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Dive In Festival 2022

An initiative of Inclusion@Lloyd’s, Dive In is the multi-award winning festival for diversity and inclusion in insurance.

Although the festival is over for another year, the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the insurance sector remains front and centre. Dive In has again continued to help insurance get fit for the future, highlighting the business case for diverse and inclusive workplaces and providing practical ideas and inspiration for how to bring about positive change. With almost 34,000 people attending 150 events, online and in-person, run out of 40 countries around the world, the 2022 festival has been a huge success as ever, with it growing further once again, and the energy of the festival will again be harnessed to continue encouraging positive action across the sector.

Kennedys is immensely proud to have been able to support and participate in such an important, and successful, initiative again. See you at Dive In 2023!

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Dive In is a global movement in the insurance sector to support the development of inclusive workplace cultures.

Dive In 2022

In its eighth year, the Dive In Festival continued on its mission to enable people to achieve their potential by raising awareness of the business case and promoting positive action for diversity in all its forms. From 27-29 September 2022, this 'hybrid' festival, had events taking place in-person and online, in a record 40 countries around the world, many in which Kennedys had a presence. The theme for this year was Building Braver Cultures - to build braver, psychologically safe working cultures.

Kennedys is very proud to have been a global partner of the festival - our fifth year - and involved in the organisation of it. Kennedys’ presence and participation was stronger than ever and right across our global network, seeing the firm associated with many events in various capacities, with Kennedys people organising, hosting, chairing and speaking at events, around the world.

Events that Kennedys spoke at/hosted were:

27 September

Real Talk about Walking The Walk (New Zealand)

How to support a courageous organizational culture that embraces diversity and inclusion? (Copenhagen)

Gender Parity in Leadership: What can we learn from emerging industries (London)

28 September

Age is just a number: Building an Age-inclusive Company Culture (Singapore)

Unlocking Hidden Assets - Neurodiversity redefined in the modern workplace (London)

29 September

Braver, Bolder, and Breaking Barriers: In Conversation with Craig Foster and Anyier Yuol (Sydney)

Exploration of impacts for the individual, organisation and the customer base the insurance industry serves (London)

Disability Inclusion: Changing our Perspective of the Physical Body (New York)

In 2022 the festival theme - this year's anchoring global narrative and rallying message - is Building Braver Cultures - to build braver, psychologically safe working cultures.

Building braver, psychologically safe working cultures

In previous years the festival has explored how organisations can embrace a more diverse and inclusive workforce. The task now, in 2022, is to build braver, psychologically safe work cultures – both on and offline – that truly allow people to feel safe, valued, respected and free to express themselves.

This incredibly important conversation and major subject area in DE&I is about how diverse groups of people think and act in the workplace in response to the environments created by both colleagues and leadership.

We each experience our environment and participate in work in different ways, so we need to build braver cultures, accelerating the creation of inclusive environments within our organisations where all people are respected, recognised, valued and empowered to speak and behave authentically.

An inclusive and safe environment allows everyone to be curious and speak up, ask questions, challenge assumptions, to build their cultural competence and become better allies.

The key action the audience is invited to take, as they participate with the festival, is:
To take action to build braver and supportive workplace cultures and safer spaces that enable colleagues to be able to express themselves authentically.


Objectives for Dive In 2022

Dive In across the globe

  • Continue to engage and educate people at all levels on the business case for Diversity & Inclusion.
  • Provide people with understanding, knowledge and tools to implement positive change.
  • Create impact for Diversity & Inclusion within the insurance industry.


In new countries

  • Concentrate on raising awareness for diversity and inclusion.
  • Consider ways to build momentum for the Diversity & Inclusion agenda.


In existing Dive In countries

  • Increase focus this year on attracting new audiences beyond the ‘converts’ and sharing the tools that will encourage attendees to move from awareness into action and create measurable impact.


2022 is staying hybrid

After the success of Dive In across recent years, the Dive In Festival 2022 will continue to be a hybrid festival with some events taking place in person, some virtually, and some hybrid (delivered physically and virtually streamed).

A hybrid festival allows for events to be both delivered and attended globally with the additional option for speakers to be based in different international locations.


In 2021, festival registrants came from a total of 103 countries across the globe.

Dive In recognises that the global risk industry is facing complex challenges such as climate change and cyber crime. In order to attract the very best talent to keep pace with the rate of change, insurance needs to focus on its reputation as a great sector to work in. This means looking beyond traditional definitions of diversity to level the playing field for talent comprehensively including gender, gender identity, age, cultural background, sexual orientation, social mobility, faith, caring responsibilities, mental health and physical impairments.

An initiative of Inclusion@Lloyd’s, a cross market collaboration of C-suite executives and industry associations driving the strategic push for greater diversity in the Lloyd’s market, Dive In is the sector’s only international D&I festival that runs concurrently in multiple organisations across all continents, representing every corner of the industry, from the smallest brokers to the largest multi-national companies. The festival raises awareness and builds momentum, and aims to engage and educate people within the Lloyd’s market on the importance of diversity and inclusion in insurance by providing people with understanding, knowledge and the tools to implement positive change. It helps promote a different view of insurance to a variety of stakeholders and to prospective employees both within and outside the industry.

The Dive In festival has grown from a Lloyd’s market event in London at launch in 2015 to become an award winning global movement that is embraced by the wider insurance industry. If Dive In has a vision, it is that insurance is recognised as a progressive industry where workplace cultures create a level playing field for talent, attracting the very best people regardless of gender, gender identity, age, cultural background, sexual orientation, social mobility, faith, caring responsibilities, mental health and physical impairments. Its mission is to enable people to achieve their potential by raising awareness of the business case and promoting positive action for diversity in all its forms.

Find out more

Diversity at Kennedys

We have a distinctive culture at Kennedys that makes us a successful firm where people enjoy coming to work. Our culture is a source of strength and differentiates us from our competitors. We are very conscious that as a diverse and global firm we need to ensure that everyone, whoever or wherever they are in the firm, shares and embraces our values. Underpinning our values is our involvement in events that celebrate diversity and inclusion within the sectors in which we operate.

Key contacts

Marianne Blattes Half Body Large_1620X1080

Marianne Blattès

Senior Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager - London

Anna Weiss Half Body Large_1620X1080

Anna Weiss

Foreign Legal Consultant (Not Admitted to Practice Law in Florida) Partner (Qualified in England & Wales) - Miami