Insurance sector actively supports and promotes women participation in the labor force and embodies thousands of successful women business people in each and every position from entry to executive levels. As the 8th of March International Women’s Day is approaching, women who take risks to improve and grow keep on inspiring the public with this regard. So, we dedicate this month to meeting some of these women who made a name for themselves in the sector for their success and took place on the inspiration list.
Women’s Position in the Insurance Sector
There are various positive steps that insurance professionals can take to set a course for a more successful future. One of these steps is to include women more in the business world. In spite of the fact that insurance is a male dominated sector, the success of women, especially in the last few years, provided a new breath to the field.
The gender inequality in the sector comes out in the open at the very beginning of the talent chain after the first promotion to executive level. According to McKinsey; the probability of women being promoted in different industries is %40 lower when compared with men. Within this scope insurance companies initiated different methods to help identify and promote an equal distribution of talents in the general establishment of the field.
Women Entrepreneurs of the Insurance Industry are Inspiring with Their Success
Companies who have gender diversity have a much higher possibility to achieve better financial outcomes in comparison to the ones that do not have gender diversity. Within this scope, the insurance industry is one of the most important sectors that will help reveal the strong problem-solving, communication and analytical skills of women. And in fact, in this sector, the number of women who started from zero and became a source of inspiration is quite high. Here we have 3 of these women entrepreneurs who made a name for themselves with their success!
Dame Inga Beale
Beale started her career in the insurance department of General Electric. She was aware of the fact that her promotion, being the only woman in her workplace, was proof of her success. However she declined this promotion saying that she does not deserve it because she is not successful enough. After taking a course on entrepreneurship and improving herself, she accepted the promotion stating that now she deserves it.
In an interview she did with the business magazine Management Today, she described her take on gender inequality and LGBTQ+ rights with these words: “We’re fighting against inequality all the time. We have to support equal benefit for all, regardless of gender. As to how we achieve full equality, the answer is still very elusive. It seems overwhelming, too big an issue to address. But we have to try. We have to aim for it.”
In 2017 New Year Awards, she became the Dame Commander of the British Empire thanks to her contributions to the economy. In addition, she achieved to become the first women CEO in the global insurance sector. Dame Beale kept on being an inspiration to all women in her field and played a significant role in progression of participation steps by instilling diversity and equality culture to the global insurance sector with her work.
Ivoree Reinaldo
Growing up in a 6-children-household in Los Angeles, Ivoree left the city she grew up in to have a more comfortable living and spent the rest of her life with her aunt in Sacramento. This way she took her first step to a better living by taking the most important risk in her life. It didn’t take long for her to realize that she made a risky choice once this transition caused a cultural shock due to the differences between where she used to live and where she moved.
She started working in the insurance sector, while she was only 17 years old. Gaining experience by working in different companies allowed her to be successful and self confident all throughout her university years. She also proved her success in the field of insurance by obtaining various certificates. Being the first black woman to start working as an insurance underwriter for property and casualty during her time in financial services in the U.S. was one of the most important periods which made her proud in this journey.
She supported non-profit organizations such as “Black Lives Matter” and she pursued this very much aware that it might create a risk in her professional career. She repeatedly expressed that this fight against discrimination and rasicm, not just as a black person but as an individual formed a great part of her life and that she will not back down from it.
In an interview, Ivoree talked about a saying that her uncle told and that she repeats to herself in times when she needs to nudge herself and added: “Go on and keep on fighting to become successful. Only look back, when you need to remind yourself of where you have come from.”
Ivoree became a source of inspiration to all women entrepreneurs to make the best out of existing opportunities. She earned the right to be among the Representatives of 2021 of “Insurance Journal” thanks to her intensive work in her position.
Cecilia Sevillano
Among successful women of the insurance sector, Cecilia Sevillano is pioneering collaborations with InsurTech as the president of Smart Home Solutions at Swiss RE. Starting her career off in Colombia, Cecilia later started working in a financial leasing company.
After starting to work in the global insurance sector, she developed a system that enabled remotely controlling everything inside the house. She wanted to help both sides of the equation, homeowners and insurance companies, to prevent experiencing losses in the face of danger using this system. Cecilia knew that every step she took to grow the company had major risks behind however she chose to take these risks as a woman entrepreneur. So much so that in an interview she shared her view on this subject as “In FinTech – InsurTech industry there is always a need for women ready to take risks.”
For women who just started their business adventure she said: “Trust yourself, push your limits and stand behind your ideas! If you don’t participate in conversations, nobody would understand what you can offer as EQ and IQ. You can have a good start by taking the floor in the company meetings. Afterwards start asking questions in conferences step by step and lastly be prepared to take the stage without giving it a second thought. Recent events provided a privilege to show women what they are all capable of. Accept this opportunity.”
In another interview she talked about why women are not in the technology and business world and she said: “I believe that the main reason lies in the way we were raised and our rooted social roles. Girls are being raised to be cute and perfect while boys are being raised to be brave and tough. This situation is very well represented in an HP report stating that while men are applying for a position as long as they meet 60% of the qualifications, women only apply if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Now, high doses of courage and self-confidence are required more than ever for both men and women to succeed beyond the status quo in the rapidly moving tech environments. FinTech/InsurTech industries need women who are courageous enough to take risks and who sometimes are not delightfull.”
Diversity and Equality Culture in Virtual i Technologies
In Virtual i Technologies, equality and diversity is one of our core principles. Our success is rooted in the fact that our diverse and multicultural team is not built based on bias but only the talent and success of each member. That is why this is a topic close to our hearts and these women are sources of inspiration to us.
However these are only the three of the inspirational women in our industry among all around the world. As Virtual i Technologies, we had the chance to have conversations with some of these women within our #TakeTheRiskTakeTheLead conversations program. The events take place each Tuesday at 3pm CET on Youtube and Linkedin live and the recordings will be available on demand on the same channels.
