In an effort to increase diversity within the risk management and insurance industries amid a national dialogue on racial inequity, Argo Group is helping the Spencer Foundation offer its first diversity scholarship.
The Argo Group Diversity Scholarship is a two-year, $10,000 scholarship ($5,000 per academic years 2021–22 and 2022–23) open to students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“We’re proud to partner with the Spencer Foundation to help create their first-ever diversity scholarship, but really this is just the start,” said Argo Group CEO Kevin Rehnberg. “We hope this small effort encourages more organizations to get involved and develop it into a more mature program over the next few years.”
The Spencer Foundation awards undergraduate, graduate and doctoral scholarships to students planning careers in risk management and insurance. Recipients of the scholarship join the Foundation’s network of Spencer Scholars.
“The work Spencer does in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) arena to provide greater access to the risk management and insurance industry for diverse students is even more critical than ever. We are so pleased to have leading employers like Argo Group partnering with us to further these efforts,” said Marya Propis, Spencer Board Chair and SVP, Distribution & Broker Partnerships, at RT Specialty.
Mentorship and internship opportunities
“I am always telling my students that the insurance industry offers inclusion, opportunity and rewards. This scholarship backs all that up,” said Lynne McChristian, Director, Office of Risk Management & Insurance Research, and Senior Instructor, Finance Department, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “We are excited and honored to be part of this partnership.”
Argo employees will have the opportunity to mentor the scholarship recipient during four six-month rotations designed to give the student a broad overview of the industry and the many career opportunities it offers. The scholarship recipient also will receive a summer internship at one of Argo’s main offices.
To be eligible for the scholarship, a candidate must:
- Be enrolled full time (12 hours or more per semester) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Be a rising junior
- Seek a career in risk management/insurance
- Identify with a traditionally underrepresented ethnicity/race
- Major/minor in a risk management/insurance discipline or related field of study
- Have a GPA of 3.3 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
- Be a U.S. citizen
Share the scholarship application details with students who might be interested.
