From: Captive Insurance Times
Promoting a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) within organisations is fundamental to ensure innovation in the captive industry, according to several panellists at this year’s Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) International Conference.
DE&I was an underlying theme of the conference, with a keynote speech by Nick Ashburn, senior vice president and head of responsible investing at PNC Institutional Asset Management, examining how captives can take actionable steps to define, discuss and implement effective DE&I practices.
Looking at what has already been done in the industry, an Amplify Women panel session discussed how women in the captive industry can promote and foster female advancement, not just for themselves but for their peers.
In the session, Mary Ellen Moriarty, vice president for property and casualty and student insurance programmes at EIIA, highlighted that a key component of female advancement is refusing to perceive other women in positions of power as competition.
With women less likely than men to apply for jobs if they do not meet all of the criteria, Moriarty noted it is important for women to come together and support one another in applying for such higher positions.
This was echoed by Sandy Bigglestone, director of captive insurance at the State of Vermont’s captive insurance division. If there is not enough room at the table, whether metaphorically or literally, women must create space to enable and support each other, rather than feel threatened to compete over one token space — “leadership is an action, not a position or title,” Bigglestone added.
Kristen Peed, director of corporate risk management at CBIZ, noted that the ability to have a positive experience in her personal career was facilitated by earlier trailblazers in the insurance industry — therefore, it is important for the current generation of professionals to ensure this carries over to the next generation.