This presentation on diversity, equity and inclusion featured Kristen Kish with Mound Cotton Wollen Greengass LLP, Stéphane Louis with Enstar, Lee Vuu with Argo Group US, and was moderated by Jose Martinez Jr., VP of legacy solutions at Swiss Re. At the start of the meeting, Jose pointed out the diversity of the panel itself, this being important to note because of the different perspectives that each of the panelists can provide. Rather than a typical presentation for the AIRROC audience, this panel opted to have more of a conversation about their backgrounds, experiences, and some of the issues faced as individuals from diverse backgrounds, as well as the benefits of DEI initiatives.
Jose asked each of the panelists if they had experiences where their backgrounds either helped or hindered them. Lee and Stéphane shared both negative experiences and positive experiences in their career stemming from their backgrounds. Lee noted that being an Asian-American woman in this industry has likely given her some setbacks but emphasized that what you look like or where you begin your path is not indicative of where you are going and that ultimately it is who she is as a person that has helped her succeed. Stéphane spoke about receiving negative comments about his French accent while working as an adjuster, but ultimately his background opened the door to new opportunities. Stéphane was able to leverage the fact that he speaks multiple languages as an asset to his organization, and has been the point person to communicate with others in situations where multilingual skills have been an asset. Kristen recalled a past experience of pay inequity at a prior workplace where a male peer of a similar background received a higher salary. She noted that this is too often the case for women in the workplace, where statistics have shown they are less likely than their male counterparts to negotiate higher salaries for themselves. Kristen noted that this motivated her to connected with other female attorneys and they have been able to offer support and guidance to help her grow her career.
The group discussed the importance of representation in the recruitment process. Stéphane noted that it is essential for others to see people who look like you in the room, and that in attracting new talent to this niche industry, representation can make it more approachable.
About 50% of the insurance workforce is set to retire in the near future. Kristen pointed out that this is why AIRROC has built initiatives such as the NextGen Council to help attract young or new talent to this business. Jose noted that recruitment is only half of the battle.
He noted the importance of employee resource groups, which help people feel comfortable and encourage communication with each other. Jose hopes to see more turnout to events and panels like these that discuss the importance of DEI, and stressed that we cannot further build on these efforts until we add people and resources.
The panel continued their discussion with feedback and questions from the audience, fielding questions about what success in DEI looks like. Lee noted that we can look around the room and see how well we are doing in these efforts, but agreed that it can take years before we see results—that we need to build a foundation first. Having these conversations is important to these efforts.
The conversation with the audience touched on how heavily DEI efforts should be considered versus just hiring the most qualified individuals without regard for their backgrounds. Lee pointed out whilst we want qualified people in the room, that room could look a little bit different. Stéphane also noted that we may be missing out on pools of talent we haven’t before considered if we are only looking at the usual candidates. Kristen noted that these pools of talent could have even more to offer. Lee also pointed out the diversity in education in the room itself with a show of hands for those who went to Ivy League schools versus community or city colleges.
The group emphasized that DEI efforts are important to ensuring the future of this industry and it is up to us as individuals and organizations to decide what we want that future to look like.
