2023 Break Out Awards NORTHEAST SOUTH MIDWEST WEST
Roxanne Griffiths Deputy general manager, sub-Saharan Africa
American International Group Inc.
Johannesburg
Roxanne Griffiths is no stranger to competition.
A defining moment in her career came in 2015 when she was the inaugural winner of the Insurance Apprentice in South Africa competition. As in the TV show on which it is modeled, Ms. Griffiths successfully completed several insurance-themed challenges and survived successive rounds of boardroom firings to win the title.
“The competition provided the platform to engage with key stakeholders in the industry and gave me the exposure to people I would ordinarily have never had,” Ms. Griffiths said. For the past two years she was part of the judging panel and served as a mentor to competitors.
The Apprentice experience and the exposure to key industry figures, as well as well as a willingness to “raise my hand to opportunity” has helped Ms. Griffiths achieve a series of promotions at AIG, which she joined in 2012 as a financial lines underwriter.
In 2020 she was promoted to head of financial lines, sub-Sharan Africa and in October 2023, was made deputy general manager of sub-Saharan Africa and a member of the executive board.
Mentoring is very important to Ms. Griffiths, and something she experienced from an early age given that her mother has worked in the insurance sector for more than 20 years. “The collective impact of coaching, sponsorship and mentoring has been invaluable,” she said.
Now a mentor to three young women, she is also a co-founder of Insurance Young Guns in South Africa, a nonprofit organization with over 400 members.
“She has demonstrated unwavering passion for the insurance sector and is committed to continuous learning and developing herself and her team,” said Thomas Lillelund, CEO, EMEA, at AIG.
Ms. Griffiths, who has three children under age five, serves as the executive sponsor of the Women and Allies Employee Resource Group at AIG South Africa, a role that allows her to promote diversity and inclusivity within the organization.
Nicholas Pratt
