Zurich Celebrates Women in Construction Week
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As a sponsor of the 2024 Women in Construction Week (March 3-9), Zurich helps the National Association of Women in Construction raise awareness of varied career options in construction while celebrating the success of women in the industry.
As a consistent insurance leader in construction for over 25 years, Zurich has also served as a trailblazer for women in construction.
Women in construction were few and far between when Kelly Craighead started working on the risk management side of the industry about 25 years ago. Craighead, a Construction Underwriting Account Service Manager at Zurich North America, said, “Many years ago, we didn’t always see our customers or brokers. We’d fax documents back and forth. My name, Kelly, was mostly assumed to be a male name. I remember successfully binding coverage for a complex insurance issue and soon after the broker and I connected by phone. He was surprised to find out that a woman was the wholesale broker who was able to solve his complex coverage problem.”
Today, women in construction are less likely to elicit a surprised reaction. More women are working in various capacities within the space. Some are running construction groups at carriers — including Kelly Kinzer, Zurich North America’s Head of Construction — or at brokerages, general contractors, subcontractors, and beyond.
“We still have a long road ahead of us, but we’ve made significant progress, and I only expect that to accelerate going forward,” Kinzer said. “When I look inward at the team we’ve assembled, we’ve attracted some really strong female leadership at all levels of the organization, and we have some really strong women working with us today who will be future leaders.”
Want to learn more about working in construction? Listen to the 2023 Women in Construction episode of our Future of Risk podcast series, featuring special guests Brenna Mann, Head of Strategy for U.S. Construction and Infrastructure at Aon; and Nocona Schulz, Senior Vice President for Corporate Insurance at Clayco, a real estate, architecture, engineering and construction firm.
Zurich has earned a reputation for excellence in construction. Over 85% of the top 100 contractors1 as well as 95% of Fortune 500 customers2 choose Zurich for construction-related insurance protection within the policy areas of Property, Casualty, Professional Liability, and Environmental —in addition to other coverages. Learn about Zurich’s Construction solutions.
This publication is an excerpt from a February 29, 2024, Zurich North America article. To view the full article, click here.
1. Results as of September 2021 and based on ENR 2021 Top 400 Contractors list cross-referenced with Zurich customers with a policy in force during the report year. ENR 400 (Engineering News-Record) rankings are based on construction revenue.
2. Results as of December 2021 and based on Fortune 500 list cross-referenced with Zurich customers with a policy in force during 2021. Fortune 500 rankings are based on total company revenue.
By Marcel Caldwell
Director of Operations, Government & Regulatory Relations
By Wendy Donahue
Senior Manager, External Communications, Zurich North America
Zurich Celebrates Women in Construction Week
Share this
As a sponsor of the 2024 Women in Construction Week (March 3-9), Zurich helps the National Association of Women in Construction raise awareness of varied career options in construction while celebrating the success of women in the industry.
As a consistent insurance leader in construction for over 25 years, Zurich has also served as a trailblazer for women in construction.
Women in construction were few and far between when Kelly Craighead started working on the risk management side of the industry about 25 years ago. Craighead, a Construction Underwriting Account Service Manager at Zurich North America, said, “Many years ago, we didn’t always see our customers or brokers. We’d fax documents back and forth. My name, Kelly, was mostly assumed to be a male name. I remember successfully binding coverage for a complex insurance issue and soon after the broker and I connected by phone. He was surprised to find out that a woman was the wholesale broker who was able to solve his complex coverage problem.”
Today, women in construction are less likely to elicit a surprised reaction. More women are working in various capacities within the space. Some are running construction groups at carriers — including Kelly Kinzer, Zurich North America’s Head of Construction — or at brokerages, general contractors, subcontractors, and beyond.
“We still have a long road ahead of us, but we’ve made significant progress, and I only expect that to accelerate going forward,” Kinzer said. “When I look inward at the team we’ve assembled, we’ve attracted some really strong female leadership at all levels of the organization, and we have some really strong women working with us today who will be future leaders.”
Want to learn more about working in construction? Listen to the 2023 Women in Construction episode of our Future of Risk podcast series, featuring special guests Brenna Mann, Head of Strategy for U.S. Construction and Infrastructure at Aon; and Nocona Schulz, Senior Vice President for Corporate Insurance at Clayco, a real estate, architecture, engineering and construction firm.
Zurich has earned a reputation for excellence in construction. Over 85% of the top 100 contractors1 as well as 95% of Fortune 500 customers2 choose Zurich for construction-related insurance protection within the policy areas of Property, Casualty, Professional Liability, and Environmental —in addition to other coverages. Learn about Zurich’s Construction solutions.
This publication is an excerpt from a February 29, 2024, Zurich North America article. To view the full article, click here.
1. Results as of September 2021 and based on ENR 2021 Top 400 Contractors list cross-referenced with Zurich customers with a policy in force during the report year. ENR 400 (Engineering News-Record) rankings are based on construction revenue.
2. Results as of December 2021 and based on Fortune 500 list cross-referenced with Zurich customers with a policy in force during 2021. Fortune 500 rankings are based on total company revenue.
By Marcel Caldwell
Director of Operations, Government & Regulatory Relations
By Wendy Donahue
Senior Manager, External Communications, Zurich North America
