2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Shannell Chibueze Vice president, management liability; senior account executive
Woodruff Sawyer & Co.
San Francisco
Though her insurance and risk management career has been about helping companies avoid risk, Shannell Chibueze wouldn’t be where she is today if it weren’t for the risks she took to create opportunities for herself and others.
The first of such risks came while she was in college at Georgia State University and was looking for a path into health care risk management. Ms. Chibueze wrote a letter to the CEO of an Atlanta-area health care system asking if she could volunteer one day a week in the risk management department. The CEO was so impressed by her offer that she ended up with not just a volunteer position but also a job after she graduated.
Ms. Chibueze’s early experiences helped her make the connections she needed to move her career forward.
One of those early connections was Susan Miner, senior vice president of management liability and partner at Woodruff Sawyer, who has mentored Ms. Chibueze for the past 20 years.
“I remember as a junior person, there were times where I wasn’t as confident and I was nervous about making decisions and she was that ally for me,” Ms. Chibueze said. “(Susan) gave me that permission to be a little more brave in what I was doing and reach a little bit higher.”
Ms. Miner said Ms. Chibueze has always been thoughtful in how she approaches things and that is especially true of the work she is doing in diversity and inclusion.
“The number of people she has touched and rallied has been really inspirational to me,” Ms. Miner said. “She’s really about connecting with people and doing that in a genuine way, which leads to good outcomes as a leader.”
Today, Ms. Chibueze handles the complex insurance needs of Fortune 500 companies and serves as chair of Woodruff Sawyer’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, which she considers some of her most important work because of the difference she can help make.
“You’ve got to be brave enough and have enough faith to kind of step out and do something that’s beyond yourself,” she said.
