Ladies Leaders in Insurance coverage within the USA | Elite Ladies

March 12, 2025

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Leap to winners | Leap to methodology

Queens of protection

Ladies are the powerhouses of America’s insurance coverage business, numbering 1.7 million and comprising 54.9 p.c of the entire workforce.

Nevertheless, this dominance doesn’t lengthen into management roles, which is mirrored in Insurance coverage Enterprise America’s Elite Ladies 2025 survey as 64 p.c of respondents really feel there’s a lack of ladies leaders within the business.

Information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirms that girls are the vast majority of the workforce, aside from these in C-suite positions the place they quantity solely 22 p.c.

Information from 2010 to 2023 additionally exhibits that girls have made up the vast majority of professionals in roles comparable to claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, claims/coverage processing clerks and underwriters. It differs for gross sales brokers, the place ladies haven’t all the time been within the majority however have by no means dropped under 45.2 p.c of the entire.

These historic traits make the achievements of IBA’s Elite Ladies 2025 much more spectacular for navigating bias and structural boundaries to turn out to be profitable leaders and executives.

The winners earned their place after their achievements and initiatives over the previous 12 months have been analyzed by an esteemed judging panel that included:

Jessica Hanson Hanna, American Property Casualty Insurance coverage Affiliation

Nancy Mellard, Affiliation of Skilled Insurance coverage Ladies

Jenna Kirkpatrick Howard, Lockton

Joi Blume, GenStar Insurance coverage Companies

Kathy Quintana, HUB Worldwide

Jennifer Sharkey, Gallagher

Blume says, “Research present that when ladies are on the desk and in decision-making positions, the group fares higher general, particularly so far as financially and with so lots of our pale, male, and off colleagues getting older out of the business and retiring, this can be a pivotal time.”

One other factor that stood out for Blume was how the Elite Ladies’s affect goes past their office.

“The group was proficient, and so they all seem to be excessive producers inside their organizations. We additionally noticed a whole lot of issues like group involvement, volunteerism and people who find themselves effectively revered, not solely within the business however of their communities,” she says.

For Mellard, what’s spectacular was the Elite Ladies’s dedication to champion others.

“They weren’t targeted solely on their day-to-day job. With most of them, there was a reference to caring for the group and anticipating others to advance.”

She additionally underlines the most important power wanted to reach the insurance coverage business.

“Certainly, it’s empathy and that interprets to emotional intelligence. It lets you perceive prospects and group members higher.”

Mindsets of the USA’s ladies leaders in insurance coverage

Alliant Insurance coverage Service’s Kirsten Handel attributes her success to being sturdy. After starting her profession in underwriting, she moved on to the actuarial sector and is now shopper going through.

“Insurance coverage is all I’ve ever accomplished, and I grew up by means of the ranks, and it hasn’t been straightforward,” says the senior vp. “There are all the time new issues to study, however the core fundamentals stay the identical, so being sturdy helps you get by means of. I used to be by no means the neatest, however I labored onerous to study, perceive, and adapt along with preserving my relationships and constructing new ones.”

“Rising a guide of enterprise or operating a group day-after-day is like being a firefighter as a result of shopper requests are available in, or they’ve a loss and your group wants assist. It’s a really high-paced setting and you need to keep on prime of it”

Kristen HandelAlliant Insurance coverage Companies

Being resilient can be one thing Rekha Skantharaja advocates. The CEO of Tangram Insurance coverage refuses to be put in a field and desires to indicate the business that girls leaders are greater than token figures. If requested to an tackle a topic like work-life stability or self-care, she refuses.

“At any time when I’m requested to provide a keynote or converse on a panel round these subjects, I politely decline to take part,” Skantharaja says. “My male CEO counterparts usually are not being requested to debate these items. They’re busy exposing their views on M&A and valuation traits, tech transformation and massive knowledge, the artwork of negotiation, and constructing the following $1-billion unicorn.”

An enormous a part of Skantharaja’s ethos is being brave as a pacesetter.

