Last month, the Big “I” Diversity Task Force and InVEST® teamed up with the Chinese American Insurance Association (CAIA), Latin Agents & Brokers Association (LABA), National African American Insurance Association (NAIA) and Korean American Insurance & Financial Association (KAIFA) to host a collaborative Insurance Industry Diversity Career Fair. The primary goal? To target college students and recent graduates for employment in the insurance industry. “A large segment of our population of insurance professionals is gearing up for retirement. Without a stream of young people in the pipeline to pick up the baton, our collective industry knowledge will suffer a substantial blow,” states Juan Padron, Big “I” Diversity Task Force Chairman and SafeGuard Insurance Agency owner.
“It is imperative that we embrace and engage young people in our industry. Unfortunately, we cannot depend on the strength of our legacy and traditions of the past to sustain the future of our industry. To avoid extinction while remaining socially relevant, we need the diversity nestled within the largest population in history, the Millennials,” explains Errica Rivera, State Auto community relations officer.
The Big “I” Diversity Task Force will continues to make strides to increase awareness and involvement among the millennial generation and other underrepresented groups within the industry’s workforce, including women and members of the LGBT, African American, Asian and Hispanic communities. At their meeting on June 11, 2014, the group met to set their strategic plan for the next three years, which will include a new focus on research, agent outreach and increased awareness training for agents and other industry stakeholders. One result of this increased focus on the industry will be the Diversity Task Force’s participating sponsorship of the IICF (Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation) Women in Insurance Conference on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 in New York City!