New York Life, America’s largest and most admired mutual life insurer, announced two appointments to newly created roles focused on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (DE&I) within the company’s workforce and agency field force.
Appointed to Vice President, Talent Management and DE&I, Cathy Council will head New York Life’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Center for Awareness & Advocacy (DE&I Center). The DE&I Center represents an evolution and expansion of the Office for Diversity & Inclusion (ODI), established 15 years ago, and will support the company’s inclusive culture by further integrating DE&I into New York Life’s approach to educating, engaging, and developing employees.
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In particular, Ms. Council will be responsible for leading the company’s efforts in launching a formalized career advocacy and support program for diverse talent and continuing to expand awareness initiatives. Previously, Ms. Council was the company’s CEO Action for Racial Equity fellow. In that role, Ms. Council worked with other CEO Action signatory companies to identify, develop, and promote scalable and sustainable policies and corporate best practices to address systemic racism and social injustice, and improve societal well-being.
The company has also appointed Eric Jackson to Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Agency. Mr. Jackson will lead efforts focused on equity and inclusion, talent, and more effectively advancing the cause of social justice specifically within New York Life’s industry leading agent force3 of over 12,000 financial professionals.
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Mr. Jackson has been a key leader in shaping New York Life’s social justice efforts and in advancing the partnership between the company’s agency field force and what is now the company’s DE&I Center. Most recently, he oversaw the overall market strategy for New York Life’s African American Market Unit. In his new role, Mr. Jackson will be responsible for the development of a strategic roadmap for advancing DE&I throughout the field force and ensuring the appropriate governance of these efforts.
“The new roles that Cathy and Eric have taken on will further strengthen the partnership between corporate DE&I initiatives and those of New York Life’s field force,” said Kathleen Navarro, Senior Vice President, Head of Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer. “By working more closely together and enhancing our DE&I programs and strategy, we can ensure that we continue to mirror the many communities that we serve, identify and support diverse talent, build greater awareness, and fulfill our mission of bringing financial protection and peace of mind to a broad range of consumers.”
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