She says, “We’re at an inflection level for ladies on this business and it’s time to lean deeply into the areas which have sometimes been guarded by the lads.”

Adaptability, resilience, and a client-focused mindset have all been key to enabling Catherine Lyle’s rise within the business.

“My aim is to make the claims course of as environment friendly and supportive as attainable. Staying modern isn’t non-obligatory – it’s important to offer worth to our shoppers and reply successfully to rising threats”

Catherine LyleTokio Marine HCC – Cyber & Skilled Traces Group

Now, as senior vp, and head of cyber claims and incident response at Tokio Marine HCC, she spreads that vitality amongst youthful colleagues.

“Fortunately, there are lots of wonderful ladies inside or getting into the business, and that is one thing I’m captivated with,” Lyle says. “I consider in creating alternatives and providing steerage to assist them navigate their careers. Mentorship is essential for constructing confidence, offering perspective, and empowering the following technology of leaders.”

Echoing the necessity to enable others to showcase their abilities underlines the management maturity of Threat Placement Companies’ (RPS) Sharon Novasel.

“I oversee our summer time interns and goal to broaden their views on the varied profession alternatives throughout the insurance coverage business”

Sharon NovaselThreat Placement Companies

“As a supervisor, I’ve discovered that empowering group members to take possession of their duties and roles has been key to our division’s success in attaining our targets,” she explains.

Being sturdy and profitable additionally includes understanding the necessity for private development. Refining her management model is one thing Christine Schneider, senior vp casualty claims at Arch Capital, locations a premium on.

She says, “I’m conscious of my weaknesses and know once I must seek the advice of with colleagues and collaborate to be able to effectively discover a decision or execute on a aim.”

Consciousness and understanding the right way to get probably the most from themselves is a top quality shared among the many Elite Ladies 2025.

“My strongest qualities are my capability to strategically drawback remedy, analyze conditions, weigh dangers, and make considerate selections which are in the perfect pursuits of our shopper and/or the group,” provides Schneider.

Ryan Specialty’s Brenda Austenfeld has carved out a repute by setting requirements.

“My aim is for our group to be the easiest, not simply in numbers or metrics, however in the best way we conduct ourselves and the extent of excellence we set.”

It’s been underneath a 12 months since Stephanie Peters took on the function of vp of shopper relations at RPS.

“All ladies in management ought to embrace being a job mannequin for feminine friends”

Stephanie PetersThreat Placement Companies

She has handled the problem of elevated duty of managing a group and has launched new methods of working.

“I used to be beforehand able the place I used to be comfy and stepped into a job that required me to adapt and embrace change. I’m happy with how I dealt with the transition, and I’m notably happy with the help of my group and the way the group embraced the adjustments.”

Resilience and willpower mark out the Elite Ladies 2025, as they’ve needed to come by means of difficult circumstances immediately or battle structural bias.

IBA’s survey knowledge exhibits that 33 p.c of respondents consider they’d have achieved extra seniority in the event that they weren’t feminine.

Sharon Novasel relishes working at RPS, the place there’s a sturdy concentrate on variety and fairness within the office, as she’s skilled the opposite facet. Her profession started throughout a time when ladies seldom occupied high-level positions.

She says, “I usually wasn’t taken severely, typically mistaken for the supervisor’s assistant, and was regularly dismissed and talked over in conferences. For instance, when interviewing an company for an appointment, I used to be regularly requested when my supervisor would make the choice, despite the fact that the choice was mine to make.”

Equally, Lyle can sympathize with not being proven the identical respect as her male counterparts.

“I might like to say that there have been no roadblocks and that everybody was supportive of a girl with a voice. Nevertheless, that was not the trail,” she says. “One of many greatest challenges has been overcoming unconscious biases. Early in my profession, I needed to work onerous to make sure my voice was heard in rooms the place ladies have been underrepresented. These challenges additionally fueled my drive to excel and create pathways for different ladies within the business.”

