NAIFA is proud to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 - October 15.
As the leading association for insurance and financial professionals in the United States, NAIFA promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of its NAIFA 2025 Strategic Plan, and strongly supports increasing opportunities for diverse professionals to join the profession and advance their careers in the insurance and financial services industry. Through its decades-long Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative that is part of its strategic plan, NAIFA works to create a diverse force of skilled, ethical agents and advisors that reflects the changing composition of Main Street USA.
Prior to its successful Apex event in August, NAIFA held an Advocacy Accelerator course focused on Hispanic advisors, which taught everything from how to undertake a meeting with an elected leader to how to run for office. Jose Rodriguez, loyal member since 2016, Evelyn Gellar, Trustee and loyal member since 1993, Toni Gonzales, loyal member since 2017, and Aprilyn Chavez-Geissler, Trustee and loyal member since 2005, joined SVP of Government Relations Diane Boyle, to discuss how political involvement can be a key driver to running a successful financial services practice.
“Most advisors don’t know the first thing about politics or how to start in getting politically involved,” stated Boyle, “NAIFA has developed the Financial Security Advocate program to jump-start advisors into being an impactful voice in the industry.”
NAIFA not only provides training for established advisors but also works to expand the profession. Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Gary Anderson announced earlier this year that the state insurance licensing exam will now be offered in Spanish. NAIFA-MA has been working with the Massachusetts Division of Insurance on this initiative for the past four years and has advocated for its adoption.
In addition to NAIFA's state, interstate, and federal advocacy work to advance Hispanic advisors, NAIFA also supports Life Happens and Life Insurance Awareness Month. This year, particular emphasis has been placed on improving coverage rates in Hispanic populations. Spokesperson Roselyn Sanchez, a native Puerto Rican, was chosen by Life Happens to lead this effort that NAIFA strongly supports. Sanchez joined members of NAIFA-Los Angeles to receive a mayoral proclamation for September being named Life Insurance Awareness Month which was held on September 8. Jose Rodriguez was present at the event and was chosen to help spearhead a new working group in NAIFA to specifically work with advisors of Mexican descent.
NAIFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is an advisory group of volunteers who provide guidance, advice, and support to diversity initiatives that will, in turn, create the cultural shifts as outlined in NAIFA’s 2025 Strategic Plan. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is housed in NAIFA’s Talent Development Center.
Among the Council’s initiatives is NAIFA’s annual DEI Symposium, which brings together thought leaders from the insurance and financial services industry to explore ways of increasing diversity among financial professionals and better serving diverse populations. The DEI Council plans to come together to celebrate NAIFA's 2022 national Diversity Champion at the upcoming National Leadership Conference and to plan the 8th annual DEI Symposium that will be held May 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with NAIFA’s Congressional Conference fly-in.
