Women Who Have Shaped Insurance

As part of our celebration of women during March, we are looking at the women in insurance who have paved the way for us all. At Rivers, approx. 60% of our team are female and they have made a positive impact on our business and our industry.

It’s important that we look back into history at the women who have allowed us to be where we are today. So who are they?

Bina West Miller (1867-1954)

Initially a school teacher, Bina addressed a significant social injustice affecting women. Virtually no one offered life insurance policies for women due to the high birth mortality rates at the time. This had significant negative repercussions for families and children, as Ms. Miller saw firsthand when the mother of two of her students passed away. Since there were no life insurance policies covering mothers, fathers could not afford to work and care for their children, resulting in children being split up and sent to different foster homes. 

In 1892, she founded the Women’s Benefit Association to offer life insurance for women, forever changing the life insurance industry and social landscape. The organization survives to this day, known as the Woman’s Life Insurance Society. 

Minnie Gedding Cox (1869-1925)

During the late 1880’s, insurance companies refused to cover black Americans, citing bogus “science.” Minnie, a black woman and daughter of former slaves and small business owners, decided to address the injustice. She and her husband founded the Mississippi Beneficial Life Insurance company in 1908 in the State of Mississippi. Two years later, it became the first black-owned company in the US to offer whole life insurance benefits.

By offering insurance solutions to marginalized people on such a large scale, Minnie Cox made an indelible mark on the insurance industry as a whole.

Virginia Mae Brown (1923-1991)

Ms. Brown made history within the political and insurance worlds. She earned a law degree and promptly began shattering glass ceilings. She held multiple positions at the state level that had never before been held by a woman, including the position of Attorney General. Most relevant to those in the insurance industry, in 1961, she was named West Virginia’s Insurance Commissioner, making her the first woman insurance commissioner in the United States.” Ms. Brown went on to serve at the federal level as the first woman to lead an independent administrative agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission. 

Inga Beale (1963-Present)

Ms. Beale has been a trailblazer in the contemporary insurance industry. An LGBTQ+ executive leader, Inga served as the first female CEO of Lloyd’s of London, one of the oldest insurance companies in the world, founded in 1688. She accepted the role of CEO in 2013 and held the position for 5 years. She is credited with leading a digital revolution at the institution, establishing a culture of innovation, and expanding access to new, high-growth markets. In addition, she drove massive improvements in diversity and inclusion across the global insurance industry, advocating for equality for women and LGBTQ+ people. 

Tricia Griffith (1964-Present)

Another contemporary leader, Tricia has shaped the insurance industry as a senior executive and the first woman CEO at The Progressive Corporation, one of the largest car insurance providers in the US. She started as a claims rep at the firm in 1988, she worked her way up through the ranks to be appointed CEO of the organization in 2016, a position she has held ever since. Through her strategic guidance, she has led the company through unprecedented growth, moving the company from the fourth-largest car insurance provider to the third-largest in 2018.

Where to next for women in insurance?

Only time will tell but we foresee a very rosy future here at Rivers.

Original source https://shorturl.at/6ykmr