Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

 

Justin interviews Chris Reilly about his insurance career and how you came to join and lead Link USA. They also cover RISKWORLD 2025 and the DE&I Studio, where Chris was on a panel. Chris talks about how he volunteered for the DE&I initiative at Amwins and how it has grown over the years. Chris does not believe the current anti-DE&I rhetoric will continue for long, in light of the existing Title VII and EEOC protecting employees and applicants against employment discrimination. Chris believes organizations know what is right, and that they will do better with a strong DE&I program in place, reducing reliance on EPLI coverage. The conversation concludes with information about Link USA's upcoming events.

 

Listen to learn more about supporting Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion efforts in your organization.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our topic is inclusivity in risk management and we will be joined by Chris Reilly, the National Co-Chair of Link USA, and Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader at Amwins Group Benefits.

[:45] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! Register by July 1st for the next RIMS-CRMP Virtual Workshop, which will be co-led by Parima. That course will be held on July 8th and 9th.

[1:02 ] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED virtual workshop will be led by Joseph Mayo on July 17th and 18th. Register by July 16th. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode’s show notes.

[1:20 ] RIMS Virtual Workshops! On June 26th. Pat Saporito will return to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”.

[1:32 ] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode’s notes.

[1:43 ] Starting on July 16th, James Lam will host a six-module course, the RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. This is a bi-weekly course that will run through Wednesday, September 24th. A link to last week’s episode about it is in this episode’s notes.

[2:04 ] Registration closes on July 9th. A link is in this episode’s notes.

[2:09 ] Mark your calendars for November 17th and 18th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is being built. Soon, we will distribute a Call for Nominations for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll update this episode’s show notes when that link is ready.

[2:32 ] Think about your organization’s ERM program or one that you know of, and how it has generated value. We will have more on that in the coming weeks.

[2:40 ] On with the show! It’s June 2025. It is Pride Month and RIMScast and RIMS are dedicated to fostering an environment where individuals from all backgrounds feel valued, respected, and empowered. We’ll dive into the real meanings of words and initiatives; words like inclusivity.

[3:01 ] Joining me today to delve into those terms is Chris Reilly, the National Co-Chair of Link USA. Link is the LGBTQ+ Insurance Network. Chris is also the Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader at Amwins’s Group Benefits.

[3:17 ] We will discuss the state of diversity, equity, and inclusion in insurance and risk management, how the pendulum has swung, and what risk professionals and employers need to know about a landscape that may or may not be changing as much as you think.

[3:35 ] Interview! Chris Reilly, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:42 ] It’s Pride Month. For Chris, it’s a great time to be celebrating oneself and celebrating with the community. He says there’s no reason not to celebrate 12 months of the year.

[4:14 ] Chris Reilly has had a 30-plus-year insurance career. His dad and grandfather had an agency. His father offered him a job right out of college. Chris thought he’d step up in a year or two, but he’s still doing it 30-plus years later. It’s a great career. He loves the industry.

[4:47 ] The first part of Chris’s years he spent in the Property and Casualty world as a commercial broker, most of those years with Aon. He jumped to the wholesale side when he joined Amwins in 2000.

[5:05 ] Chris is on the employee benefits side, providing group benefit programs to companies through broker partners.

[5:13 ] About five or six years ago, Amwins created internal DEI programs. Chris immediately volunteered to join the National Council at Amwins to participate in and help build those programs. He worked on a committee centered on making the workplace intentionally inclusive.

[5:54 ] Chris served on that committee for two years. In the process, he came across Link, which was in the UK. Chris and a colleague convinced Link to bring it to the U.S., which they did in 2021. Four years later, Link has expanded into Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Atlanta. 

[6:18 ] Link restructured this year with a national board for a national presence. Link kicked off Pride Month with a national virtual event. It had a great turnout. Chris is excited to continue to lead Link and help support the LGBTQ+ community and its allies in the insurance industry.

[7:04 ] Chris notes that the insurance industry is still known to be a very conservative industry but from 30 years ago to today, there has been a big difference in inclusivity. There’s constant evolution and change. We can always continue to do things better.

[7:23 ] Chis says everybody is striving to do things better. That’s why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs became so important for all industries. Justin says that saying the words Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion instead of DEI provokes thought about their meaning and impact.

[8:21 ] Chris agrees; when we say with intention, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with intention, it’s just better. Don’t we all want to be included? Inclusion is an endearing word. Let’s all come to the table. We need to be more intentional about the words.

[9:19 ] Chris Reilly attended RISKWORLD 2025 for the first time and was at the DE&I Studio. There were speakers and panels. Chris represented Link USA to talk about who they are, what they do, and their mission for the LGBTQ+ community in the insurance industry.

[10:21 ] Chris served on a panel where Link, the National African American Insurance Association, the Asian American Insurance Network, the Latin American Insurance Agency Networks, and the Association of Professional Insurance Women were represented.

[10:43 ] The organizations work to make sure the insurance industry continues to be a diverse, inclusive, and equitable industry. They support each other and continue to press the message of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. They raise their voices for the common good of every employee.

[11:17 ] Leaders from all of those organizations have been guests on RIMScast, with Chris Reilly and Link being the fifth organization represented. If more organizations are created, Justin will include them on the show. 

[11:37 ] Chris brings decades of experience in the trenches to his role on Link. 

[12:02 ] Justin says we’re hearing a lot of anti-DEI rhetoric. Chris says a lot of it is noise. People are throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. In most C-Suites, smart leaders seek legal advice. If they haven’t been doing anything illegal, there isn’t much they need to change.

[13:01 ] Companies that feed into the noise end up hurting their employees which can hurt their bottom line in the long term.

[13:27 ] Companies need to cut through the noise and make sure that they know what’s true and what’s not true. They need to focus on continuing to do what they’ve been doing that has been working.

[13:55 ] Chris thinks that a company scaling back its DEI initiative hurts its reputation. When they scale back, the employees feel it first. If employees don’t feel good in the workplace about the culture that has been developed for employees, that impacts the work and the output.

[14:34 ] Eventually, that can hit outside the walls of the insurance company. Insurance isn’t a direct-to-consumer product so this industry doesn’t get impacted in quite the same way as a retail store.

[15:06 ] Plug Time! The very first RIMS Texas Regional Conference will be held from August 4th through the 6th in San Antonio at the Henry B. González Convention Center. Public Registration is open.

[15:17 ] Hotel cut-off for the discounted rate is available through July 7th. The full Conference Agenda is now live, so you can start planning your experience. Don’t miss the post-conference workshop, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep