Historically a male-dominated industry, the insurance sector has since seen the emergence of more women in leadership positions as society begins to challenge traditional gender roles and increase representation in the professional environment. Female business leaders in the insurance industry, however, continue to battle deep-rooted biases, hindering revolutionary changes when it comes to gender equality in the insurance industry.
For the fifth consecutive year, Insurance Business honours the most inspiring women leaders in the insurance space who have overcome career challenges to rise through the ranks and become role models for female empowerment.
The recipients of our Elite Women 2023 awards shone brightly in the face of overwhelming obstacles by delivering for their clients and claiming leadership roles in their respective organisations. Read on and find out how the success stories of these inspirational female business leaders unfold in this article.
Elite Women 2023 pays tribute to female leaders in the insurance industry who have exhibited excellence and tenacity to break through the “high and strong” barriers in a still male-dominated sector. Here are some of this year’s most inspiring female business leaders. The list is arranged alphabetically.
Role: President, UK and Ireland
Company: Crawford & Company
Lisa Bartlett is one of the Elite Women multi-awardees in the list, also bagging the title in 2021 and 2022. She currently heads Crawford & Company’s UK and Ireland businesses. Prior to this, Bartlett served as chief client officer for the London-headquartered insurer, which she joined in 2019. She also held several leadership positions in various insurance giants, including as:
Bartlett’s experience in the insurance and broking sectors has allowed her to build a deep understanding of the claims sector. She also boasts a track record that includes implementing sales and retention strategies, developing new and existing businesses, and spearheading major cultural change projects.
Role: Managing Director – People Experience
Company: Markel International
Apart from serving as Markel International’s managing director for people experience, Joanna Browning is part of the London-based insurance giant’s executive committee. She is an inspirational female business leader who believes that everyone can contribute to a company’s success and culture.
Browning has taken a “people-first” approach in spearheading change within Markel, leading huge projects that have transformed how the company attracts and develops talent and the way it communicates and engages with employees. She has also helped craft Markel’s overall organizational structure, paving the way for the firm to find new ways of connecting business and people strategies.
Industry-wide, Browning is recognised as an advocate for diversity and inclusion. She helped launch employee-led networks called Style In Action, which are centred around community, inclusion, recognition, well-being, and innovation.
Role: Senior Manager – Communication and Engagement
Company: Markel International
Besides her role as Markel International’s senior manager for communication and engagement, Kate Gardner co-heads the company’s Inclusion Network, where she has played a key role in introducing pronoun guidance and launching the firm’s first employee diversity and inclusion data survey. She also serves as communication lead for the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network.
Gardner was also instrumental in hosting Markel’s “Fit In Or Get Out” dine-in festival at its London office, where she has represented the company for several years and organised watch parties for staff and company leaders, providing a venue for them to discuss D&I topics.
Gardner is committed to promoting a fair and inclusive workplace and this is reflected in everything that she does including:
Role: Major and Complex Loss Adjuster
Company: Crawford & Company
Holly Marchant began her insurance career in the claims sector in 2002, before moving into the field of loss adjusting in 2007. She joined Crawford & Company in 2020. Along the way, she had stints with two major insurers and three large loss-adjusting firms. In her current role, Marchant manages large-value, major, and complex claims in a range of product lines, including:
Marchant obtained her qualification of Associate of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA) in October 2021 – something she holds in high esteem as she was able to achieve it despite the disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also an active member of CILA and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). In the former, she sits on the panel of the Women in CILA Special Interest Group, which advocates for the career growth of female business leaders, as well as addresses issues that women in the insurance industry face.
5. Suneeta Padda
Role: Founding Director
Company: Padda Consulting
Suneeta Padda started her career at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial market regulator, where she honed her skills and passion for making a positive difference in the wider insurance industry. In 2012, she founded Padda Consulting, which has gone on to become a trailblazer in regulatory compliance. She considers establishing her own firm as one of her biggest achievements.
Padda’s ability to use technology enables her to make compliance expertise to companies of all sizes. This includes creating bite-sized animations to help firms better understand upcoming regulatory changes and rolling out a compliance portal for self-regulated insurers.
Padda is committed to mentoring young women professionals to support their growth as female business leaders. She is also an advisory board member for Race Action Through Leadership, where she works with insurance leaders of colour to create a stronger voice of influence within the industry.
Role: Broking Director
Company: Ardonagh Advisory
Julie Rayson-Flynn is another Elite Women multi-awardee. Her insurance career spans more than three decades, starting as a trainee insurance underwriter for Royal Insurance in Leicester. In 2023, she was appointed national broking director at Ardonagh Advisory, where she heads Towergate’s insurer placement and internal markets.
Prior to this, Rayson-Flynn served as operations director at Brokerbility, where she leads the operations and administration of the network. She is also past president and current vice-president of the Insurance Institute of Leicester and recently joined the East Midlands Committee of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA).
Role: Joint Director and Owner
Company: Carpenters Group
Donna Scully is a regular recipient of the Elite Women awardee – making her a perfect role model for women empowerment among female business leaders. She is a co-owner and serves as a director of the Carpenters Group, one of the leading providers of insurance and legal services in the country.
Scully is a lawyer and a respected public speaker. She also writes industry articles on fraud, reform, and other issues that affect the insurance and legal sectors. Scully sits on the editorial board of Modern Insurance Magazine and chairs the Insurance Times Fraud Charter group. She is also an ambassador for Fans Supporting Foodbanks and a mentor for The Girls’ Network.
While the insurance industry has seen an increase in the representation of female business leaders, it remains a male-dominated sector, with a long way to go before achieving gender equality. Attitudes towards pay gaps, recruitment, and parity still need to change for the industry to effect meaningful changes in gender equality in the workforce. Here are some of the challenges that female business leaders in the insurance sector face:
Despite these challenges, there are several measures that the insurance sector can take to be more inclusive of women. These include:
To identify this year’s batch of Elite Women, Insurance Business invited industry professionals across the UK to nominate exceptional female business leaders. They were also asked to provide details of their nominees’ achievements and initiatives from the past 12 months, including specific examples of their professional accomplishments and contributions to the insurance industry.
The winners were selected by an esteemed and independent panel of judges, consisting of:
These judges and the Insurance Business team reviewed all nominations, evaluating the contributions of each female business leader to the insurance sector and whittling down the list to the final 61 Elite Women. Self-voting and voting for relatives were also prohibited to avoid conflicts of interest.
You can view the full profiles of the female business leaders listed above, along with the complete list of this year’s 61 awardees by reading the Female Leaders in Insurance 2023 report.
What do you think should the insurance industry do to empower more female business leaders? Who among the sector’s elite women do you look up to? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
