How Young Agents See Diversity

1. I’d like to see the industry known for insurance professionals coming from all walks of life, and that success can be reached in our industry no matter who you are.
2. To not push it for the sole sake of sounding relevant and politically correct. A great agent is a great agent regardless of gender or race.
3. Get more women and minority producers.
4. I think the industry, especially the carrier side, has done a better job with focusing on diversity over the last 10 years. Definitely still room for improvement though!
5. We need more women and minorities in the work force! How do we do that?
6. If the candidate is qualified for the job and carries good interpersonal skills, speaks professionally and has insurance knowledge, I don’t think it matters in terms of gender/race.
7. Awareness that we need more minority professionals in this industry. It is a very white business. Women are very well represented in my agency though, which is great.
8. A better understanding of unconscious bias.
9. Stop making race, gender or background such a big damn deal and just treat people fairly. Having programs like a diversity or inclusion program is freaking racist. Do a better job at hiring good, honest people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, etc.
10. Attract different races to the industry and provide the resources to educate/coach them so they can enhance the talent pool.
11. I feel like the companies are very diverse because they’re all headquartered in big cities, but small towns don’t have much diversity.
12. Where I live in Miami, there is already a lot of diversity. However, when I travel for training, I see very little diversity in insurance. Making a considerable effort to seek out young, talented diverse people is what I am looking to do with my agency.
13. I’d like to see more diversity in upper management of agencies and carriers.
14. I think people need the space to discuss the issues in our industry because of the lack of diversity. More push for diverse leadership.
15. Would like to see a focus on programs helping lower income neighborhoods with professional career programs, to prepare them for their future; to allow them the same opportunities I had.