Reflections on D&I within the Insurance Industry - a guest blog from Maren Burrowes
Maren Burrowes was one of GINs founding co-chairs and worked in insurance for more than six years.
“It's an honour to be writing this blog for GIN; to be included in the trailblazing activity that the GIN committee are leading on. I really enjoyed reading back through the recent blog posts, many of which reflect a tale of two halves; on the one hand, yes, we've made a lot of progress over the last few years on gender equity, however there are still many inequalities that exist today for women so we must forge ahead with tangible actions that continue to move the dial.
“Going back to the start of 2015, I remember joining the insurance industry which was very male-dominated and wondering where the women's networks were. At the time, the industry had one cross-industry network: LINK (shout out to the LINK team!) but there wasn't a lot of other visible D&I activity across the insurance market. This puzzled me, but I quickly connected with other like-minded people who thought the same and we quickly realised there was a gap that needed addressing and the GIN committee was born. Fast forward to 2021 and there are now multiple Lloyd's partner networks which is fabulous to see. 2015 was also the year of the first Dive In Festival which won awards including 'Event of the Year' in 2015 and of course has been an annual flagship event in the industry since then.
“In 2021, there is a lot to be proud of and hopeful about. The GIN brand today has moved on alot from those early days and there have been various people involved in GIN over the past few years (some photos from the period 2017-2018 when I was Co-Chair alongside Louisa Erwin are below), but one thing has remained a constant - the committee continues to challenge the status quo and provide an opportunity for people across the industry to connect on gender equity issues. Many of the topics are intersectional, so it's great that the partner networks can come together to share experiences and combine resources on areas like parenthood, allyship, and cultural background which aren't just gender-related.
“Louisa Erwin and I were part of the founding members team for GIN, so it felt apt that we reflect back together on how far the insurance industry has come over the last few years. You can listen to our recent conversation here.
“Here's to the next few years within the industry. There are many issues we are grappling with at the moment in the broader social context (race equality, women's safety and safeguarding in schools, to name a few). We need to navigate those challenges together and not lose sight of our 'north star' which is to ensure fair and equitable opportunities for all to achieve their potential.”
Maren Burrowes
GIN ambassador, Global equity, diversity, and inclusion lead - Europe, Russia and Israel, Boing
Previously RSA UK D&I Lead and GIN co-chair