Sustainable Insurer Asks Cowen Partners’ Shawn Cole About DEI
Insurance Companies Shifting Focus Away from D&I Hires
Firms within the U.S. insurance industry no longer see Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) as a key factor in recruiting C-suite members, according to Shawn Cole, Executive Recruiter and President of Cowen Partners Executive Search.
Cole explained: “Mandates to find diverse C-suite candidates have become virtually non-existent in the last year.” This marks a sharp departure from previous years, during which such requests accounted for approximately 50% of the firm’s searches, Cole noted.
This reversal reflects a broader trend of declining enthusiasm for D&I policies across industries. Major corporations such as Meta, Amazon, Walmart, and McDonald’s have scaled back their D&I initiatives in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory.
However, Cole suggested that this sentiment is not merely a reaction to Trump’s election. Instead, it has been growing within U.S. insurance firms over the past year. He noted that many companies have found diversity recruiting increasingly difficult.
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About Cowen Partners Executive Search
SCowen Partners Executive Search is a leading national executive search firm, known for placing world-class C-suite leaders, board members, and senior executives across industries. Specializing in finding and recruiting top talent, we provide clients with comprehensive access to the executive marketplace, ensuring that each search is tailored to the unique needs of the organization. Our clients benefit from a proven track record of delivering high-impact leaders who drive growth, innovation, and performance.
At Cowen Partners, we go beyond traditional executive search by offering strategic insights and expertise that help companies build high-performing teams and navigate complex market challenges. Whether it’s sourcing transformative CEOs, CFOs, or board directors, we are committed to excellence, transparency, and results-driven solutions, making us the trusted partner for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn Cole is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners, a national CFO executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, such as a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations, typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $1 billion and $15 billion.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund which provides seed funding and early stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international non-profit organization working with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical knowledge to become socially responsible business leaders.
At the age of 16 Shawn became a volunteer firefighter and EMT, eventually founding and managing a half marathon to raise funds for the community. To date, the marathon is still a success and has raised over one million dollars benefiting the community.
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