Lynesha Lightbourne has been named assistant director of public policy and government relations at the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (Abir).

Abir said that Ms Lightbourne has 18 years of business development, financial services and high-net-worth client service experience, and comes from the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), where she was business development manager.

In her new role, she will report to Suzanne Williams-Charles, director of policy and regulation, and will assist in developing and advocating Abir and member companies’ public policy related to doing business in Bermuda and other key jurisdictions such as the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Ms Lightbourne’s responsibilities will include regular meetings with government officials and committees and other relevant bodies in Bermuda, and monitoring policy issues of interest to the Abir membership, including all aspects of immigration, taxation in Bermuda, healthcare reform, public health regulation, public outreach and workforce development.

John Huff, president and CEO of Abir, said: “Lynesha is a valuable addition to our team. She is an excellent communicator with great knowledge of corporate governance and compliance, and she has a history of building strong professional relationships.

“Lynesha will help us to further Abir’s work in representing the policy interests of our expanding membership and in advocating for the industry and for Bermuda.”

Ms Lightbourne worked for five years at the BDA, most recently in a wealth solutions role, in which she developed and implemented data-based initiatives to attract companies and jobs to Bermuda.

She is also deputy chairwoman of the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority board of directors.

www.abir.bm