.
Insider Progress
Building a more diverse and inclusive workforce
Hopefully you’re here because you feel as strongly as we do that building a more diverse and inclusive workforce is critical to the success and prosperity of the (re)insurance market.
Insider Progress is a cross-market, free-to-join community launched by Insurance Insider and designed to promote active discussions around building an insurance workplace for the future.
Through our events, we hope to create a place where people will not only meet and network with like-minded individuals, but also be able to benefit from tangible takeaways which can be put into place in your own companies.
Insider Progress will also feature editorial articles, opinion pieces, research, thought leadership and more, designed to arm people with evidence and ideas that can be taken into the boardroom to supplement and inspire your D&I policy building.
Most importantly, this will not be a place where we just focus on the negatives or the horror stories. We want to provide a clear view of how embracing and celebrating employees’ differences can bring new business opportunities in (re)insurance.
But, in order to truly enact change, we need support from all corners of the market – both men and women, from the new graduate recruit to the C-suite executive. So, if you're interested in becoming part of a movement that will help companies prepare their workforce for tomorrow, please sign up, get your boss to sign up and start being part of the conversation.
Advisory board
Catrin Shi
Catrin Shi is Insurance Insider’s Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of the publication’s diversity and inclusion campaign, Insider Progress.
A graduate in German, Catrin trained to become a journalist as a postgraduate at the Cardiff University School of Journalism. >>
Catrin cut her teeth at various regional newspapers before starting out as a financial journalist at SNL Financial (now S&P Global Market Intelligence) in 2012, where she developed and launched the firm’s European insurance news product.
Since joining Insurance Insider she has picked up a number of trade journalism awards for her work, including Breaking News Journalist of the Year at the 2019 Willis Towers Watson Media Awards.
Catrin’s news coverage has a London market focus, and includes Lloyd’s, cyber, property D&F, casualty, financial institutions, MGAs, binders and legacy. She is also Insurance Insider’s diversity and inclusion champion.
Vishal Desai
Vishal is Senior Manager of the Insurance Directorate at the Bank of England. He leads Risk and Actuarial oversight for Lloyd's of London and London Market firms. He is also the Bank’s General Insurance lead on climate change, including international engagement and support to the Governor on positioning climate change as a financial risk. >>
A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Vishal dedicates much of his time to supporting and developing inclusive workplace cultures, with a focus on BAME, LGBT+ and disability dimensions. He has led a number of Bank and market wide events and initiatives through his role on the Steering Committee of the Bank of England’s LGBT+ & Allies Staff Network and his position on the Steering Committee of the insurance sector’s DiveIn Festival.
Karen Graves
Karen has been working in the Lloyd’s and London market for over 27 years, starting her career in the compliance arena, moving on to a COO and then a CEO role within the Lloyd’s market for an established Lloyd’s Managing Agency. She is also the Senior Independent Director for the USAA Limited and USAA SA and a Director of a Multi-Academy Trust. >>
SCOR SE was her first Global Reinsurance role and within scope fall operational matters, oversight and coordination of EMEA satellite offices (Madrid, Milan, Stockholm, Dublin, Moscow, Amsterdam, South Africa and Brussels), Internal Controls, Operational Risk Management, Regulatory Relationships, Property Affairs, Hub Compliance and working with the business divisions on new projects from a strategic perspective.
Karen is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers and Chair of the Independent Women in Insurance Committee (iWIN). A Founder Member of European Council for the Advancement of Women in Leadership and addition to this a supporter of the Lloyd’s Military Network for senior officers leaving the Armed Forces. As a supporter of educational diversity Karen is a Director of the Burnt Mill Academy Trust, and as a keen painter a member of Lloyd’s Art Group. Age and educational diversity are of particular interest and she often takes part in presentations and conferences on these topics, along with being an ally to LGBTQ colleagues.
Jason Groves
Jason Groves is Global Director of Media Relations at Marsh and Chair of Dive In – the Festival for promoting greater diversity and inclusion in the global insurance sector.
He is founder and executive sponsor of Marsh’s LGBT+ colleague resource group, Pride, in the UK. Prior to joining Marsh in 2006, Jason was editor of reinsurance magazine, The Review. >>
He is a board member of The Prince’s Business Emergency Resilience Group, an initiative of Business in the Community, and serves as Chairman of the London Piano Festival.
Jason is active in the communications industry; a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a Freeman of the City of London, he is also a former Court Assistant of the Company of Communicators.
Ann Haugh
Ann Haugh became President Global Markets, AXIS Re, in November 2018. She oversees AXIS Re Strategic Partners, Specialty Re and the Lloyd's platform. Ann joined AXIS Re from Thomas Miller, where she was Group Chief Operating Officer (COO). >>
Prior, Ann held several senior roles at Aspen Insurance Group, including President, International Insurance; Global COO; Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) and was a member of Aspen's Group Executive Committee. Previously, Ann worked for Zurich, culminating in her role as Group Chief of Staff. While there, she was also CEO, Global Corporate UK and COO for Global Corporate. Before this, Ann worked for Arch Insurance, a division of Arch Capital Group Ltd., as Vice President Emerging Markets and ultimately was CUO & COO, Executive Liability. She began her career as a Financial Lines Underwriter at Zurich U.S. and Great American Insurance Company.
Erik Johnson
Erik’s background is in strategy, M&A, and corporate development having worked in Lloyd’s strategy team and as an Assistant Director with Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Insurance Practice. However, he started his professional life as a ballet dancer, training and dancing with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. >>
Erik is an avid volunteer and is passionate about D&I. He was a founding Co-Chair of Link (LGBT Insurance Network), the Insurance Institute of London’s first Diversity Champion, and a founding Steering Committee member of iCAN (Insurance Cultural Awareness Network). He currently sits on the Inclusion@Lloyd’s committee and where leads its Partner Network Initiative, is a Council and ExCo member of the Insurance Institute of London, and steering committee member of iDAWN (Insurance Disability, Ability, and Wellness Network).
In 2019 he was awarded the Chartered Insurance Institute’s ‘Unsung Hero of the Year Award’ and in 2017 was awarded the London Market Forum’s ‘Market Inclusion & Diversity Award’ for his sustained voluntary contributions to improving inclusion and diversity in the insurance market.
Erik is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers, a Chartered Insurer, and is a National Forum Officer with the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Maurice Rose
Maurice Rose is an experienced Insurance Practitioner and currently a Manager at PwC. In his role, he supports clients address complex Risk and Regulatory issues across the London Insurance Market. Prior to PwC, Maurice worked for the Bank of England, supervising a Portfolio of London Market Insurers and has worked at the Corporation of Lloyd’s, a Lloyd’s Managing Agent and a Large P&C Insurer. >>
Maurice is Co-Chair of Link, the LGBT+ Insurance Network. Link's mission is to create and maintain workplaces that attract and retain the best LGBT+ talent to the insurance industry. The network has a membership base of over 1200 members and has recently won the Queens Award for Volunteering, the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer groups, recognising the contribution made by the network to D&I within the Insurance sector.
Our sponsors
