Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT 2021

May 10, 2021 8:20 AM

Advancing the next wave of women leaders

NEXT will gather current and future change-makers to examine models of leadership and the most pressing issues facing industry executives. With a focus on women leaders in financial services, this event is designed to accelerate the C-suite community of tomorrow through sessions built around personal and professional development. Register today and join hundreds of industry leaders on May 18-20!

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This year's class of young women on the rise toward C-suite leadership in the insurance industry reveals the importance of being nimble in times of great upheaval. Each of these honorees had assumptions about their career paths challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and its massive impact on workplace culture, customer interaction, and addressable audience. Read on to see how they met these challenges with good humor and spirit and positioned themselves to be leaders in the post-pandemic era.

Heather Deichler, Lincoln Financial Group

SVP and Head of MoneyGuard Product Management

Where she’s based: Greensboro, N.C.

What she does: Oversees product development, pricing and management for Lincoln’s hybrid life/long-term care product, MoneyGuard. Her responsibilities also include research, industry partnerships and long-term care resource solutions.

“Heather led the way, revolutionizing Lincoln’s offerings in the long-term care business as well as the industry itself.”

Mike Burns, Lincoln Financial

(Read the full profile here)

Nicci Hicks, Nationwide

AVP, Corporate Development - Partnership Enablement

Where she’s based: Columbus, Ohio

What she does: Leads the onboarding, enablement, and partnership experience team for the company’s strategic partnerships.

“I am impressed with Nicci’s learning agility. In her two and a half years at Nationwide, she has moved from legal into an executive leadership role for the business. This is a great representation of her ability to learn quickly and take her experiences into any area to maximize results and value for the company.”

Angie Klett, Nationwide

(Read the full profile here)

Lisa Thomsen, New York Life

Corporate VP, Media Buying and Planning

Where she’s based: New York, N.Y.

What she does: Leads the corporate media buying and planning team at New York Life in delivering integrated full channel campaigns designed for supporting New York Life agents.

“One of the most extraordinary traits that Lisa has is her ability to see 'mistakes' as learning opportunities. This ability makes her fearless and allows her to take risks and innovate at a faster rate, which was especially critical as the pandemic forced digital transformation at an accelerated pace.”

Amy Hu, New York Life

(Read the full profile here)

Lavanya Lingala, Mobilitas

VP, Commercial Operations & Strategy

Where she’s based: San Ramon, Calif.

What she does: Responsible for designing and constructing the operational infrastructure for Mobilitas, coordinating and leading enterprise shared service teams from multiple functional areas, including claims, service, finance, and risk. Also has responsibility for strategic partnerships.

“Lavanya has demonstrated a remarkable ability to digest a diverse and significant volume of information very quickly, and quickly translate new knowledge into action.”

Eric Ummel, Mobilitas

(Read the full profile)