Female Leaders in Insurance | Elite Women

Ensuring women are better represented is proven to improve a business across several metrics. For example, gender-diverse companies outperform the least gender-diverse companies by 48%.

The issue of equality is particularly pertinent as women ascend to higher positions where opportunities become fewer, creating an imbalance in leadership.

McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2024 report states, “Because of this ‘broken rung’ in the corporate ladder, men significantly outnumber women at the manager level, making it incredibly difficult for companies to support sustained progress at more senior levels.” 

The report analysed the issue in the US with 281 participating organisations that collectively employ more than 10 million people, but the same issue is prevalent in the UK industry. A 2022 statistic recorded less than 7% of CEOs and 16% of chief financial officers in the sector being women.

Nicola Maguire of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association echoes this and feels there are no barriers to gaining an entry level role in the industry. 

She says, “The issues occur when a woman needs to make specific life choices. The guilt and pressure women put upon themselves to raise a family and manage a senior role can often simply be too much. There is a big difference to having a job and wanting a career. The latter is more complex for women, who still tend to take on a higher percentage of domestic responsibilities.”

For full-time UK employees, the gender pay gap (that is, the difference between the average earnings between men and women excluding overtime) is largest in financial and insurance activities at 25.2%. Whereas it drops in part-time employees, it is still above most other sectors with a gender pay gap of 15.6%.

Government data also shows that women are less likely to be in higher-paying occupations, again pointing to less female involvement among the insurance industry’s senior roles.

All of IBUK’s Elite Women 2025 are bucking this trend and standing out as role models in leadership positions for other women to aspire to. They were selected by a panel of respected industry judges, who examined how each has made a meaningful contribution to the industry.

The hundreds of respondents to IBUK’s nomination process highlighted what they feel defines an outstanding female leader in today’s insurance industry:

• “Being prepared to use influence to speak out in support of others.”
  
   

• “Leading in an inspiring and authentic way, leaving lasting impressions and a clear vision for the future. Someone who opens doors for others and leaves the industry in a better place than she found it.”
  
   

• “Contributions would include mentorship and being an advocate for diversity and inclusion, as well as being involved with professional bodies and organisations.”
  
   

• “Courageously challenging the status quo, advocating for what she believes is right while earning the respect of others through her actions and integrity.”
  
   

• “Blends leadership with compassion and innovation with authenticity. A clear vision and the ability to inspire and guide others towards it.”
  
   

• “Genuinely seeking to make a positive impact in the lives of others and looking for opportunities to both identify and bring out the light that others possess.”

Donna Scully, joint owner and director of Carpenters Group, is a seven-time Elite Women winner.

After carving out a name as a workplace personal injury lawyer in London, she became part of the firm in 1997, and her leadership has transformed Carpenters from a general law firm into a specialist personal injury business.

“I set up the motor insurance arm of the business, which is now the biggest niche motor practice. The nice thing for me is as a lawyer, to be recognised in insurance, it is hard to break down that barrier sometimes, from being pigeonholed as legal,” she says.

“Insurance has become a bigger part of the business. It is about a third now, and insurance services account for two-thirds, and we’ve grown that over the years as we’ve diversified and tried to be innovative.”

Scully has seen the issue of women unable to assume leadership roles firsthand.

“It was much worse when I was younger and there were fewer women even at entry level. Now we’re seeing lots more women at entry level and mid-management, but the real area where the push needs to be is the C-suite,” she says. “This percentage of C-suite women in insurance is low, in single figures.”

 

“I’m not afraid to have my voice heard and to talk about things that are sometimes uncomfortable for people. It took hard work to get a seat at the table for me as an older woman, so I take that seriously”

Donna ScullyCarpenters Group

To address this across the industry, Scully has stepped up to mentor women in mid-management, acting as a sounding board and advisor, through her Insurance Breakfast Club.

“Some of their challenges are similar to what I had. Things like, there’s so many men around the table. How do you get your voice heard? How do you balance family and work? How do you assert yourself without getting in the way or upsetting people? There are still quite a lot of challenges for young women and those with families to push forward,” she says.

While progress is being made, there is a desire to see it happen faster.

Scully adds, “It is improving, when we went to events 10–15 years ago, it’d be 80%–90% men, but when you go now, it’s 60%–70%. But there aren’t enough women at the top. Once you get women leadership and women who are real movers and shakers, then that will change things dramatically because we know what the challenges are.”

Sensitive to the issues women face, Scully has implemented a progressive mindset at Carpenters.

The firm has:

“People ask me how we achieved 50/50 between men and women and it’s about open-mindedness. If you’ve got eight men interviewing you, are they really going to have an open mind? We genuinely go for the best person for the job, whatever their sex. If that’s a woman, then she gets the job,” Scully says.

She knows all too well what it’s like to face gender bias, particularly early on in her career when she became part of Carpenters, alongside husband and co-owner, John Carpenter.

“When I joined John as a 50/50 partner, he was an established commercial lawyer, and we’d go to meetings and people would say, ‘Is that your personal assistant?’ or ‘Is she taking notes?,” she reveals.

