Jamaican-born insurance executive Dwight Geddes has been named the 2026 recipient of the Alonzo Herndon Award by Business Insurance, recognising his contributions to the insurance industry and his work to expand opportunities for Black professionals and the next generation entering the field.
Geddes, founder of Metro Claims & Risk Management and The Geddes Management Group, will be recognised at Business Insurance’s INSUREChange 2026 conference on October 8th at the Union League Club of Chicago.
Reacting to the announcement on LinkedIn, Geddes said he did not even know he was being considered for the honour.
“Honored to be the recipient of this award, and I honestly wasn’t even aware I was under consideration,” he wrote.
Geddes added that while recognition has never been the motivation behind his work, receiving the award was humbling.
“I don’t do any of what I do for awards, but it is humbling to be recognized,” he said, adding that he was “following in some big footsteps too!”
Jamaica College Alum
Geddes was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and attended John Mills Primary School before going on to Jamaica College. He is the son of the late Jamaican journalist Tino Geddes.
He migrated to the United States in 1985, continuing his education at Pace University and York College in New York. He later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from York College.
Before entering insurance, Geddes worked in investigative and legal-related roles. In a 2021 interview with CLM Magazine, he recalled working at a plaintiff’s law firm, where his experience with litigation and investigative work helped prepare him for his first position as an insurance adjuster.
That first opportunity would eventually lead to a career spanning more than 25 years in the US insurance industry.
Building a Career in Insurance
Geddes worked his way through the industry in roles that included adjuster, claims manager and director of claims. Before going into business for himself, he served as director of claims for a multistate commercial property and casualty carrier in New York, where he helped build its claims, special investigations and in-house legal operations.
In 2011, he began running his own business and today heads Metro Claims & Risk Management and The Geddes Management Group, both based in Floral Park, New York.
His work has included claims handling, consulting, auditing, risk management and catastrophe response. Metro Claims personnel have been involved in responses to major natural disasters, including Hurricane Ike, Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irma, Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Ida.
Geddes has also published, presented and taught insurance professionals across the United States on subjects including fraud, risk management, automobile claims, catastrophe property trends, and diversity, equity and inclusion. He is also a certified mediator, insurance expert witness and FINRA arbitrator.
Opening Doors For the Next Generation
Alongside his professional career, Geddes has been particularly involved in efforts to introduce more people of colour to opportunities within insurance and support their advancement in the industry.
In 2018, he founded the Northeast Insurance Conference (NICE), bringing together insurance professionals from across the United States to discuss industry trends while highlighting the breadth of career opportunities available in the sector.
Geddes has also held leadership roles with the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA), including serving as vice-president of its New York Tri-State Chapter.
In 2022, he was elected to NAAIA’s National Board of Directors for a three-year term beginning in 2023, becoming the first Jamaican to serve on the national board.
At the time, Geddes told Jamaicans.com that he wanted to build on his work of making young people entering the workforce aware of the opportunities available in insurance.
“I look forward to expanding on what I have done the last few years, which is making the next generation entering the workforce aware of the significant opportunities in the insurance industry,” he said.
Following in Alonzo Herndon’s Footsteps
It is that combination of professional leadership and helping others advance that is at the heart of the award Geddes will receive in Chicago.
Business Insurance launched the Alonzo Herndon Award in 2021 to recognise individuals dedicated to supporting diversity and inclusion within the insurance industry. Recipients are recognised for demonstrating the courage, leadership and goodwill associated with Herndon while helping others progress and succeed.
The award is named for Alonzo Herndon, who was born into slavery in Georgia in 1858 and rose from working as a labourer to become a successful entrepreneur. More than a century ago, he founded the business that would become Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the largest and most successful Black-owned businesses in the United States.
Geddes joins a group of previous recipients that includes National African American Insurance Association founder Jerald L. Tillman, who received the award in 2025.
Recognition For Leadership
The Herndon Award is not the first time Geddes’ professional and community work has received wider recognition.
In 2021, Crain’s New York Business included him among its Notable Black Leaders & Executives, an annual recognition highlighting Black New Yorkers for professional, community and philanthropic achievements, including work related to diversity and inclusion.
Outside the insurance industry, Geddes is also a published fiction author. His writing has appeared in several insurance trade publications, while his fiction career dates back to his early twenties.
He is also a regular contributing writer to Jamaicans.com, sharing his knowledge and perspective with the Jamaican community at home and across the diaspora.
Geddes has remained connected to his Jamaican roots and his alma mater and, in 2026, serves as president of the Jamaica College Old Boys Association of New York.
Now, more than four decades after leaving Jamaica for the United States, the Kingston-born insurance professional adds the Alonzo Herndon Award to a career that has increasingly focused not only on his own advancement, but on creating opportunities for those coming behind him.
