The Council Foundation awarded $380,000 in academic scholarships to 76 interns during the 2021–2022 program year, resuming full program activity following pandemic-related disruptions. The program connected college students with internship placements at member firms and awarded scholarships to support their continued education in fields related to insurance and risk management. The 2021–2022 cohort marked a return to pre-pandemic scale for the Foundation's flagship talent initiative.
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THE COUNCIL FOUNDATION AWARDS $380,000 IN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS TO 76 INDUSTRY INTERNS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 7, 2021 – The Council Foundation announced today that it is awarding $380,000 in academic scholarships to 76 college students interested in pursuing careers in insurance brokerage. Each intern selected will receive $5,000 toward their college education. Since 2006, the Foundation, formerly known as the Foundation for Agency Management Excellence (FAME), has awarded $3.23 million to 646 students across the country, including $1.98 million to 409 students in the last five years alone.
The Foundation’s Scholarship Program partners with internship programs at The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ member firms, with the goal of hiring these students back into those firms and/or retaining them in the commercial insurance brokerage sector.
“There is so much opportunity within our industry, and internships are crucial to introducing young professionals to commercial insurance and the impact they can have within a brokerage firm,” said Ken A. Crerar, president/CEO of The Council. “We’re grateful to our member firms who continue to invest in efforts to recruit and develop the next generation of insurance professionals.”
The mission of The Council Foundation is to bring fresh, diverse talent into the brokerage sector. Students must be formally nominated by the respective brokerages at which they interned. In awarding the scholarships, an independent selection committee looks for candidates who have the potential to excel as leaders and contributors to the industry post-graduation.
“I am truly humbled and extremely appreciative to receive such a prestigious honor. I cannot thank The Council Foundation and Brown & Brown enough,” said Andrew Dunigan, a student at Temple University and an intern at Brown & Brown. “The work I performed this summer, the people I met and the knowledge I gained has excited me and thoroughly prepared me for a career in the insurance brokerage industry.”
Oumalkaire Omar, an intern at Cross Insurance, said The Council Foundation scholarship will help cover her tuition at Howard University for the fall semester. “My internship at Cross Insurance Agency this past summer helped me realize that I am interested in pursuing a career in the insurance industry. This scholarship will play a role in helping me further my education to prepare me to enter the workforce when I graduate in 2023.”
The Council Foundation is a 501c(3) organization administered by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. Contributions made to the Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
The 2021-22 scholarship recipients are listed below. Five of this year’s recipients have also been honored as named scholars (*) – scholarships that are administered by The Council Foundation – and three of which are permanently endowed: Raniesha Colebrook, named the Assurex Global Robert P. Ashlock Scholar; Maricela Lopez, named the Assurex Global Robert P. Ashlock Game Changer Scholar; Shannon Lind, named the Dave Oberkircher Future Leader Scholar; Seth Reynolds, named the Franklin Wheeler Scholar; and Varun Patel, named the USI Insurance Scholar.
