NetDiligence Announces 2026 Toby Merrill Award Recipients

Gwenn Cujdik, Martin Leicht, and Carolyn Purwin Ryan Honored at Cyber Risk Summit Philadelphia 

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDiligence®, a leading provider of cyber risk readiness and response services, announced the winners of its 2026 Toby Merrill Awards yesterday at the company's flagship Cyber Risk Summit in Philadelphia. NetDiligence presents these awards each year honoring the late Toby Merrill, an icon in cyber insurance. 

The Toby Merrill Award for Excellence is given to a seasoned cyber insurance thought leader, the Rising Star Award is given to an emerging insurance professional, and the Community Spirit Award acknowledges an individual who fosters camaraderie and community within the cyber insurance industry. 

Presented annually, the Toby Merrill Awards recognize individuals across three categories: 

• The Toby Merrill Award for Excellence celebrates a seasoned thought leader in cyber insurance. 
• The Rising Star Award honors an emerging talent making a meaningful impact. 
• The Community Spirit Award acknowledges those who build bridges and strengthen community within the industry. 

This year, the Award for Excellence was presented to Gwenn Cujdik of AXA XL. Gwenn Cujdik is AXA XL's Incident Response & Cyber Services Lead for North America. An expert in incident response, she advises AXA XL, clients, and partners on cyber preparedness and response. She supports first-party claims processes and oversees strategy, execution, and management of AXA XL's cyber services, including the Breach Response Provider Panel. Combining legal, claims, and incident response expertise, Gwenn also helps organizations navigate high-profile and complex cyber crisis events. Before joining AXA XL, she supported hundreds of cyber and privacy matters as a cyber attorney and served as a homicide prosecutor specializing in complex evidence and victims.

The Rising Star Award was presented to Martin Leicht of Marsh. Martin Leicht is the US & Canada Cyber Brokerage Leader at Marsh Risk. Marty brings 13 years of dedicated cyber experience to this role, having started his career in Marsh's early career program.  Over the years, he has held key leadership positions including Northeast Zone Regional Leader, West Zone Regional Leader, and Claims Transformation Leader.

The Community Spirit Award was presented to Carolyn Purwin Ryan of Mullen Coughlin, in recognition of her collaborative leadership and commitment to community in the cyber insurance space. Carolyn Purwin Ryan is a Senior Partner with Mullen Coughlin LLC, and Chair of the Firm's nationwide Litigation practice group. She focuses her practice on defending organizations across all industry sectors in single-plaintiff and class action privacy-related litigation, as well as serving as Incident Response Breach Counsel. Carolyn is often sought after by clients and partners to present at regional, national, and global conferences and events. She routinely speaks on panels with incident response vendors and cyber insurance carriers and brokers to provide insights into incident response, cyber insurance, privacy litigation, and general cyber resilience.

Photos from the event and additional details about the awards can be found at https://netdiligence.com/toby-merrill-awards/. 

"Toby believed deeply in the value of bringing people together, sharing knowledge, and helping others succeed," said Mark Greisiger, President of NetDiligence. "That spirit is what these awards are meant to carry forward. Each year, we recognize individuals whose work strengthens the cyber insurance community and whose influence extends beyond their own organizations. This year's honorees have each made a meaningful difference through the way they lead, contribute, and support others across the industry."

NetDiligence also actively supports the Toby Merrill Scholarship Fund, which financially supports the educational advancement of students who reflect the qualities of leadership, kindness and strength that Toby epitomized. 

Media Contact:
Heather Osborne 
Director of Global Events & Programming 
610.896.9715 
[email protected]

About NetDiligence®
NetDiligence® specializes in Cyber Risk Readiness & Response services. With over 20 years of experience in cyber, NetDiligence is an award-winning provider of innovative cyber risk management software and services to the insurance industry. NetDiligence publishes an annual Cyber Claims Study and traditionally hosts Cyber Risk Conferences in Philadelphia, California, Toronto, and Florida. For more information, visit NetDiligence.com. 

SOURCE NetDiligence®