BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Symetra Financial Corporation today announced the appointments of Soraya Alexander and April Galda Joyce to its board of directors. Ms. Alexander is chief operating officer of online fundraising platform GoFundMe and president of its subsidiary, Classy, Inc. Ms. Galda Joyce was most recently CEO and director of Beat Capital Partners Americas, a subsidiary of United Kingdom-based MGA platform Beat Capital Partners Limited. The appointments were effective March 31, 2024.
“We are very pleased to welcome Soraya and April to the Symetra board. Our new directors bring impressive backgrounds to the company. Their combined industry, business and customer acumen will be invaluable as we pursue Symetra’s strategic vision and long-term growth,” said Sally Jewell, chair of the board for Symetra. “The changes we’ve made to our board over the past few years have created a new dynamic, with renewed energy for leading the company forward. I am very optimistic about the opportunity we have to drive growth and performance in the years ahead.”
“April and Soraya’s diverse experience and expertise add to the strength of our board,” added Margaret Meister, president and CEO of Symetra. “April’s broad strategic and operational industry experience and expertise in regulatory, risk and reinsurance functions will help inform and strengthen our competitive dynamic, while Soraya’s exceptional business background in building for scale, leveraging data analytics and growing customer reach will be invaluable as we pursue greater market segmentation and deepen our customer-centric focus.”
As GoFundMe’s chief operating officer (COO) and Classy’s president, Soraya Alexander oversees product, engineering, sales, marketing, technology, and operations for the software division. Previously, Ms. Alexander was COO at Classy. As a member of the executive team, she played a key role in significantly growing the company’s valuation and market presence, resulting in its acquisition by GoFundMe. Before her promotion to COO, she led overall marketing, customer growth, and operations as senior vice president.
Prior to Classy, Ms. Alexander was with Dick’s Sporting Goods, where as director of loyalty programs she implemented new marketing programs and digital capabilities, and as senior manager led the company’s omnichannel customer experience team.
Ms. Alexander holds an MBA in management from Harvard and a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. She serves on the board of San Diego Social Ventures Partners, a nonprofit providing surf therapy and mentorship for foster and adoptive youths, and as the executive team member representative at Classy GoFundMe board meetings. A former executive advisor for Compliance Metrix, she has also served on the boards of directors for Urban Surf 4 Kids, Harvard Iranian Alumni, and Harvard Business School Women’s Student Association.
In her most recent role as CEO and director of Beat Capital Partners Americas, April Galda Joyce established Beat’s U.S. platform, capacity, and initial managing general agents. She was previously a managing director with Global Atlantic Financial Group, where she held multiple executive roles, most recently as chief culture officer, where she drove an evolution of the company’s culture, with a focus on opportunity and inclusion for the company’s employees. She also served as one of two Global Atlantic directors at the Forethought Variable Insurance Trust, a $4 billion SEC-registered mutual fund complex.
As co-head of operations, Ms. Galda Joyce led core operational functions, including reinsurance, investment, and treasury operations, as well as data management, real estate, security and resilience, and corporate insurance. As co-CEO of Global Atlantic Re in Bermuda, she built out a robust offshore life and annuity reinsurance platform and led significant transactions. She also served as a director of Bermuda life insurance industry association Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers.
Ms. Galda Joyce began her career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York in 1999 before becoming a founding member of the predecessor to Global Atlantic, the Goldman Sachs Reinsurance Group.
Ms. Galda Joyce received a Bachelor of Science in management from Case Western Reserve University. She also serves as board chair of CYCLE Kids, which promotes the physical and emotional health of children.
About Symetra
Symetra Financial Corporation is a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue, Washington. In business since 1957, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent financial professionals and insurance producers. For more information, visit www.symetra.com.
