NEW YORK, November 5, 2019 – The insurance industry was strongly represented in a dialogue among global corporate leaders at the Million Women Mentors (MWM) Summit in Washington, D.C. on October 22 and 23. Focused on harnessing the power of mentoring in order to inspire women and girls to pursue and excel in STEM careers and leadership, the members of MWM's Women in Insurance Initiative (WII) consortium had the opportunity to engage in discourse with world leaders from such diverse industries as retail, finance, technology and energy at the Summit.
The Million Women Mentors Summit was developed to bring executives from all industries together to engage with new learning, celebrate the movement’s work, and publicly amplify mentoring as a highly effective practice to drive change and deliver corporate impact. WII was there in full force, with insurance industry-specific presenters and topics including:
- Ignace Conic (VP, Process Management, Prudential Financial): How to Approach a New Community Workshop
- Barbara Ingraham (Managing Director of Excess and Surplus, Verisk): Women in Insurance Presentation
- Catherine F. Lamson (SVP, Chief Administrative Officer, The MEMIC Group): State Movements Fueled by Corporate Sponsors
- Margaret Resce Milkint (Managing Partner, The Jacobson Group): Women in Insurance Presentation
- Monique Rhodes (Director, Communications, Prudential Financial): Leaders to Learn From Panel
Other MWM WII members participating in discussions at the event included executives from ACORD, The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) The Actuarial Foundation, Country Financial, Munich Re, NFP and Ryan Specialty Group.
In alignment with the mission of the Summit, WII recently launched a data collection project to provide a deep and comprehensive view of issues and opportunities for women in the insurance industry. This first-of-its-kind research and data gathering exercise asked companies to share valuable information about employee demographics, diversity and inclusion programs, and gender parity initiatives. Verisk, who spearheaded the project for WII, aggregated the information for official release later this fall.
“WII’s data collection project takes a comprehensive look at the industry to provide real numbers around the issues and opportunities currently existing for women in insurance,” said Milkint, who is also chair of MWM WII. “This is the concrete data the industry’s been waiting for. We look forward to the meaningful dialogue and actionable goals that will be sparked from this ground-breaking study’s results.”
To receive a copy of the results once they are available, contact wii@stemconnector.com.
About WII
The Women in Insurance Initiative (WII) is a consortium of organizations throughout the insurance industry committed to taking substantive and measurable action by recruiting, mentoring and sponsoring women to drive equality in career advancement and leadership throughout the insurance industry. The mission of the WII is to increase diversity and inclusion by developing insurance as an opportunity-rich industry for women.
About MWM
Million Women Mentors (MWM) is a movement to spark interest and confidence in women and girls to pursue and excel in STEM careers and leadership opportunities through the power of mentoring. With over 2.3 million commitments to mentor and over one million completed mentor relationships, MWM scales local efforts to a national movement. MWM has an active network of over 40 states engaged with pledges and steering committees, six governors and 10 lieutenant governors involved in state efforts, 75+ corporate sponsors, and 1600+ partner organizations.
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