We believe that business can and should be a force for good – and lead on justice and equity.
As NLADA’s business partner, we believe our values and operations must align with NLADA’s high purpose mission and that we have the opportunity and indeed, a responsibility to provide leadership in the business sector – and specifically the insurance industry – that models the way that socially responsible business practices can advance justice and equity. This means aligning our business operations with the underlying goals of creating a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy and an environment where all stakeholders feel valued and prioritized. Just as our services should benefit both member-insureds and the clients they represent, our business should benefit and value our staff and partners who make our products and services possible. This includes reasonable efforts towards supporting financial security, health, wellness, safety, and professional development.
Equal Justice Advocate in the Insurance Industry
NLADA Mutual serves as the NLADA community’s advocate in the insurance industry – both to deliver the solutions that the equal justice community needs and share our values with the industry.
With the rise of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) engagement, the business community is increasingly becoming aware of the ways that their operations and governance impact justice and equity for all stakeholders – employees, customers, communities, suppliers, and shareholders. This is especially true for the insurance industry, which in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder has been examining the intersection of race and insurance.
In recognition of that fraught history of race and insurance in the United States and how that troubled past has translated into barriers to insurance coverage for communities of color – especially for individuals who are justice-impacted – NLADA Mutual has launched activity to better understand how insurance, race, and justice intersect and identify what the insurance industry can do to respond to these learnings. That work will be shared with the wider NLADA community.
Leader in the Business Community
In addition, as a member of the NLADA Corporate Advisory Committee, NLADA Mutual lends its expertise on justice and equity to peers in the business community committed to advancing equal justice for all, especially through their ESG strategy. In its recent policy paper, Business Doing Justice, NLADA Mutual explores how the stakeholder capitalism movement, the rise ofESG activity, and the global justice for all movement shaped by the inclusion of access to justice in UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 have contributed to businesses reexamining the impact of their internal operations and governance on the justice outcomes of all of their stakeholders. NLADA Mutual will continue to identify ways that business can accelerate how they do justice.
***
To help set the course of this engagement, NLADA Mutual has been guided by an ESG Advisory Board comprised of current and former leaders from American Family Insurance Institute, Entergy, Open Society Foundations, Twitter, and U.S. Bank.