KCTX Director
Claims officer for Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Risk Management Services
Hiawatha Franks is the claims officer for Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Risk Management Services. He is responsible for providing strategic and operational oversight of claims operations for auto, liability, property, workers’ compensation, and other programs. He joined TASB in 1998 and served as the workers’ compensation claims manager until 2005. After working for large insurance carriers for 12 years, he returned to TASB in 2017 as the workers’ compensation claims division director and has served as the claims officer since March 2022.
He has served as the claims director for The Hartford’s small business insurance program as well as in roles of increasing responsibility at companies such as Texas Mutual and American International Group, Inc. Hiawatha holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas State University and a Master of Business Administration from Walden University. He also earned the Charter Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Risk Management (ARM) professional designations.