Meet our workers' comp leadership team

As a technology-driven workers' compensation MGU, Kinetic's leadership team is focused on creating the best workers' comp experience by empowering policyholders to control risk.

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Get to know the Kinetic executive team

Our executive team combines insurance expertise with technology innovation to operate a modern, tech-enabled MGU.

Adam Price

CEO

Michelle Carter

Chief Underwriting Officer

Danielle Lucas

VP of Distribution

Troy Fenderson

VP of Insurance Operations

Aditya Bansal

Co-founder and CTO

Aaron Mellinger

VP of Engineering

Julie McCollough

Director of People Operations

Adam Price

As CEO of Kinetic, Adam leads the company's mission to transform workers' compensation through technology that prevents injuries and improves how claims are managed. He's focused on making the industry smarter, safer, and more efficient for everyone—from frontline employees to their employers.

Adam Price is an insurtech executive with experience spanning high-growth startups and public companies. His career has focused on applying technology to real operational problems, particularly in complex industries, and he’s deeply interested in how AI can improve outcomes in insurance.

Prior to Kinetic, Adam was CEO of Waitr (NASDAQ: WTRH), a publicly traded food delivery marketplace. Before that, he founded Homer Logistics, building last-mile delivery technology that improved efficiency across food and retail operations. Waitr acquired Homer Logistics in early 2019.

Adam was named by EY US as a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 New York program.

Adam holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UC San Diego.

Michelle Carter

As Chief Underwriting Officer at Kinetic, Michelle works closely with the CEO, board of directors, and capacity partners to shape underwriting practices, refine pricing strategies, and drive the company's expansion into new markets. She brings a data-driven approach to an industry ready for innovation.

Michelle Carter has spent nearly three decades proving that great underwriting is both art and science—building teams that balance profitable growth with smart risk management.

Before Kinetic, Michelle spent nine years at Hanover Insurance as Regional Chief Underwriting Officer, managing a $350M book across three regions. She started her career at The Hartford, where she spent 17 years rising through the ranks to Regional Vice President in Baltimore, overseeing a $140M Property & Casualty business.

Michelle was named a 2025 Women in Insurance Leadership Honoree by Digital Insurance and serves as the RISE 2026 South Texas Ambassador.

She holds an MBA and BBA in Corporate Finance from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX.

Danielle Lucas

As Vice President of Distribution at Kinetic, Danielle leads the company's broker partnership strategy and market expansion efforts. She's building a network of brokers who understand that workers' compensation is more than just a transaction, it is a tool for making workplaces safer.

Danielle Lucas knows that great distribution starts with relationships—the kind where brokers are risk advisors to their clients.

With nearly two decades in workers' compensation distribution, Danielle brings a rare perspective shaped by experience across the entire ecosystem. She spent five years at Pie Insurance, where she built the distribution team and strategy, scaling the business through broker partnerships nationwide. Earlier in her career, she worked within retail agencies, wholesale agencies, and legacy carriers, giving her deep insight into how each part of the distribution chain operates and how they work together.

Danielle was named a 2022 Business Insurance Break Out Award winner, recognizing her as an emerging leader in the industry.

She holds a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in Business Management, from California State University, Northridge.

Troy Fenderson

Troy Fenderson brings over 35 years of workers' compensation experience to his role as Vice President of Insurance Operations at Kinetic.

As part of the leadership team, he oversees three critical areas: policyholder experience and technology education, claims management, and loss control services. He works closely with distribution, underwriting, and technology leaders to deliver a technology-driven workers' compensation experience for broker partners and policyholders.

Before joining Kinetic, Troy founded CompSolutions and spent nearly two decades building a company that managed the workers' compensation programs for large, self-insured employers. His team created and deployed custom services around insurance/re-insurance placement, data analytics, claims management, and loss control programs, all focused on reducing a client's total cost of risk.

Prior to CompSolutions, Troy spent eight years at EBI Companies, advancing from Loss Control Representative to Regional Branch Manager. During his time, he helped the company grow from $45 million to $670 million in gross written premium.

Troy holds a dual degree in occupational and industrial safety from Keene State College.

Aditya Bansal

As Co-Founder and CTO of Kinetic, Aditya leads the development of injury-prevention and management technologies for frontline workers and their employers. He combines hardware, data, and AI to create tools that actually work in the real world. Recently, he's been building AI agents that streamline claims handling and submission intake, improving operational efficiency without adding complexity.

Aditya Bansal is an engineer who loves taking ideas from zero to one. He's spent his career building practical products that solve real problems, with a particular focus on making everyday work safer.

Aditya started his career at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he spent nearly seven years designing integrated circuits for high-performance computing and developing ultra-low-power sensors.

He holds a PhD and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University and a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT-BHU in India.

Aaron Mellinger

As Vice President of Engineering at Kinetic, Aaron leads a cross-functional team developing technology to reduce and manage workplace injuries in the workers' compensation market. His team builds SaaS platforms, data integrations, and internal tooling that enables Kinetic and its customers to prevent and manage injuries as efficiently as possible.

Aaron Mellinger builds engineering teams that turn complex technical challenges into measurable business outcomes. Over the past 15 years, he's led organizations across high-growth startups and Fortune 500 companies.

His career spans semiconductor manufacturing at ASML, AI/ML platforms at Solera, and energy optimization systems at Redaptive—giving him deep expertise in deploying advanced technology solutions across industries.

Aaron holds dual bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Texas Tech University.

Julie McCollough

As Director of People Operations at Kinetic, Julie ensures the right people join and start strong. She designed culture-fit interviews aligned with company values, created structured onboarding, and oversees compensation, learning programs, and compliance—all while keeping a fully remote team feeling close.

Julie McCollough builds the kind of workplace culture where people want to show up. She's spent her career in startups, tackling the unique people challenges that come with rapid growth and remote-first teams.

The results: In 2025, its first year applying, Kinetic ranked #50 in Best Places to Work in Insurance. Ninety-six percent of employees are happy in their role, 100% like their work environment, and 95% say Kinetic has great culture and communication.

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from San Francisco State University and is SHRM-CP certified.