Helping create a more diverse insurance industry
Deon Hornsby embraces the role of helping others navigate a way toward better racial understanding and diversity.
Like so many people, in the weeks that followed the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, Deon Hornsby felt a mixture of anger, fear and frustration. He also knew he wanted to do something about it.
In the insurance industry, Black professionals called for greater diversity, equity and inclusion. For Deon, AVP, regional underwriting manager for the Chicago and Midwest Region of AIG’s Private Client Group, it was the kind of opportunity he was ready for.
After starting out as an auto underwriter for State Farm, Deon joined Chubb as a personal lines underwriter for their High Net Worth (HNW) segment. Even though Deon was well versed in underwriting, the change took some getting used to given the unique aspects of the HNW segment, including the specific risk needs of HNW clients.
In 2005, Deon joined AIG as a senior underwriter for its Private Client Group, where he served HNW clients from the company’s Schaumburg, Ill., office. In 2008, he was promoted to a regional underwriting manager position and began managing the Great Lakes region. Today, he manages the Chicago-Midwest region. At AIG, he says, his role requires an ability to blend underwriting and pricing and to build strong relationships with distribution partners.
Deon is also a member of the Private Risk Management Association (PRMA), a trade group representing the insurance carriers and brokers that serve the HNW market. When PRMA created a Diversity and Inclusion Team in response to George Floyd’s death, AIG Private Client Group President & CEO Kathleen Zortman invited Deon to co-chair it with her. Deon gladly took the offer.
The goal of PRMA’s D&I Team is as ambitious as it is simple: to help make PRMA a more diverse organization and, in so doing, help its member companies — which includes AIG — to become more diverse themselves.
“We are only seven months in, and we like the progress we have made so far, but we have a long way to go,” Deon says. “This last summer was a huge wake-up call for a lot of people. Kudos to the PRMA Board for recognizing its blind spot and for putting a team together to address it as much as possible.”
‘You feel you have to be perfect’
At AIG, Deon maintains an open-door policy for any colleagues who want to talk about diversity. In addition, he and Bill McDuffie, chief operating officer of AIG’s Private Client Group, manage an e-mail forum that serves as a space for people to talk and raise concerns, including with respect to the impact of societal unconscious bias.
“The positive that came out of this summer is that folks started to have real conversations about racism and diversity,” Deon says. “If you have a question or want to talk, we can talk without any judgment. We’re not going to solve our problems unless we talk about them.”
There have been moments in Deon’s career when he was reminded of how lonely a journey it can be as a Black insurance professional in a historically white industry. He recalls once attending a business conference a few years ago where one hundred and seventeen people were there, but only he and one other attendee were Black. Deon recalls the two of them sharing with each other, “Tell me before you go. I don’t want to be the only one here.”
“Professionally, if you’re the only Black person in the office, you feel like you have to be perfect,” Deon says, “because if you don’t succeed, you’re slamming the door on somebody else who looks like you.”
‘Part of the culture’s DNA’
Like AIG, many insurance companies issued statements decrying racism this summer. But what next?
“Our world of HNW carriers wants to be on the side of right and make changes in their organizations, so they are not leaving it just to the people of color to drive change,” Deon says.
Within AIG, Deon has seen tangible action to increase the representation of Black professionals in elevated positions. In September 2020, AIG named Ronald Reeves as its chief diversity officer, and it launched the Executive Diversity Council, a global effort sponsored by AIG’s CEO to mobilize AIG leaders to advance diversity, equity and inclusion across the company.
AIG also has more than 140 Employee Resource Groups — employees who come together based on a shared interest in a specific dimension of diversity, either as a member of that group or as an ally — with more than 11,000 members worldwide. Throughout the summer, the ERGs held numerous “courageous conversations” to address societal concerns about diversity and systemic racism.
“Diversity has to be part of the culture’s DNA. That’s why a commitment is needed from an organization’s senior leadership to make sure all ranks are represented by BIPOC, women and any other marginalized groups,” Deon says. “This must be a measurement in gauging senior leadership performance.”
It is especially important to recruit diverse entry-level talent — especially students from historically Black colleges and universities and universities with highly diverse student bodies. Once that talent is on-boarded, the next step is to connect them with a mentor to help them chart a successful career path.
Deon himself has been mentoring for years and cautions that it requires significant emotional energy. Mentors need to be honest with themselves about that.
“Being a mentor doesn’t matter if you’re not performing. You have to be able to honor your day job,” Deon says. “Until there are more of us, we need to step up the best we can, but we also need to manage ourselves, so we don’t burn out.”
As Deon continues to support and promote diversity at AIG, PRMA and elsewhere, he is encouraged by the progress he sees in his own workplace and the wider insurance industry.
“I do not mind playing this role,” Deon says. “It’s something I’ve always liked to do. I may not have the answer, but if you can get something off your chest and perform better because of that…sometimes, that’s all you need. And if I can be that person, then I’m doing my part for the movement.”
Bill Coffin is the senior editor of corporate communications for AIG. He is the former editorial director of National Underwriter (NU) Life & Health and Property & Casualty and has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance news space.
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