Registration is open for the first-ever Women in InsuranceGlobal Conference, in which the industry's professional seniorleaders will discuss how gender diversity in the C-suite iscritical for companies to be relevant and successful in today'sbusiness environment.

The conference, occurring June 12 to June 14 in New York, wasdeveloped by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) toexplore why women, although well-represented in middle managementroles, are under-represented in executive and boardroom positions,and what female insurance professionals can do to mend thegap.

“I think it is tremendous that we are starting to build a globalnetwork of professional women who are active in the insuranceindustry,” says Terri Vaughan, former CEO of the NationalAssociation of Insurance Commissioners. “The conference will notonly raise awareness and help the conversation, it will give womenleaders an opportunity to meet, share experiences, and formrelationships for the future.”

Vaughan will be a presenter at the conference.

“There are still very few women in C-suite positions, andtoo many boards have only one or two female directors,” she adds.“The industry faces a lot of challenges, and it needs to draw onits best talent, regardless of gender, to meet thosechallenges. So I see this as a win-win-win for theindustry, the women, and the consumers who rely on theindustry.”

The event will revolve around traditional keynote lectures,“mini-keynotes” by three speakers presenting 20-minute sessionseach, breakout educational meetings and audience polling withresults reported in real time.

The conference's keynote speaker is Anne-Marie Slaughter,professor of politics and international affairs at PrincetonUniversity and the first woman to serve as director of policyplanning for the U.S. Department of State.

Presenters also include Seraina Maag, chief executive ofNorth America Property at XL Group, discussing enterpriseopportunities in the boardroom; Lori Fouche, president and CEO atFireman's Fund Insurance Industry, speaking about utilizing thehuman strengths of an organization; and other influentialindividuals.

Doug Libby, CEO of Crum & Forster, will talk about the fivetraits CEOs seek in an insurance “rising star”, and MikeAngelina, executive director of risk management and insurance atSt. Joseph's University will present statistics on the gender, age,and tenure of company directors, executives and otherinsiders.