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John M. Noel (born Feb. 26, 1948) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist best-known for founding Travel Guard International ^[1], the world’s largest travel insurer and a division of the American International Group ^[2] subsidiary, Chartis ^[3].

Noel is currently the Chairman and CEO of the Noel Group ^[4], a family of worldwide companies and investments located in Stevens Point, Wis, that operate under the credo, “Our direction is led by our values.” John Noel and his wife, Patty, support numerous charitable efforts domestically and internationally.

Business Career
In 1982, Noel developed the travel-insurance concept while working at Sentry Insurance ^[5]. Noel purchased the rights to the product concept, and by 1985 Travel Guard was operating out of the basement of Noel's home. When the company was sold to AIG in 2006, Travel Guard was producing nearly $250MM in annual gross premium. Noel remained as Travel Guard's CEO until 2009, exceeding revenue and profitability goals over the three years from the sale of the company to his departure. During that time, Noel also helped create an errors-and-omissions insurance product for the travel industry. After selling Travel Guard, Noel collected the other companies he had founded or purchased and gathered them under the Noel Group umbrella. Noel Group companies have included the travel agency Marathon Travel; MultiNational Underwriters, a medical-insurance carrier for travelers and expatriates; My Assist ^[6], a personal-assistance, mobile-telematics, and data-collection service; Compass Properties ^[7], a property-management firm; and Insure America ^[8], an insurance company serving travel agents. Noel Group sold MultiNational Underwriters to HCC Insurance holdings in 2009.

Philanthropic Efforts
In 1993 John and Patty Noel established the Make A Mark Foundationref> http://makeamark.org</ref>. Partners donate time, abilities, and finances to Make A Mark, helping the foundation build clinics, schools, and orphanages in developing countries worldwide, with a focus on AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. Make A Mark created Nyumbani Village in Kitui, Kenya, in 1993, making it the largest orphanage of its kind in the world. The village houses almost 1,000 AIDS orphans along with grandparents who also lost children to AIDS. ^[9] Noel worked with the Kenyan government to create Nyumbani using a self-sustaining model that employs the melia tree ^[10] to produce lumber and generate revenue and food forests to provide fruits and vegetables to eat and sell. The food-forest effort is a project of Trees 4 Children ^[11], a Make A Mark initiative that applies business solutions to problems of sustainability and subsistence. Make A Mark is expanding the Trees 4 Children model to villages around the world.

In Wisconsin, the Noels co-founded the local Boys and Girls Club, are major benefactors of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and have helped launch seed schools in Milwaukee and other urban areas. In recognition of their philanthropic endeavors, the Noels were awarded the Franklin Covey Humanitarian Service Award, given to “outstanding individuals who reach out to improve the quality of life for individuals, groups or humankind.” They have also received the Stevens Point Area Public School District Community Service Recognition Award and the William C. Hansen Distinguished Service Award, and been recognized for their contributions to Nyumbani Village.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Noel received a bachelor’s degree from UWSP in 1971. He was named UWSP "Alumni of the Year” in 1999[9], and the university's new performing-arts center was dedicated as the Noel Fine Arts Center ^[12] in 2006. Noel is an emeritus member of the UWSP Foundation board.[10] In 1996, the Noels established the Noel Compass Scholarship Program ^[13]to provide a UWSP education for low-income, high-achieving students from Wisconsin's urban communities. The program includes room, board and tuition and a paid internship at Noel Group. There are more than 30 Compass Scholar college graduates; many work at Noel Group and other Stevens Point-area companies. Currently, there are 11 students in the program.

Family
John and Patty Noel met when they were 14, and were married in 1968. They have six children: Tyler (born 1968), Chad (born 1972), Jessie Noel-Walker (1973), James (born 1974), Melissa (born 1975), and Jeff (born 1975). Chad, Melissa, Jeff, and James were adopted. Tyler Noel is the current president of Noel Group.

As he was building Travel Guard, Noel became a supporter and adherent of Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Noel later became a graduate and facilitator of the Covey Leadership Center, and contributed a chapter to Covey’s book Living the Seven Habits. Noel continues to sponsor Seven Habits training for all Noel Group employees.

References