APIW names Kelly Lyles its Insurance Woman of the Year Award recipient

APIW Inc. (the Association of Professional Insurance Women) has selected Kelly Lyles, chief executive, client and country management at AXA XL, as this year’s recipient of the APIW Insurance Woman of the Year Award.

A cocktail reception and award ceremony honoring Lyles will be held on June 12, 2019, at the New York Sheraton Times Square Hotel in conjunction with the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation’s Women in Insurance Global Conference.

“It is our honor and privilege to announce Kelly Lyles as this year’s recipient of our highest honor, the APIW Woman of the Year, as an exceptional woman who has achieved prominence in her profession and has made significant contributions to the insurance industry,” APIW President Barbara Bufkin said in a press release.

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The industry still has room to grow

During her career, Lyles held a number of senior roles in financial lines underwriting and management. Between 2014 and 2018, she served in several senior positions at XL and later XL Catlin, including chief regional officer for insurance and deputy chair of the insurance leadership team, as well as chief executive of global professional insurance operations.

“I am humbled and delighted to be honored by the APIW. I joined the industry some thirty years ago, more than a decade after APIW was established and I have seen us developing and advancing together,” Lyles commented in the press release. “We all know we have some way to go, but I am encouraged and inspired by the strides we have taken, not only as women but as an industry.”

Related: Women dominate insurance, but inequality is rampant at leadership levels