The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA) has elected Melissa Cunningham as its new president, making her the youngest person in the organisation’s history to take on the role.
Cunningham, senior vice president and UK business interruption leader at Marsh, succeeds Hugh Kennaway after being elected at CILA’s 64th annual general meeting. Aruna Chandrapalan, Singapore CEO and head of forensic accounting services for Asia at Sedgwick, has been elected deputy president.
Cunningham’s appointment follows a year in the deputy president role. She was elected deputy president in September 2025 at the age of 39, becoming CILA’s youngest-ever holder of that position before stepping into the presidency a year later.
Addressing the industry’s talent challenge
The leadership changes come after CILA members approved Charter and Bye-Law reforms in 2025. The reforms expanded the Institute’s remit to better reflect the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of modern loss adjusting.
The industry’s talent challenge, however, is not new. CILA has previously highlighted the need to develop a broader and more highly skilled talent pipeline, particularly as successive record-breaking storm seasons have increased pressure on claims teams.
The Institute has argued that periods of increased claims activity require both the upskilling of existing professionals and the recruitment of new talent capable of handling rising claim volumes.
Former CILA president Amanda Evans, who was only the second woman to hold the presidency in the Institute’s 60-year history at the time, has also highlighted CILA’s “5,000 Voices” initiative. The programme sends members into schools and colleges to raise awareness of loss adjusting, as many young people remain unfamiliar with the profession as a potential career.
The new CILA officeholders
Cunningham is a dual-qualified chartered accountant and loss adjuster. Rather than following a traditional career path through a loss-adjusting firm, she developed her experience in broking.
Her professional background spans property damage and business interruption, as well as energy and power, product recall, warranty and indemnity, construction, and political violence claims.
Chandrapalan is similarly dual-qualified as a chartered loss adjuster and accountant and has more than two decades of industry experience across both adjusting firms and brokers.
She specialises in quantifying complex business interruption and financial loss claims and previously served as CILA’s honorary treasurer. Chandrapalan was appointed CEO of Sedgwick’s Singapore operations in late 2025 after being promoted to partner of forensic accounting services for Asia the previous year.
A sign of CILA’s changing direction
Cunningham’s progression from the youngest-ever deputy president to the youngest-ever president, following within a year, provides a clearer indication of the direction CILA is taking under its 2025 reforms than either appointment would individually.
However, CILA’s previous commentary suggests that its biggest challenge may lie beyond the leadership structure.
The Institute still needs to encourage a broader range of young people to consider loss adjusting as a career. CILA has repeatedly acknowledged that a lack of awareness of the profession remains a significant barrier to building the next generation of talent.
For Cunningham, the longer-term measure of her presidency may therefore extend beyond the leadership table. The key question will be whether her tenure helps create a meaningfully broader entry-level talent pool and attracts more young people to loss adjusting.
That will be one of the most important tests of CILA’s reforms during her presidency.
