I am a Senior Underwriter for professional indemnity insurance, assessing and pricing insurance cover for individuals or firms providing advice in their professional capacity.
I joined the industry 15 years ago as a HNW & Fine Art Trainee Underwriter with Hiscox and have been working in the London insurance market for over 10 years as a professional indemnity underwriter. I have been fortunate to gain experience underwriting some of the more niche areas too, such as Celebrity Death & Disgrace, Advertising Agents, Event Cancellation, and media risks such as Film, Television and Authors. I was born in Kenya and moved to the UK when I was 8 years old. I chose to do a degree in International Relations with Political Science, and followed that with a postgraduate in International Diplomacy, specialising in laws of war and conflict resolution, with aspirations to work in this field. My father passed away from a sudden stroke when I was 22, and I decided to change career paths, and moved into the insurance sector intrigued by Lloyd’s of London, the history of insurance and the career opportunities available in the industry. I have never looked back and gain true job satisfaction and enjoyment in my career. I am passionate about attracting and retaining talent in an evolving and exciting industry, that impacts our lives in hundreds of ways, every day.
I became involved with initiatives to support new talent to the sector in 2012, through the CII (Chartered Insurance Institute) ‘Discover Risk’ programme, speaking at events for school leavers and graduate events encouraging them to consider a career in insurance. In 2015, I was the multicultural lead for Dive In, the global festival for diversity and inclusion in insurance, a role I was invited to reprise in 2017. This year I am the co-chair for the Dive In London Steering Committee, a fantastic opportunity to showcase what the sector has achieved over the last 5 years as well as the areas we as an industry need to continue to drive forward making our sector truly inclusive and a desirable industry in which to build a rewarding career, for not only new talent but people already in the sector. I also sit on the Insurance Institute of London’s (IIL)Representatives Committee, and was a founding member of their Diversity & Inclusion Committee. In 2016, I was selected by BITC (Business In The Community) as one of twenty women to participate in the #samebutdifferent campaign – a touring photographic exhibition on intersectionality and challenging female gender stereotypes. I was the co-founder for the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN) in 2017, which aims to promote multicultural inclusion and progression in the insurance sector and working with allies to celebrate the benefits of diversity. Through iCAN, I launched a successful mentoring initiative that has become a key offering of the network going forward; having benefited from mentoring and as a current mentor, this is an area I am passionate about and believe can bring positive change with tangible results for both individuals and organisations. I have been invited to participate on panel and round table discussions on multicultural and gender inclusion in the sector. I contribute to the AXA UK BAME employee resource taskforce, and earlier this year was delighted to come on board as a London Insurance Life Ambassador – an initiative of the London Market Group (LMG) to attract new talent to the London insurance market.