John Rollins is a Board member of the Florida Policy Project and the CEO of Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance Company, a Florida homeowners insurer that began operations in 2025. A fourth-generation Floridian and credentialed property-casualty actuary since 1995, he has spent the last 26 years of his 35-year career in coastal property insurance. He served in C-suite roles in finance, risk and underwriting for various private-sector Florida property insurers before leading Patriot Select to the market. He served as the Chief Risk Officer for Citizens after serving on its Board of Governors as an appointee of Gov. Rick Scott. He has written several prize-winning actuarial research papers and many articles and op-eds about catastrophe-prone property and flood insurance. He earned a B.A. in mathematics from Duke University and an M.A. in economics from the University of Florida.
Senator Jeff Brandes is a highly respected and accomplished leader who served in the Florida Legislature from 2010 to 2022. He represented District 24, which covered a majority of Pinellas County, and was known for his innovative and independent policy-making. Throughout his tenure, he consistently advocated for solutions to address Florida’s most challenging issues.
Brandes is a strong advocate for free market principles and has worked to reduce regulations and taxes to promote business development in Florida. He is a vocal supporter of cutting-edge technologies and has played a vital role in the state’s advancing self-driving vehicles, rideshare, and other emerging technologies. For over a decade, he has hosted the Florida Automated Vehicle Summit, which assembles industry leaders from around the country to address transportation technologies, operations, and policy issues.
He is a veteran, having served as an Army officer in the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. This experience gave him a unique perspective on leadership and public service. He has also been an advocate for prison reform, worked to increase public safety through improvements in the criminal justice system. The former Senator continues to be an expert leader in property insurance reform.
In addition to his legislative duties, Brandes is a business owner and serves on the boards of several community organizations. He is dedicated to making Florida a better place to live, work and raise a family. Since leaving office, he has founded the Florida Policy Project, (www.flpolicyproject.com) a not-for-profit, non-partisan, organization that researches best practices and better outcomes in housing affordability, property insurance, criminal justice and transportation. The Florida Policy Project is working to impact state policy-making in these pillars. Senator Brandes lives in St. Petersburg and is the father of four children.
