Industry making slow progress in promoting women as leaders

NEW YORK — Progress is evident but slow in coming for women in leadership roles in the insurance industry, according to a panel of speakers at the 2019 Business Insurance Women to Watch Awards & Leadership Conference in New York on Thursday. 

Only some 10% of companies in the insurance industry have leadership training programs focused on women, according to Todd Jones, New York-based CEO of QBE North America, who moderated the morning’s CEO panel. 

This prompted David North, president and CEO of Memphis, Tennessee-based Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc., to comment on companies’ priorities.  If only 10% of companies have focused leadership training for women, it says organizations are focusing efforts on “lots of other things,” Mr. North said. 

Progress for women leaders in the insurance industry has been made, albeit slowly, other panelists said.  “I think things are improving,” said Christine Williams, New York-based CEO of Aon Financial Services Group, U.S. “I think we’ve definitely seen improvement” over the past several years, she said. 

The problem, however, is that change is “moving very slowly,” Ms. Williams said.  Danielle Lisenbey, president and CEO of Broadspire Services Inc. in Atlanta, agreed, saying that although there is a positive trend in terms of women in insurance industry leadership, “what’s disappointing is how long it’s taken that trend to move.” 

One potential improvement, she added, could be to draw more men into the process of sponsorship for future female executive leaders.

Source: Business Insurance