“There was also that aspect of being taken seriously and being objectified, people looking at what you look like rather than what you’re saying, what you’re contributing, or how hard you’ve worked. That was very frustrating for me as a young lawyer and a young person setting out in insurance. 

“It just made me work harder and determined to get my voice heard. When I mentor younger women, I don’t want them to have it as tough as I had it.”

Carpenters employs over 1,500 people in seven locations across the UK, working in partnership with insurers, brokers and MGAs to deliver a variety of outsourced claims.

The company has an executive board featuring women, like CEO Donna Richards and CIO Karen Campbell, in senior roles. This allows Scully and Carpenter to step back from day-to-day operations to focus on strategy and philanthropy.

Scully says, “John chairs the board meetings, and I get involved in the quality stuff that I love in the industry. It’s freed me to do other things but still be massively involved in the business.”

In 2024, Carpenters invested heavily in technology to enhance its operations.

“We’re looking at artificial intelligence, but we’re cautious about it, because we believe in people. We believe artificial and emotional intelligence combined is where the magic is at. We still need our people, but technology takes away the heavy lifting in the background,” Scully comments.

“In insurance, there’s a quite a big momentum for change and innovation, to compete in any market, and I think we have to keep that going as an industry.”

Despite being a successful leader, Scully takes every day as an opportunity to learn something.

“It’s boring if you think you know everything, so I’m an evolving leader. I’m always looking around and listening. For me as a person because I’m self-made, I’ve done every job in the business, from office junior to CEO to owner, so I know how important everyone is,” she says.

“I try to be an inclusive leader and bring people with me. We don’t want to have an environment of fear. People want to come and do their best, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out, and you’re not going to get brave people and innovative people if they’re scared of failure.”

As Carpenters works with insurers and brokers, ever-evolving regulation is a challenge they meet head on.

“Some people feel that it’s over-regulated and it’s regulating people out of business. We’re FCA and SRA regulated, so we have to deal with that regulation red tape. When working with insurers, whatever their trials and tribulations are, we support and help them by looking at solutions for them. Their traumas are our traumas,” Scully says. 

“Everything is about the customer that we act for, and because they’re the centre of the universe for us. As an industry, we’re always trying to deliver more for less.”

Growing up in inner-city Dublin, Scully left at age 16 her Catholic convent school, which only offered domestic courses, and completed a secretarial course.

“That was a great result for me because I didn’t get married. A lot of people like me got married young and had kids. But as a secretary, I thought there had to be more than this,” she says.

At age 21, Scully began studying law part-time and qualified as a solicitor nine years later. Now at the helm of one of Britain’s leading insurance firms, Scully is keen to tell her story and support her local community by being a:

• Fans Supporting Foodbanks ambassador
  
   

• Football for Change Champion 
  
   

• Breakfast Club volunteer at the Charles Thompson Mission every Sunday

“I have done a few podcasts in the last 12 months, where I talk about our story in the business. We’re both self-made and very open-minded about equity, diversity and inclusion, and we made our business a company that reflects this,” she says. “We do an outreach schools program in difficult socio-economic areas. We work with charities because we want to try and give people a chance. We want people to have the chances that we got.”

Scully’s mentoring skills aren’t just applied within Carpenters, but she works to encourage younger women through initiatives, such as The Girls Network, where she mentors schoolgirls from disadvantaged areas.

“We should treat each other well. My life motto is, ‘Kindness is free, so spread it everywhere,’” she says.