IBA Elite Ladies 2025 choose Mellard acknowledges there are fewer boundaries for ladies than there have been traditionally. To proceed this development, she feels ladies should be extra emphatic about their skills.

Mellard says, “There’s higher acceptance of broader ability units that girls carry, however boundaries nonetheless exist as a result of too usually corporations are rewarding those that they know versus who you might be. I don’t suppose as we speak it’s since you’re a girl versus a white man, however I do suppose the barrier is ladies must do a greater job to deliberately and confidently clarify their array of abilities.”

One other of 2025’s Elite Ladies resonates with Nadia Hoyte, cyber nationwide observe chief at USI Insurance coverage Companies. She recollects being “second and third guessed” after which attaching a that means to that which chipped away at her confidence, earlier than she understood the place these views come from.

IBA choose Blume is happy to see how ladies leaders are breaking by means of and emphasizes how necessary it’s to maintain the momentum.

She provides, “We’re actually at a crossroads, and I feel we’d like extra of our white male counterparts to turn out to be allies and take a real curiosity in our success, to see us not simply as competitors, however an equally highly effective pressure.”

Ladies leaders in insurance coverage act as mentors

What is obvious from the Elite Ladies cohort is how prepared and ready they’re to information others. They create time of their schedules to make sure they will help, educate and upskill the following technology of insurance coverage professionals, notably youthful ladies.

Alliant’s Handel has seen spectacular development figures in her area over the previous 12 months, which wouldn’t have occurred with out her group.

“I’m very proud to be part of hiring and bringing on some new group members but additionally mentoring just a few of them,” she says. “I’ve folks that have helped me from day one, and I nonetheless converse with them going again 27 years. I wish to be that for the longer term and pay that ahead. The relationships I’ve constructed and the belief I’ve garnered with a few of our newer individuals, along with sustaining my shoppers, might be the factor I’m most happy with.”

The recognition of video conferencing has additionally strengthened Handel’s influence.

“It’s truly expanded who you possibly can study from and who you possibly can mentor since you’re not simply with the individuals inside your workplace. I’m working with individuals in Florida, Atlanta, California, Boston, and assembly all these folks that I by no means actually would have labored with intently.”

Lyle is one other who’s captivated with being there for the “many wonderful ladies” getting into the business.

“I consider in creating alternatives and providing steerage to assist them navigate their careers. Mentorship is essential for constructing confidence, offering perspective, and empowering the following technology of leaders,” she says.

One other who’s energetic in ushering the following technology by means of is Novasel.

She says, “As a mentor to many ladies in entry-level positions, I supply steerage and encourage them to problem themselves, constructing their confidence and assertiveness, and fostering an equal enjoying discipline for everybody.”

Legacy of 2025’s Elite Ladies

One other defining mark of this 12 months’s cohort is leaving an enduring influence. Regardless of being a minority within the C-suite, the winners are capable of implement methods that have an effect on not solely their organizations however the wider insurance coverage business.

For Skantharaja, it’s instilling a tradition of accomplishment.

“My strategy to my profession and my life is to be grateful however all the time just a little stressed. It’s best to depart issues higher than you discovered them and lift the bar,” she says.

Threat Placement Companies’ Karen McCarthy-Hawn promotes the have to be guided by “an moral or ethical compass”.

The declare advocacy supervisor does this by making a collegial tradition.

“Many of the obstacles will be overcome with collaboration and a willingness to implement the change wanted to take away the boundaries to success,” she says. “After I current any obstacles found within the claims or methods work product, I all the time count on to be an energetic participant in serving to discover options or to offer coaching to alter future outcomes.”

Regardless of developments in group constructing, together with tech instruments and AI, there’s nonetheless a must roll up the sleeves and work onerous. Handel resides proof and credit her success to by no means dropping sight of that.

She feedback, “Grit continues to be necessary. I don’t suppose there’s any magic tablet or methodology that takes that away. You continue to should work onerous and stick with it.”