Jennifer Hammer
IREF Board Member
Jennifer Hammer provides results driven, strategic consulting and legal advice to her clients. She provides policy advocacy, government affairs consulting, regulator navigation, and legal advice to property and casualty insurers, health providers, and state agencies. She is very active at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and other national association meetings and assists clients with strengthening their relationship with their regulators. She has experience managing market conduct examinations from both the regulator and insurer perspective, as well as state and federal examinations, grants, regulation, and legislation.
Hammer was the first woman to serve as confirmed Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance. In January 2018, Jennifer became the Chair of the Property and Casualty (C) Insurance Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
Prior to her appointment as Director, Jennifer served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Office of the Governor where she worked closely with state agencies to develop and implement the Governor’s public policy agenda.
Previously, she served as Special Counsel to the Governor and Policy Advisor for Healthcare and Human Services. In this role, she coordinated all healthcare-related agencies, including the DOI. Jennifer oversaw the transition of Get Covered Illinois, Illinois’ Health Insurance Marketplace, from an independent commission to the DOI.
Prior to joining state government, Jennifer was Associate Vice President/Legal Counsel for Government Affairs for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and a lawyer in private practice with a focus on insurance defense, healthcare, business and advising clients on legislation including the Affordable Care Act.
Jennifer has a Bachelor’s Degree in Justice Studies from Arizona State University and a J.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Law.
She resides in Springfield, Illinois with her husband, Grant, and three children.
Jennifer Hammer
J W Hammer, LLC
4609 Lynhurst Road
Springfield, IL 62711