Meet the judges

• Aileen Mathieson
  
  Group Chief Investment Officer
  
  Aspen
• Ailsa Sayers
  
  Head of Marketing and Communications, AZC UK
  
  Allianz Commercial
• Allison Carr
  
  Chief Executive Officer
  
  Davies UK and Ireland
• Alycia Thomson
  
  Managing Director
  
  PIB Insurance Brokers
• Amanda Blanc
  
  Group CEO
  
  Aviva
• Amy Brettell
  
  Managing Director, Zurich Municipal
  
  Zurich
• Ana Mata
  
  Managing Director and Actuary
  
  MatBlas
• Angela Woodhead
  
  Head of Change
  
  Ardonagh Advisory
• Antonia Thompson
  
  Chief Operating Officer
  
  RSA Luxembourg SA
• Audrey Dadon
  
  Talent Acquisition Manager
  
  Avencia/Convex Insurance
• Baljinder Mahil
  
  Head of Distribution Operations
  
  AXA XL
• Barbara Rizzi
  
  Chief Claims Officer
  
  Arch Insurance International
• Beth Thurston
  
  CEO, Risk Management
  
  Marsh
• Carolina Klint
  
  Chief Commercial Officer Europe
  
  Marsh McLennan
• Caroline King
  
  Trading and Operations Director, SME and Personal Lines
  
  Pen Underwriting
• Chloe Jardine
  
  D&I and Well-being Manager
  
  Lloyd’s
• Clare Chin
  
  Controller, Head of Global Controller Centre
  
  Liberty Specialty Markets
• Dominica George-Oppong
  
  Risk and Controls Manager
  
  Hiscox
• Elena Papoui
  
  Senior Pricing Actuary
  
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
• Elisse Penney
  
  Vice President, Human Resources Group
  
  Allied World Assurance Company (Europe)
• Emma Francis
  
  Head of Inclusion
  
  Ageas
• Farirai Gora
  
  Founder
  
  We Are Eden
• Gemma Lines
  
  Chief People Officer
  
  MS Amlin
• Hannah Kate Smith
  
  Operations and Engagement Director
  
  Lloyd’s
• Hannah Gurga 
  
  Director General   
  
  ABI 
• Helene Madell
  
  Head of Property
  
  Aon UK
• Jacinda Da Rosa
  
  Global UW Head of Multinational, Financial Lines
  
  Allianz Commercial
• Jane Kielty
  
  Chief Executive Officer
  
  Aon UK
• Janine Heath
  
  Head of Talent Management and DE&I
  
  CNA Hardy
• Janthana Kaenprakhamroy
  
  Founder and Chief Executive Officer
  
  Tapoly
• Jen Denby
  
  Global Head of I&D
  
  WTW
• Jennifer Quinn
  
  Cyber Underwriting Manager
  
  Liberty Specialty Markets
• Jo Steel
  
  Operations Service Director and Interim Director of Underwriting
  
  QBE
• Julia Coakley
  
  Chief Operations Officer
  
  Managing General Agents’ Association
• Julie Rayson-Flynn
  
  Placement Director
  
  Adler Fairways
• Justine Mayhew
  
  CEO, Bowring Marsh UK and Ireland
  
  Marsh
• Kajal Pankhania
  
  Director
  
  DA Strategy
• Kate Bush
  
  Head of Agriculture
  
  Geo Underwriting
• Kaylee Darkins
  
  Chief HR Officer, UK and Lloyd’s
  
  AXA XL
• Laura Hancock
  
  Managing Director
  
  Yutree Insurance
• Layal AlHarahsha
  
  Commercial Property Adjuster
  
  Sedgwick
• Lisa Meigh
  
  Chief People Officer
  
  Covea Insurance
• Lorna Anderson
  
  Director of Operational Resilience
  
  Ardonagh Advisory
• Louise O’Shea
  
  Group CEO
  
  CFC
• Magdalena Baugh
  
  Group Chief Financial Officer
  
  The Innovation Group (EMEA)
• Mahak Jhamb
  
  AI Leader
  
  Mercer
• Marie-Helene Tyack
  
  Global Inclusion, Diversity and Belonging Manager
  
  Allianz Commercial
• Maxine Goddard
  
  SVP, Strategic Distribution
  
  Sompo
• Megan Bingham-Walker
  
  Founder and CEO
  
  Anansi
• Melissa Collett
  
  Chief Executive Officer
  
  Insurtech UK
• Monica Stancu
  
  Senior Diversity and Inclusion Manager
  
  Lloyd’s
• Nadia Cote
  
  UK Commercial Managing Director
  
  Allianz
• Pamela Thomson-Hall
  
  CEO, International
  
  WTW
• Philippa Berry
  
  Head of Portfolio Partnerships
  
  CFC
• Reana Bashir
  
  Company Director
  
  Keighley Broking Services T/A Coversure Insurance Services (Keighley and Rotherham)
• Rebecca Mason
  
  Head of Wordings
  
  MS Amlin
• Rhiannon Seah
  
  Group Head of Reserving and Corporate Actuarial
  
  Canopius
• Sarah Brooks
  
  Head of Ranking, Portfolio Optimisation
  
  Convex Insurance
• Sarah Denney-Jones
  
  Head of Compliance Acquisitions and MGA
  
  Ardonagh
• Sarah Pearson
  
  Head of Enterprise Risk Management
  
  Ecclesiastical Insurance Company
• Sarah Robinson
  
  Head of Underwriting Agriculture
  
  Victor – Marsh
• Satarupa Ghosh
  
  Head of Personal Lines Conduct and Product Management
  
  Royal Sun Alliance
• Selena Kearvell
  
  Regional Sales Director
  
  Marsh Commercial
• Sharon Brown
  
  Director
  
  Nutshell Consultancy
• Shradha Patel
  
  Head of Regulatory Liaison, Reporting and Financial Crime
  
  AXA UK
• Suneeta Paada
  
  Chief Executive Officer
  
  Paada Consulting
• Sunita Gaddu
  
  Global Relationship Manager
  
  RSA
• Tara Foley
  
  Chief Executive Officer
  
  AXA UK and Ireland
• Teniola Tijani
  
  Underwriter
  
  IQUW
• Tope Akindoyin
  
  Compliance Manager, Regulatory Affairs and Conduct Risk
  
  Beazley
• Tracey Fisher
  
  Archive and Historic Record Director
  
  RSA
• Vicky Rowlay
  
  VP, National Director, Business Transformation
  
  Arch Insurance UK
• Yvonne Braun
  
  Director of Policy, Long-Term Savings, Health and Protection
  
  The ABI
• Zeynep Arantekin
  
  Multinational Lead
  
  Lockton