Kristi Yazvac graduated from YSU with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a minor in Spanish in May 2015. She also received a Master of Arts in Economics in May 2016. Currently, she works as the Associate Manager of Data Analysis for Property Damage Analytics in Claims Control at Progressive Insurance. Kristi’s primary role involves supporting and developing her team of 6 analysts. Although she works for an insurance company, Kristi does not work with customers! Her team analyzes data to look at overall Property Damage Trends. They look at things behind the scenes from a big picture perspective and work to keep Progressive efficient and profitable.

Over the past 5 years, Kristi has been in several departments and had many roles. She has been an analyst to an event coordinator to a CRM supervisor to a Claims Manager. Her favorite thing about Progressive is their support of her trying many roles (since she still doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up). In addition, Kristi notes that the company has a very supportive culture in general and works to keep their employees engaged and having fun. Many employees tend to stay and have very long careers with Progressive!

During her time at YSU, Kristi was heavily involved which she credits with helping to prepare her for the workforce. She notes that having good communication skills set you apart when working in math and the presentations she was able to do at Pi Mu Epsilon allowed her to learn how to do an analysis and explain it clearly to a large group of people. Her roles as President of YSU Dance Club and being a math tutor helped her learn work-life balance as she is still involved in Employee Resource Groups, similar to college organizations, even though she has a career. In terms of what mathematics skills she still uses today, Kristi notes that statistics and forecasting methods still come up a lot and would be good topics to try and remember!

Kristi’s best piece of advice for current students is to always maintain a positive attitude and to apply for jobs even if you don’t feel totally qualified. She notes that she was probably underqualified for each new department she joined at progressive, but people took a chance on her because she interviewed with confidence! Kristi also encourages exploring new opportunities and working to find a role that makes you happy.