employment disputes and insurance industry issues.

An active member of the American Bar Association, Colorado Bar Association and Denver Bar Association, Plotkin has appeared in federal and state courts in Colorado, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington. He is the chairman of the Lakewood Planning Commission and sits on the boards of the Denver Preschool Program and the Mountain State Region of the Anti-Defamation League. Plotkin earned his law degree at the University of Michigan and bachelor’s degree in economics at Brown University.

Robert J. (R.J.) Jolly, Employer Farm and Ranch Representative

R.J. Jolly has been a member of Pinnacol's board of directors since 2003. He chairs the board's governance and ethics committee and serves on the compensation committee. He has earned his Accredited Investment Fiduciary™ designation. Jolly is co-owner and manager of Barbara Jolly and Sons Ranch, LLC. Primarily a cattle ranching enterprise, the company also raises crops such as wheat, grain sorghum, and hay. Jolly brings to the board extensive knowledge of — and hands-on work experience in — Colorado’s agricultural industry. He has also established relationships in related industries such as transportation.

Jolly possesses a solid background in workers' compensation. In 1993, he helped establish a workers' compensation group dividend plan through the Colorado Cattlemen's Association and the Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority (now Pinnacol Assurance), and he remains active in workers' compensation issues in his industry. Jolly earned his bachelor's degree in general agriculture from Colorado State University.

Robert C. McDaniel, Finance/Investment Representative

Robert McDaniel joined Pinnacol's board of directors in 2010. He serves on the board's audit committee, and he chairs the investment committee. He is the managing director of Metrix Advisors, LLC, a management consulting focused on advising companies operating in heavily regulated business environments. McDaniel possesses a strong background in managing complex projects and issues, having held leadership positions in a wide range of business, government and nonprofit organizations. This includes serving as vice president of corporate growth for Policy Studies, Inc, where he oversaw more than $200 million in outsourcing proposals for government health and human services programs, and as a senior financial analyst for Trimble Navigation Limited, where he was responsible for financial reporting and business analysis for a $260 million division.

McDaniel brings a true passion for — and deep understanding of — financial strategy, public policy and public/private partnerships to his position on the board. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Richard Rivera, M.D., M.P.H., Employer Representative

Richard Rivera joined Pinnacol's board of directors in 2010. He serves on the board's investment, and governance and ethics committees. He is the president of Emergi-Medical Care Center in Pueblo and owner of HealthTrac Walk-In Clinic in Canon City, and serves as a staff physician at those two facilities. As a health care provider, business owner and employer, Rivera brings a well-rounded perspective to the board on a variety of workers’ compensation issues, including proper care of injured workers and the challenges of providing workers’ compensation coverage to employees at different worksites.

Rivera is also the founder, president and chief executive officer of HealthTrac Systems, LLC, which provides products and services to health care providers and employers designed to improve health care delivery and lower costs, including an innovative electronic medical charting system. He earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School and master’s degree in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Nonie Rivale Willisch, Employee Representative

Nonie Willisch joined Pinnacol's board of directors in 2010. On the board, she represents Colorado employees with an insurance-industry perspective based on her long career as an insurance agent — and a proven track record of keeping employees safe at work. Willisch serves on the board's governance and ethics committee, and she chairs the compensation committee. Since 1998, she has sold workers’ compensation and commercial insurance for CRS Insurance Brokerage, Inc. in Denver, focusing on the construction industry. In this role, she works closely with policyholders to manage claims and promote on-the-job safety. She also served as president of the Hispanic Contractors of Colorado (HCC) trade association in 2008 and 2009, and helped organize a workers’ compensation group policy program for HCC member companies focused on safety and lowering workers’ compensation costs.

Prior to joining CRS, Willisch served for 10 years as an insurance agent with Liberty Mutual Insurance selling workers’ compensation, commercial, auto, home and life insurance products. She studied liberal arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder.