Last week, the Lloyd’s Gender Network co-hosted an event at Lloyd’s with our charity partners, SEO London, bringing 15 female students to shadow senior leaders from across the business for a day.
Here’s the highlights – and why these events are so important to Lloyd’s.
SEO London students at Lloyd's!
At the end of June the Lloyd’s Gender Network welcomed 15 amazing female students to Lloyd’s for an insights day, in partnership with SEO London. The students brought their questions and energy to a morning session bringing to life the world of insurance. The afternoon session included a opportunity for each student to shadow a senior female leader – giving a chance to see the world of work up close and personal... The aim of this session was to inspire young females to go for their dreams by seeing successful women across Lloyd’s being represented and heard.
At the start of the session, we asked students to write down what they wanted to gain from the day, with many saying they wanted to learn about the different roles and pathways available in the market, as well as the chance to gain an insight into how to become a senior female leader in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Fast forward to the end of the day – what did they take away from the session?
One thing I have taken from the day is that it's important to believe in yourself.SEO participant
Today has made me realise that you need to be curious about things and keep an open mind about your career.SEO participant
Sponsors for educational opportunity!
SEO London prepares talented students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds for career success. Our partnership with SEO London was born in January 2021, offering young people access to the Lloyd’s market and other top insurance firms. Candidates learn and develop through workshops, mentorship and placements with firms in the market.
10 – 15
Students receive university bursaries each year
~700
Students supported in 2022
300
Volunteers across the Lloyd’s market
Around the world, many people from underserved backgrounds struggle to be represented in the workplace. Although there has been progress, many communities still face harsh barriers at work. At Lloyd’s we want to change that. Our aim is to build an inclusive culture where everyone feels welcome, so we can make sure Lloyd's stays a destination for global talent.
We also want to be learning from each other as we do this. Gender inequality crosses over with many of the other challenges faced by other disadvantaged groups, such as by social class, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability. So, focusing on multiple areas at once will really help shift the dial.
Last year, Lloyd’s brought its diversity networks under one banner: Lloyd’s Together. That wasn’t just a name change – it’s because we think there’s a lot to learn between groups from the barriers faced in the workplace and how we can make our cultures more inclusive.
We talked to some of the leaders involved in the event to get their thoughts:
Spending the afternoon with SEO student Isra was such a pleasure. Insurance doesn’t have the best reputation as a career choice, so I set myself the challenge of showcasing the many fascinating and purpose driven things that we work on here at Lloyd’s. After an afternoon learning about our work on space sustainability, the relaunch of the Underwriting Room and our inclusion commitments, Isra was full of questions, ideas and genuinely buzzing about insurance.Linda Miller, Head of Global Sponsorship & Events
It was inspiring to meet such a motivated, interested and interesting cohort of young women from SEO London. They were brimming with questions and energy, and, I think, surprised to find out that a career in insurance can be rewarding, varied, purposeful and never dull! The highlight for me, though, was hearing our existing apprentices talking with such enthusiasm about their placements at Lloyd’s; what they’ve learned and what they enjoy. They are a really smart bunch, and honestly, if we can persuade them to stick around, Lloyd’s future will be safe in their hands!Jo Scott, Chief Marketing Communications Officer
I found the experience really fulfilling. I was paired with Eva for the afternoon and heard about her hopes, dreams and ambitions – I was inspired by her appetite to learn and hunger to succeed. She spoke also of the challenges she had experienced along her journey, and those she felt she might encounter on her way through university and finding a future career. It really brought home for me the importance of… giving young people the opportunity to learn about Lloyd’s and the broad range of opportunities available in our marketplace. They say knowledge is power – and now there’s a group of bright young women who know a lot more about what insurance has to offer than they did before.Hannah Kate Smith, Operations Director
I signed up to the event because I think insurance is an under-rated and under-promoted career option, so I love to share how exciting and important it can be with whoever will listen! I think it’s key for us to make sure as many different people as possible consider it, so that we can inspire a broad range of voices to join us. I really enjoyed spending a few hours with Maryam; she was super-engaged and asked some really insightful questions, so I’m confident we're reaching some fantastic potential future insurance leaders.Emma Watkins, Head of Exposure Management and Aggregation
Jaycee Rigden, Business Apprentice, Lloyd's
11 Jul 2023
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