Marsh, AIG and NZBrokers are hosting events in New Zealand as part of the international Dive In Festival, which promotes diversity and inclusion in the insurance industry.
The festival is in its fourth year and involves events in 26 countries, returning to locations such as London, Perth, Zurich, and Bermuda, as well as new cities including Amman, Tokyo, San Antonio, and Wellington.
This year marks the start of a two-year campaign, Awareness into Action. After three years of raising awareness of the business case for diversity and inclusion, the global movement now looks to harness the energy of previous years to encourage action across the sector.
The annual theme is #time4inclusion. Last year, chief executives from across the industry singled out time as the biggest barrier to achieving inclusive cultures in their organisations.
Dive In is helping insurance get fit for the future, highlighting the business case for diverse and inclusive workplaces and providing practical ideas and inspiration for how to bring about positive change. Its unprecedented growth bolsters its strength as the first unique collaboration of sector organisations for D&I in the world.
Dominic Christian, chair of Inclusion@Lloyd’s and global chairman of Aon Benfield International, said: “The Dive In Festival is a catalyst for the global insurance industry that inspires collaboration around the key issues of talent and innovation. Our fourth year is a good time to focus our combined efforts on translating the growing awareness into action – supporting our industry’s ability to thrive and stay globally competitive and relevant.”
Pauline Miller, head of talent development and inclusion at Lloyd’s, added: “This year’s festival builds on the accelerated progress on diversity and inclusion across the sector in the last three years. We’ve reported on a higher number of companies taking action in our annual research Holding up the Mirror, at the senior exec level, throughout organisations, and through cross-industry collaboration.
“To grow this momentum, Dive In 2018 will see more subject matter experts leading valuable and engaging discussions, equipping professionals across the sector with the tools to take action both individually and within their organisations.”
Marsh will hold an event with AIG in Wellington on September 25 on the theme “creating an environment for inclusion” while NZBrokers will hold an event in Auckland on September 27 on unconscious bias.
