Insurance, at heart, is a numbers game, so it's not all that surprising that even though this year's APIW Insurance Woman of the Year–Rebecca C. Amoroso–finished college planning to become a math teacher, she ended up three decades later as vice chair and U.S. Insurance Industry Group Leader at Deloitte LLP–the first female to hold that post.

It was actually her boyfriend (now husband), Robert, who suggested the career change when she was attending Lehman College in New York as a mathematics major, with dreams of teaching in the field. Mr. Amoroso–who back then was working at the College of Insurance, now part of St. John's University–suggested she put her numbers skills to work as an actuary.

“Go into business–that's where the action is,” she recalls her husband telling her, later joking during her acceptance speech: “I'm not sure he said that because he wanted me to be a successful insurance executive, or because he wanted me to make more money.”

In any case, the move worked out for the best, culminating in Ms. Amoroso being honored earlier this month with APIW's lifetime achievement award.

Each year since 1976, the Association of Professional Insurance Women “recognizes an exceptional woman who has achieved prominence in her profession and has made significant contributions to the insurance industry,” and this year's honoree clearly fits that description.

“While Rebecca has certainly set a standard for excellence in serving our insurance industry clients, what distinguishes her as a true leader in her field is the passion and commitment she has shown toward developing people,” said Bill Freda, vice chair and U.S. Managing Partner of Deloitte, in a statement.

“Throughout her 20-plus-year career with Deloitte, Rebecca's efforts to increase diversity and the advancement of women have had a lasting impact, both within our organization and beyond,” he added–citing her recent addition to the steering committee of Deloitte's National Women's Initiative as merely the latest step in her long campaign to boost women in insurance.

She began her career at the Insurance Services Office at a time when computers had not yet replaced more traditional standard operating procedures–figuring private-passenger auto rate-making analyses by hand for three years, while gaining a “technical background” in the business.

After leaving ISO, she worked at American International Group, where she was involved in reserve analyses, the pricing of large commercial accounts, profitability studies and other areas.

However, her husband–an insurance broker–prompted another critical career move when he was transferred to Washington, D.C. The move made sense for the couple, even though it forced Ms. Amoroso to leave AIG after seven years because the company did not have an actuarial department in her new city.

With an interest in consulting, she looked around for a new opportunity, and Deloitte just happened to have an opening. “When I started, I never dreamed that I would one day run the insurance practice,” overseeing the work of some 2,000 practitioners all over the United States, she noted.

As insurance industry leader at Deloitte, where she has worked for the past 22 years, Ms. Amoroso is responsible for developing and executing the company's insurance strategy across the country.

Math has remained the bedrock for Ms. Amoroso, who is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. Indeed, when asked if her past experience as an actuary influences her current position, she quickly noted: “I'm always an actuary. Actuaries have a technical knowledge of the insurance business. They understand how the business makes money.”

One big reason Ms. Amoroso was given APIW's Insurance Woman of the Year award is that throughout her career, she has worked to help other women make their way in the insurance business, starting with her own firm. She noted how important it is to have women on site to recruit other talented women into an organization.

“If you are looking to attract diversity, I think it is important that your group look diverse,” she said, noting that she defines “inclusion” as “achieving diversity of thought.”

Conceding that diversity can be difficult to achieve in an industry that has been predominately white and male, she noted that when Deloitte realized half their hires out of college were women, but relatively few were moving up the ranks, they decided to be proactive and make some institutional changes. Thus, the firm's “Women's Initiative” was born.

When Deloitte first began the program, they conducted a two-week pilot training course to identify and encourage women who could become leaders in the organization. Ms. Amoroso admits she was not overly enthusiastic.

“I went in kicking and screaming, wondering what I was going to get out of this,” she said, confessing in her acceptance speech that at first she was “too busy studying for actuarial exams to worry about the Women's Initiative.”

“That experience turned out to be the best professional event I ever attended–even as of today,” she said, noting that never before had she been in a professional setting with all female executives who were her peers. “I finally understood male bonding, and it is okay,” she joked.

Ms. Amoroso began taking the role of mentor very seriously herself, believing that professional bonding is pivotal to help connect individuals to the organization–especially for women.

“I don't think women naturally promote themselves as much as their male counterparts,” she said. “This was certainly true of me. I always felt that you work hard, you do a great job and you'll get recognized. But I learned from that [pilot] program that you need to let people know your aspirations.”

She said she believes this is a learned behavior for many women, and mentors with that in mind. “While [women] still have a long way to go, we have made enormous progress,” she added.

As a wife, career woman and “proud primary caretaker of two cats,” Ms. Amoroso knows firsthand the complications inherent in maintaining a work-life balance. The two-career household may not be as rare as it was when she started in the insurance business, but for women, maintaining balance outside and within a marriage and career is still especially challenging, she noted.

In the Amoroso household, she said, “we have split up the chores based on what we like to do–or don't hate.” For example, her husband cooks, while she pays the bills. “I'm fortunate to have a modern man for a husband,” she added.

However, that doesn't mean sacrifice isn't required if a career in insurance is to be advanced. “There are times that you are going to have to give something up personally, because something in business takes priority, and there are times on the business side that you're going to have to say, 'I can't do that. I have a personal commitment I have to tend to,'” she said.

To achieve that balance, she said, her husband affectionately calls her “Backup Re (Rebecca),” because she seems to always have an alternative plan–noting she takes the same approach in her job. “I make sure I'm never the only one who can answer a client's question,” she explained.

Still, despite the progression of women in the workplace, “a lot of men have their career as their number-one priority,” she said. “I think women have a little more of a balancing act.” Pregnancy, parenting of young children and/or caregiving for an elderly relative are all career speed bumps still faced primarily by women, she noted.

But there are solutions to keep women–as well as men–on their career track without abdicating their family roles, she emphasized. “It might mean working fewer hours for a period of time–but not necessarily,” she said. “It could also mean allowing work from home for part of the time.”

Ms. Amoroso has been honored before. Indeed, she was named one of the Top-50 Hispanic Women In Business, while Working Mother magazine cited her as one of the top-10 corporate multicultural women. Yet the APIW honor appears to have special meaning for her, coming from her peers in the industry.

“I can't believe that I have been in the insurance business for 30 years,” she said during her award reception at New York City's Marriot Marquis. “Of course, I tell people I started when I was five.”

Special Reports /

APIW Insurance Woman Of The Year Pushes For A More Diverse Work Force

Related Stories

Recommended For You