Breaking barriers: Building a community of diverse talent

Alexia Riddick had the drive, the talent and the academic credentials to launch her dream career in corporate finance. What she lacked was the roadmap for a career in corporate America.

Riddick grew up in the Texas Panhandle, the daughter of two teachers. “My parents graduated college in the 1960s, and teaching was a professional role for people of color at that time, and that’s a high achievement. But the world looks different for me than it did for them in the ’60s. I didn’t want to just go into that field because that was the legacy that was there for me. I was a finance major, and I knew I wanted to work in some sort of corporate setting.”

One thing Riddick didn’t have were the personal connections to corporate America that can help open professional doors. “I was trying to figure out how to navigate opportunities and how to make that kind of career happen,” she said.

Through Chubb’s over 30-year partnership with INROADS, a non-profit that helps identify, accelerate and elevate underrepresented talent in the corporate sector, Riddick found that pathway to success.

When she was a student at the University of Texas, Arlington, Riddick applied to the highly competitive INROADS internship program, earning two summer placements with Chubb. She’s been with Chubb since landing that first summer internship in 2009, and currently works in the Dallas office as an underwriting specialist in commercial insurance.

The INROADS internship program works at the college level to prepare gifted, diverse students for corporate jobs with business soft skills, real world leadership development activities, and academic and career support, forming the foundation for an enduring career.

“INROADS is aligned with Chubb’s enduring commitment to diversity and inclusion, particularly as part of our early career strategy,” said Latrell Johnson, Executive Vice President, Human Resources for Chubb in North America. “With programs like INROADS, we’re building a pipeline of young talent to progress through our organization.” 

Johnson herself started at Chubb as an INROADS intern more than 30 years ago, the summer before her freshman year in college. Since that summer internship, she has risen through the ranks to achieve a key leadership role in the company. Identifying opportunities and providing support for talented, diverse individuals to achieve at Chubb is not just a job for Johnson, it is her mission.

Martina Rotea, who is first-generation American, started as an INROADS college intern at Chubb in 2012. Today, she works in Chubb’s Minneapolis office as underwriting manager, heading a team of eight underwriters working on property and casualty insurance for life sciences clients across the Midwest.

“I love the community that I’ve built with my Chubb family,” said Rotea. “From the moment I started my internship, people put in the time and effort to help me learn, allowed me help on more advanced projects and they gave me their trust.” 

“If an intern wants to know how to navigate things, the chair by my desk is always open for them,” said Natalie Plumlee, Vice President, North America Accident & Health Claims at Chubb, and an INROADS alum who has served as a program supervisor and mentor for over a decade. “When students are here, they’ll just come in and, if I’m not on the phone, they’ll just flop down in my chair and say, ‘let me tell you about what happened to me today. This is what I did. How would you have handled the situation?’ It’s a safe space, and I love being there for them,” said Plumlee.

“Being in a comfortable place to talk about differences, to be our authentic selves, that contributes to a sense of belonging that allows people to bring their best to the job,” said Andy Houston, INROADS alum and Southwest Regional Manager for Commercial Insurance at Chubb. “I was raised by a single parent. My mother's first language is not English. I went to a preppy boarding school in Massachusetts and an extremely white college in New England. I want to convey to INROADS interns, ‘I understand you.’ I also want them to know this isn't just window dressing, or smoke and mirrors. There are people like us who can be successful.”

For Plumlee, promoting greater diversity within Chubb builds a stronger business. “I think we need everyone's perspective, ideas and creativity in order to be the best company that we can be, and because of that, I feel like Chubb is just an awesome place to work. “