Kennedys remains committed to diversity and inclusion agenda, with continued Dive In Festival partnership

We are very pleased to once again be a global partner of Dive In, the international festival for diversity and inclusion (D&I) in insurance and an initiative of Inclusion@Lloyd’s.

Now in its eighth year, Dive In is set to continue from strength to strength, with the festival having expanded in both numbers and geographic representation over the last two years, despite the pandemic and the challenges it presented. In 2021 the festival grew again, with a record 145 virtual events across 35 countries, reaching over 31,000 people from 103 countries worldwide.

This year’s festival will be held from 27 – 29 September and focus on the theme of ‘Building Braver Cultures’, calling on the insurance industry to build environments where people feel safe, valued, respected and free to express themselves.

Building on the recent success, the festival will take place virtually and physically, allowing for worldwide participation to create positive global change; and a record number of countries are expected to host virtual and in-person events this year.

In previous years, the festival has explored how organisations can take decisive action to embrace a more diverse and inclusive workforce. The focus 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 year’s important theme is about how diverse groups of people think and act in the workplace in response to the environments created by both colleagues and leadership. It calls on attendees to build working cultures where all people are recognised and empowered to speak and behave authentically.

Reflecting on the success of last year’s festival and plans for Dive In 2022, Head of Culture at Lloyd’s, Mark Lomas, says: “The festival has grown from strength to strength since its inception in 2015, with attendees joining us from around the world to discuss important issues on diversity, equity and inclusion. This year we’ve had record numbers of sponsors approach us to express interest in hosting an event at the festival, in what will be another truly global push for change.”

Group Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at BMS, and member of the Dive In Steering Committee, Louisa Erwin adds: “Dive In provides a pivotal platform for powerful conversations and debates around the most pressing topics within the industry and society as a whole. This year we aim to accelerate the creation of psychologically safe environments within our organisations, created by colleagues and leadership.” 

Suzanne Liversidge, Global Managing Partner at Kennedys, says: “Kennedys is very proudly a global partner of Dive In once again. It’s fantastic that this year the festival is changing the course of the conversation, and focussing on raising awareness on fostering safe working cultures, so people feel respected, valued and free to express themselves. If our people aren’t able to bring their whole selves to work and feel safe in doing so, we will never get to see the best of them or realise their full potential.”

Plans for the 2022 festival are well underway, and festival participants can look forward to a huge number of great events, covering many different global D&I perspectives.

For further festival information and updates, see our Dive In website hub.