CAS Unveils New Three-Year Strategic Plan
As many CAS members know, the CAS has officially unveiled its new Strategic Plan. This plan is the culmination of an extraordinary amount of careful thought, discussion and decision making. At the time I officially began my role at the CAS this past January, we could not have anticipated the enormous challenges this year would … Read more
The Actuary and Social Justice Annual Meeting General Session
The summer of 2020 brought race into the national conversation like no time in the recent past. The acknowledgement of systemic racism as a persistent and pernicious problem led individuals and businesses alike to rethink their practices. The same is true for actuaries and the insurance industry, with the NAIC forming its Special Committee on Race and Insurance, … Read more
Disability in the Workplace
This year will undoubtedly be one for the history books for many reasons – the political landscape and related policy discussions, social and racial unrest and the new realities of COVID-19. As a result, we’ve all had opportunities to gain new perspectives that help our individual growth. One of my most meaningful learnings from the … Read more
Being Mentored
“I don’t know why I failed,” I groaned. “How much did you study?” he asked. I responded, “A lot!” “Did you keep track of how many hours you studied?” he followed up. “No, I guess I should,” and the lightbulb went on. Mentors have helped me immensely along my journey as an actuary. I am … Read more
Why I Mentor
A friend, David, asked me recently, “Why do you mentor?”It was during a casual conversation and I gave a casual answer, “Because someone asked me to mentor.” As I reflected on the conversation later, however, I realized that my response while mostly true did not give David very useful insight into my motivations and passions … Read more
Development in a Virtual World
We have all had to adjust to unprecedented times recently and the typical workplace model has been completely flipped upside down. While we have all adapted to working from home, virtual meetings, and various interruptions, one topic that seems to have lost focus is how to continue to work on development items to help advance … Read more
Join the Diversity Impact Group to Contribute to our DE&I Efforts
This summer has seen a lot of activity related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) efforts within the CAS and the broader actuarial profession, and there’s much more on the way. CAS members have a strong passion for DE&I issues, and we are aware of growing interest among members to get involved with this work. … Read more
It’s Time to Take Visualization Seriously
In 2019, I gave five talks about data visualization. This was great fun, but as I looked back, I felt compelled to confront a difficult question: what are we as actuaries still not getting about this? Haven’t actuaries embraced data visualization? We understand that it’s important. We understand that it’s an essential element of communication. … Read more
Creating Unicorns
You may have heard of the term “data scientist unicorn.” The Harvard Business Review had an article that describes them as “a hybrid of data hacker, analyst, communicator, and trusted adviser.” The article goes onto say that “The combination is extremely powerful—and rare.” The CAS Board has just adopted a new Envisioned Future, and you … Read more
Celebrating Pride Month and the Creation of Sexuality and Gender Alliance of Actuaries (SAGAA)
We write this blog post to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month, share ways that you can help advance the LGBTQ+ community at your organization, and announce exciting news for the actuarial profession’s LGBTQ+ community. Pride Month takes place in June each year to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots. The rioting … Read more