TOP 25 D&I INITIATIVES: 16–20
16. Women at the Helm: Falvey Insurance Group
This initiative comprises a series of speaker-led networking events in the US titled Women at the Helm. The sessions celebrate leading women in the insurance industry and promote all-female panels and moderators. It is a platform to showcase female professionals and role models for aspiring female talent in the industry. Guest panellists often include women who have made notable contributions in and outside their organisations.
Discussion topics have covered women balancing career and family, women in maritime (in partnership with the American Institute of Marine Underwriters) and women encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion, among many others.
Speakers at a recent event included Dawnmarie Black, Northeast regional director and head of US Broker Practice at Lloyd’s; Heather Schenker, head of Specialty Insurance at Sentry; Kristy Furrer, senior vice president, Client Success at Woodruff-Sawyer; and Anita Farmer, SVP, practice leader, NE Marine at Lockton Companies.
The events are open to men and women and no admission fee is charged.
So far, Falvey has hosted three instalments of Women at the Helm, which attracted more than 300 attendees, including more than 60 men. Of those surveyed, 100 percent said they would recommend the event to a friend or colleague.
“It is a platform to showcase female professionals.”
17. Ladies That Lunch: The LTL Collective
The LTL Collective was launched in June 2019 in recognition of the need for a safe space to unite and professionally develop women from under-represented ethnicities working in the insurance industry.
It is a network that supports women in overcoming the struggles that are part and parcel of under-representation by bringing them together at regular lunches in the City of London and other organised events.
Founded by Teniola Tijani and Shreeya Joshi, the initiative has organised events such as the three-day LTL Impact 3, which held discussions on “the cost of overextending, overstaying or overlooking yourself”, “find your tribe”—about cultivating a support system—and the importance of resilience.
The group strives to support the next generation of women in insurance and can be found on LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
“The group strives to support the next generation of women in insurance.”
18. Women in Insurance (WIN) Programme: Ageas UK
Much like its acronym, the Women in Insurance (WIN) programme, from Ageas UK, is creating a “win” in ensuring that high potential women are developed and retained within the business.
WIN is an in-house initiative designed to build a pipeline of senior women leaders at the firm by providing female colleagues with the skills, capabilities, and confidence they need to put themselves forward for future leadership roles.
The initiative means the insurer will continue to develop women for promotion and is “an important step” in identifying women with potential across the firm’s talent pools. So far, 157 women have completed the WIN programme over the past five years, with a quarter being promoted.
Women on the programme have described it as “enlightening, insightful and thought-provoking”.
As part of the programme, the insurer has worked to create “a great place to grow” for its employees and has said that it wants to promote an open, inclusive, and inspiring culture for all. It has also committed to further increasing the diversity of its senior management.
“The insurer has worked to create ‘a great place to grow’.”
19. Global Equal Parental Leave: Beazley
At the start of 2022, Beazley changed its global benefits offering to give colleagues six months of paid parental leave regardless of their gender, and irrespective of how they came to parenthood. The move recognises the changing nature of families today and shows a broader commitment to closing the gender pay gap by ensuring that men and women are given equal opportunity to be the main providers for their children.
This approach may not be unique in the UK, but it is unusual around the globe and Beazley is “excited” to offer more flexibility to all of its employees.
It is part of the firm’s strategy around people and culture, which focuses on attracting and nurturing talented colleagues who champion diversity of thought. This is supported by providing a progressive and enhanced benefits package, of which the global equal parental leave is a key element.
“The move recognises the changing nature of families today.”
20. Race & Ethnicity Targets: Beazley
Beazley has openly admitted that it could be doing significantly better in its employee diversity for race and ethnicity. As a consequence, the firm has committed to becoming a more racially diverse organisation.
Following a significant internal exercise to review employee and census data in the countries it operates in, Beazley published global race and ethnicity diversity targets to ensure at least 25 percent of the global workforce will consist of people of colour by the end of 2023.
“The firm has committed to becoming a more racially diverse organisation.”
