Brenda (Ballard) Austenfeld is President of RT Specialty and CEO of RT National Property. She provides leadership to brokerage teams for sales and strategy initiatives while overseeing relationships with key market and retail broker partners. Brenda’s executive leadership and talent development skills, along with building team culture throughout the RT Specialty national platform, has led to exponential growth that has made RT Specialty a leader within the E&S insurance arena. Her team has become well-known for its ability to handle specialized and high-risk exposures creatively and effectively.

Brenda joined RT Specialty through RT’s acquisition of Westrope in 2013, where she was a Partner and Executive Vice President. Before joining Westrope, Brenda served as a global property broker and held several leadership roles at retail brokers Aon Risk Services and Alexander & Alexander.

Brenda serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors for The Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA). She also recently served 6 years on the Board of Directors for The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), she was a founding Board member for WSIA Diversity Foundation where she spent 4 years and had served 15 years on the Board of Trustees for the Kansas 4-H Foundation.

Brenda has been recognized by many industry and community publications for her leadership throughout her career including the 2006 Inaugural class of Women to Watch for Business Insurance, 2024 APIW Woman of the Year, 2024 UJA Insurance Person of the Year and 2025 Lifetime Achiever Award from The Insurer.

Brenda serves as a Founding Member of WOW! (Women. Opportunity. Winning.) – a program created for all women of Ryan Specialty. Brenda is a strong advocate and mentor to many professionals finding gratification and fulfillment as professionals grow and expand within their careers.

RT Specialty is a leading wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products and services for Ryan Specialty. Ryan Specialty is a public company listed on the NYSE as RYAN.