Revealed: Top BAME insurance leaders and role models 2020

Eleven Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) insurance leaders have been revealed across three of the latest Empower lists.

The Empower Lists are created by global diversity and inclusion membership organisation, Involve.

Despite BAME reporting in the insurance industry not being mandatory, these lists showcases leaders that are “breaking down barriers at work and working hard to smash the ceiling for ethnic minorities in the UK, Ireland, Europe, US and Canada”.

The Empower lists were founded in 2017 and aim to challenge the lack of ethnic diversity within businesses at executive level, as well as pushing for BAME inclusion at all levels.

The release of the list follows global protests for the Black Lives Matter movement as a consequence of the death of George Floyd.

Back again

Three insurance leaders made it on to the Empower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executive Role Models list 2020: Chika Aghadiuno, group enterprise and operational risk director at Aviva, Maxine Goddard, head of sales operations and planning at Zurich and Jaya Handa, privacy director, Liberty Specialty Markets.

Last year, Aviva’s Aghadiuno was at number 36, but this year she has risen to number 22. Aghadiuno is a co-sponsor for the Aviva BAME Network, lead on inclusion in the Aviva Global Risk Function and a member of the UK Aviva Inclusion Council.

She has also spearheaded various diversity and inclusion initiatives outside Aviva, such as a venture last year that involved exploring the impact of race and education on recruitment in the black community.

Meanwhile, Goddard sits on the executive committee at the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN) and is responsible for partnerships and external relationships. She has been involved in leading Zurich’s multicultural diversity and inclusion strategy and initiatives for more than four years.

Expansion

But Aghadiuno was not the only candidate to make the list again this year, BHIB Insurance Brokers and Brokerbility’s partnership director Ajay Mistry made the Empower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Future Leader Role Models at number 52 for 2020, while in last year’s list he held position number 37.

Mistry is the co-founder and co-chair of the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN), he has led a team to launch a platform called iCANapply promoting career paths and the retention of BAME talent. As well as being a long-standing member of The Network of Networks (TNON) Steering Committee where he trains new members and leaders to help them deliver diversity and inclusion goals.

As well as Mistry, this year’s list included six insurance leaders – Mary Alade, chief strategy officer at Aon, Sonia Janday, senior legal counsel and Aviva Origins co-chair at Aviva, Arzu Ozdemir, human resources analyst and co-director of partnerships at AIG and Diverse Influencers, Arit Amana, deputy company secretary at Chubb Europe, and Aviva’s British Red Cross partnership manager Anna Dilku.

This list was expanded to include 100 candidates compared to last year’s being a top 50.

Two-time champions

Meanwhile the Empower Top 20 Advocate Executive Role Models 2020 has also been expanded, last year it only included 15 candidates.

Two insurance candidates were among the 20, both David Hynam, chief executive at Bupa Global and UK; and Dominic Christian, global chairman, reinsurance solutions at Aon made the list again.

Christian chairs the Diversity Council as well as sponsoring six BAME women across the industry, he has contributed to the development of initiatives to attract more diverse talent to AON.

Read more…Black Lives Matter protests reawaken insurance industry under representation BAME debate

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