2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Dawn Hiestand Senior vice president, chief operations officer of direct markets
Zurich North America
Schaumburg, Illinois
In her 21 years with Zurich North America, Dawn Hiestand has reinvented and challenged herself in many different ways, taking on roles in risk management, claims, operations, underwriting and product development. It’s the variety that keeps her attracted to the industry.
“There are so many different avenues that you can take in insurance depending on where your interest lies and where you think your strengths and capabilities are,” she said. “I feel like I have had seven new jobs and have been able to do it all within the one industry.”
In her current role as chief operations officer for Zurich’s direct markets business unit, Ms. Hiestand works on developing new products. She said she enjoys all things operations, calling herself “a little bit of an operations geek.”
She also enjoys mentoring people in the organization who are looking for guidance in navigating the industry. Sharing her experiences with others and helping them build a career path is exciting for her, she said.
She currently heads Zurich’s Women’s Innovation Network, the oldest employee resource group at the company, with nearly 1,900 members. The group’s key focus under Ms. Hiestand’s leadership is driving industry workforce sustainability and equal representation.
“With (WIN), we’re really trying to make an effort to enable women so that they have the skill sets and the confidence to start to bridge some of that gap in representation,” she said. “From an industry perspective, we still have a lot of work to do. I’m particularly passionate about that and will hopefully have the ability to influence.”
Vince Santivasi, head of direct markets for Zurich, described Ms. Hiestand as “selfless,” with “integrity that stands above everything.”
She also really cares about the company, its customers and its future, he said, which was shown by her recent work on the company’s first electric vehicle warranty product.
“For Dawn, it was important for her to be involved in the product development piece, but probably more important was her care about our future and that (Zurich) contributes where we can from a sustainability standpoint,” he said.
