Bermuda’s insurance and reinsurance community will participate for the fourth time in the Dive In Festival, a global movement in the sector to support the development of inclusive workplace cultures.

First held in London in 2015, the annual event now has a worldwide presence. This year, some 67 cities in 33 countries are to hold events.

In Bermuda, those events will take place from September 24 to 26. It is supported by the Association of Bermuda International Companies, the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, AIG, AXA XL, Chubb, Kennedys, Liberty Specialty Markets, RenaissanceRe and Willis Towers Watson.

Albert Benchimol, chairman of Abir and president and chief executive officer of Axis Capital, said: “The re/insurance industry is making progress for greater diversity and inclusive action and, more importantly, there is a recognition that more work is necessary. On behalf of Bermuda’s leading insurers and reinsurers, we are proud to support the 2019 Dive In Festival in its work to support an increasingly inclusive re/insurance industry.”

The festival builds on last year’s campaign of developing ‘awareness into action’. This year’s theme, #inclusionimpact, invites attendees to consider ways to make an impact. Since its inception, the Dive In Festival has sought to accelerate the progress of diversity and inclusion within the global re/insurance industry, highlighting the business case for diverse and inclusive workplaces, providing practical ideas and inspiration for how to bring about positive change.

The festival’s Bermuda line-up includes seven events in varying formats and featuring panel discussions with experts, interactive workshops and keynote addresses.

The first workshop, “The ‘How’ of Inclusion — Transforming Organisational Cultures through Allyship”, will be at the offices of Chubb on Woodbourne Avenue. The workshop, sponsored by Chubb, will be led by Toronto-based consultant Ritu Bhasin.

On the same day, the panel discussion “WeSpeak — How did we get here — where are we going?” will be held at the offices of Axa XL on Bermudiana Road. Sponsored by Willis Towers Watson, featured are Kirstin Beasley, chair of Abic’s diversity and inclusion committee, Gemma Northern and Michael Crystal.

The WeSpeak organisation was created for women by women in Bermuda, and focuses on professional development. The organisation’s mission is to provide a supportive environment for women across all industries to practice presentation skills and to build confidence through coaching and learning opportunities to enable greater gender diversity in both corporate leadership and public speaking opportunities.

On September 25, the workshop “Positioning Yourself as a Visionary Leader” will be held at the offices of Axa XL. Featured are author, speaker and leadership coach, Sally Helgesen, and Cathy Duffy, country manager for Bermuda at AIG.

In the afternoon, also at Axa XL’s offices, Abir will sponsor the discussion “We’re All In — Creating a Diverse and Inclusive Working Environment”. Featured are Hamilton Re CEO Kathleen Reardon, and Judy Gonsalves, division president, Chubb Bermuda, as well as Ms Duffy and Mr Benchimol.

On the festival’s final day, the presentation “The Bigger Picture — Resilience in Diversity” will be held at the Chubb offices. The event is sponsored by law firm Kennedys. The featured speaker is Ben Merrick, director of the Overseas Territories Directorate at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who is registered blind. Alex Potts QC will introduce Mr Merrick and assist with moderating a question-and-answer session.

In the afternoon, at the Harbourview Ballroom in the Hamilton Princess, there will be a presentation titled “Man in the Mirror”, by Ezinne (Kwubiri) Okoro, who is North America, head of inclusion and diversity, at H&M. The session is sponsored by RenaissanceRe.

Dive In’s mission is to enable people to achieve their potential by raising awareness of the business case and promoting positive action for diversity in all its forms.

The award-winning festival is an initiative of Inclusion@Lloyd’s, and aims to pool resources, widen perspectives and share best practice in diversity and inclusion to effect change faster within the re/insurance industry.

The Dive In website includes a curated video learning library of diversity and inclusion content from the last four Dive In festivals, a history of the festival, and learning resources from previous years.

Registration is open now under “The Americas” section on the Dive In website at https://diveinfestival.com, or via the event’s app, which is available on Android or Apple. Events are free of charge with prior registration.

For more information on the Bermuda Dive In Festival, contact Lisa Robinson, Bermuda Lead, at lisarobinson913@gmail.com.