Women in Reinsurance (WiRe) is encouraging its members to support the inaugural Bermuda Dive In Festival next week.
For the first time in 2016, the Bermuda insurance community will join Lloyd's and cities around the world in the initiative aimed at highlighting the business case for diverse and inclusive workplaces and providing practical ideas and inspiration for how to bring about positive change.
Such was the success of the inaugural Dive In Festival for Diversity & Inclusion in Insurance, held in London in 2015, that Dive In has gone global. More than 45 events will take place over three days from September 27 to 29, 2016 in 15 cities in Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, France, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, as well as multiple cities in the UK and the US. This makes Dive In the only international, sector-wide, concurrent diversity and inclusion event of its kind anywhere in the world.
In Bermuda, Dive In has been endorsed by industry leaders XL Catlin CEO, Mike McGavick and Hamilton Insurance Group Chairman and CEO, Brian Duperreault, and led by a committee supported by EY, Hamilton, Marsh and XL Catlin. The Island’s industry will host three days of workshops to promote meaningful dialogue and discussion.
Event content will help ensure that Bermuda’s insurance sector is fit for the future by embracing a more inclusive workplace culture. Over the three day period, participants will be invited to consider how unconscious bias, mental health, neurodiversity, gender, multi-generational workforces and sexual orientation impact recruiting, hiring and culture-building decisions.
Dominic Christian, Chair of Inclusion@Lloyd’s, CEO of Aon UK, and President of the Insurance Institute of London, commented: “The first Dive In festival demonstrated there was huge appetite in the wider insurance sector to collaborate around an event to deliver broader reach and greater impact, raising the fact that diversity and inclusion are good for business. The message is that changing behaviour, not just attitudes, in order to advance positive commercial outcomes, realise productivity gains and enhance innovation in the industry.”
XL Catlin is Dive In’s global platinum sponsor. Paul Jardine, Chief Experience Officer at XL Catlin, who also sits on the Inclusion@Lloyd’s Group, said: “At XL Catlin, we believe that diversity drives innovation, creativity and profitability in all aspects and types of business. The pressure is now on leaders in the insurance industry not only to talk the talk, but walk the walk. We have an inspirational D&I champion in CEO Mike McGavick, who at last year’s festival hammered home this message, saying: “If it doesn’t come from the top, it goes nowhere” and he is absolutely right. But it’s also important to remember we all have a responsibility to promote diversity.”
Kathleen Reardon, Bermuda Dive In Executive Leader, Hamilton Re CEO, and Chair of Women in Reinsurance (WIRe), is pleased the festival has attracted the endorsement of His Excellency, the Hon. George Fergusson; Premier the Hon. Michael Dunkley, JP, MP; US Consul General Mary Ellen Noonan Koenig; and BDA CEO Ross Webber, and is supported by numerous industry stakeholders. Reardon commented: “In Bermuda, it’s our aim to celebrate and create awareness of the value of diversity and inclusion in ensuring the insurance industry is future fit, through a series of engaging events aimed at challenging pre-conceptions, building awareness and hopefully creating some ‘a-ha’ moments of clarity on obstacles to diversity and inclusion.”
Reardon will host a session focused on un-biasing our unconscious bias while other sessions focus on mindfulness, what executives need to know about women and gender strategies, working with people with hidden disabilities, Asperger's, LGBT experiences in the workplace and navigating a multi-generational workplace.
A mobile App has also been designed for iPhone and Android devices which is packed with relevant content as well as making it easy to register for events.
About Dive In
Dive In is an initiative of Inclusion@Lloyd’s, a strategic collaboration between the Corporation of Lloyd’s, IUA, LIIBA, and the Lloyd’s Market Association. It was launched in 2015 and has picked up multiple awards as a Diversity Champion and for Employee Engagement.
The Bermuda Dive In Festival committee is supported by EY, Hamilton, Marsh, XL Catlin and the Bermuda Human Rights Commission. All events are open to everyone who works in the insurance industry to attend free of charge with prior registration. For more information please contact the Dive In Bermuda committee at diveinfestival@xlcatlin.com. To download the app visit: www.diveinfestival.com #diveinfest