TOP 40 D&I CHAMPIONS: K–S
Ivy Kusinga
Chief culture and talent officer—Chubb
Kusinga believes in the value of female leadership and has ensured that Chubb’s approach to culture has a clear purpose. She has been described as an agent of change, who believes that when individuals feel a sense of belonging, they are freed to perform at their best.
Vic Mazonas
General manager—GAIN
Mazonas is a neurodiverse individual who has personally experienced many of the struggles that are all too common for people with autism in their personal and professional lives.
As the general manager of Group for Autism, Insurance and Neurodiversity (GAIN) she is committed to championing neurodiversity and is a sought-after speaker in the public arena.
Mark Morales
Diversity task force leader—California Department of Insurance
Morales is the first LGBTQ+ person appointed to lead the California Department of Insurance’s diversity task force. In his leadership role he promotes diversity initiatives to accelerate progress and equality within the insurance industry. He encourages greater diverse representation on boards and advocates for increasing procurement from diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by women, LGBTQ+ people, veterans, disabled veterans, and historically under-represented communities.
Morales is vice president of the small business administration (SBA) loan division at City National Bank, specialising in SBA financing and loan programmes for diverse-owned businesses. He is the co-owner of Charles Jacobsen, an LGBT business enterprise.
Kirat Nandra
Credit control manager—Chubb
Nandra has been championing D&I initiatives in the insurance industry for decades. She is deeply passionate about making the industry inclusive for all and was a pioneer of Chubb’s Insight Programme that gives young adults an entry point into the industry. She works closely with SmartWorks to get people back into work after career breaks and she has been involved in the new 50 Over 50 initiative that highlights the importance of age diversity.
Lara Pedley
Global managing director—ISC Group
As the global managing director of ISC Group, Pedley is responsible for executing the global strategy of the group as well as managing operations in each branch. She has a background in advising and launching startups and prior to insurance, worked in property. She sits on the board of Famn UK, an organisation that strives to make coaching more accessible to individuals. She is passionate about culture change and the impact it can bring to organisations.
Ronald Reeves
Chief diversity officer—AIG
With 22 years at AIG, Reeves is responsible for partnering with the insurer’s leaders, managers and employees to design, develop and implement a sustainable, measurable and impactful global DEI strategy. This strategy focuses on talent, workplace and the marketplace.
Under his leadership, AIG has appeared on DiversityInc’s Top 50 List for the past five years. The insurer has also been recognised as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign for 10 consecutive years, as well as one of the Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion in 2021 and 2022.
Reeves is a board member of Temple University’s Centre for Ethics, Diversity & Workplace Culture. He has been recognised as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers by the National Diversity Council in 2021 and 2022 as well as one of North America’s Most Influential DEI Leaders for 2021–2022.
Maurice Rose
Senior manager ERM—MS Amlin
Rose is the chair of Link, the LGBTQ+ Insurance Network, which supports cross-market diversity initiatives and engages with the re/insurance industry to host senior executive dinners, regular meetings, and other events to assist companies on their journey to making insurance a more attractive sector for all talent. Link has established several new LGBT employee resource groups in the insurance sector.
Barbara Schönhofer
Founder and chair—ISC group Co-chair—GAIN
Schönhofer is a name many across the industry will recognise for her extensive work in progressing D&I. She has been exceptionally influential in persuading leaders in UK insurance to look carefully at inclusion and diversity. She was instrumental in founding The Women in Insurance Network, ISC (formerly known as Insurance Supper Club) and the Independent Women Insurance Network for the Worshipful Company of Insurers. This work led to Schönhofer being awarded the “Woman of Excellence Award” by The National Association for Female Executives.
More recently she has started HTS Stargate to support the faster advancement of aspiring female leaders and is a founder member of Insuring Women’s Futures, leading Women & Risk, which was launched by the Chartered Insurance Institute in 2019.
Schönhofer, a founder member of Group for Autism, Insurance and Neurodiversity (GAIN), has shared her story of how her neurodiverse daughter inspired her and a small group of like-minded individuals to create the group.
Karima Silvent
Chief human resources officer—AXA Group
Silvent has been CHRO at AXA Group and member of AXA’s management committee since September 2019. In this role she heads up workforce transformation, culture, employer brand and recruiting and is in charge of talent and executive career management for support functions for professional families.
She believes that progress in gender parity is vital, but that progression should continue in other dimensions including ethnicity and sexual orientation.
She is deeply committed to The Sponsorship Tandem Program, launched at AXA Group level which has since cascaded across several entities. At first it was dedicated to women and is now open to men. It is aimed at identifying the most talented women and men within each business unit and preparing them for senior management roles with the sponsorship of top senior leaders.
Godwin Sosi
Assistant underwriter—Sompo International
As a co-founder of the African-Caribbean Insurance network (ACIN), Sosi has supported and advocated for industry initiatives to improve black and minority ethnic (BAME) representation in insurance. He has helped increase cultural awareness and competence around issues of inclusion in the London Market and has made the insurance sector a more attractive destination for young BAME professionals.
