Zurich celebrates Women in Construction Week

Kelly Kinzer , Head of Construction at Zurich North America, started her career in construction not in a hard hat and steel-toed boots on a jobsite, but in Zurich North America’s Underwriting Training Program. At the time, women were as much an exception in construction insurance as they were on construction crews, particularly in leadership roles.

Today, women — including Kinzer — are running construction groups at carriers, brokerages, general contractors, subcontractors and beyond. And they’re looking to introduce more women to the wide range of opportunities to build a bright future in construction.

That’s why Zurich Construction is a sponsor of Women in Construction Week , March 5-11, which helps the National Association of Women in Construction raise awareness of varied career options in construction while celebrating the success of women in the industry. It’s also an opportunity to expand diversity in the industry beyond gender to other facets.

“We still have a long road ahead of us, but we’ve made significant progress, and I only expect that to accelerate going forward,” Kinzer said.

“When I look inward at the team we’ve assembled,” she continued, “we’ve attracted some really strong female leadership at all levels of the organization, and we have some really strong women working with us today who will be future leaders moving forward.”

Here are just a few of those women:

Michelle Hristozova started as an apprentice at Zurich and within a few years reached her goal of not only becoming a Construction Property Underwriter, but also earning her bachelor’s degree while working and earning full time.

Jennifer Fortunato, Assistant Vice President of Construction Specialties, Risk Engineering, started her career as a superintendent on construction jobsites and later moved to Zurich, where she still finds exciting challenges 17 years later.

Megan Jameson, Construction Properties Technical Director, enjoys pleasantly surprising others who might have initially underestimated her knowledge in what traditionally have been male-dominated specialties.

Natia Swan, Underwriting Manager for Primary Casualty Construction, says that seeing Kinzer at the helm of Construction at Zurich says a lot about the culture of opportunity and flexibility to balance priorities, including hers as both a professional and a new mother.

Click on the short videos on this page to hear more about why these women love working in construction and at Zurich. Then, check back on our website Wednesday, March 8, for a Women in Construction episode of our Future of Risk podcast series, featuring special guests Brenna Mann , Head of Strategy for U.S. Construction and Infrastructure at Aon; and Nocona Schulz, Senior Vice President for Corporate Insurance at Clayco, a real estate, architecture, engineering and construction firm.

Are you interested in working with or for a leading provider of construction insurance solutions, one that’s committed to advancing diversity, sustainability and the long-term success of its customers?

Learn more about our Construction business here.

Explore Zurich career options here.