The Board of Directors of the Spencer Educational Foundation has designated Feb. 24 as Spencer Day—a day to celebrate Spencer scholarship recipients (#SpencerScholars), the companies that hire them and the foundation’s support of industry education.

Established in 1979, the Spencer Educational Foundation funds the education of tomorrow’s risk management and insurance leaders by awarding scholarships, facilitating internship opportunities, providing Risk Manager in Residence programs to universities, and awarding grants to help promote the industry to the next generation.

With the Spencer Day designation, the foundation is urging industry professionals to promote #SpencerScholars they have mentored, advised and assisted via social media. Employers can use the hashtag as well to highlight the value they place on hiring and supporting #SpencerScholars.

“We are excited to call upon all Spencer Scholars—and the companies that employ them—to stand up today and be acknowledged,” added Spencer Board Chair Marya Propis.

Spencer relies on annual, recurring support from hundreds of donor companies and industry professionals. In conjunction with today’s announcement, the Spencer Educational Foundation also reported that commercial property insurer FM Global had recently made a gift of $650,000 to the foundation—the largest single pledge received in Spencer’s 41-year history. With the gift, Spencer expects to be able to give away more than $1.5 million to fund industry education this year.

In a media statement, Propis, who is also senior vice president and director of Distribution & Broker Partnerships at All Risks Ltd., said, “The mission of Spencer is simple; we are helping to manufacture talent for the entire industry, and as our support grows, our capacity to generate more results increases, too.”

Over 1,000 property/casualty insurance professionals have benefited from Spencer’s philanthropic efforts since the first three scholarships were granted in 1980. By gathering at annual events such as the Gallagher Spencer Golf event (being held on May 2, 2020) and the Spencer & Sedgwick FunRun (May 5) during the RIMS Annual Conference in Denver, as well as the Spencer Gala Dinner on (Sept 17 at the Sheraton Times Square in New York), insurance professionals can support Spencer’s ability to propel careers by removing financial obstacles.

Source: Spencer Educational Foundation