In November 2024, Liz Green was officially appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of ICMIF. Liz has been an integral part of ICMIF’s senior leadership team since joining the Federation in 2012. She first joined as Senior Vice-President of Communications before transitioning to Senior Vice-President of Membership. She continued to move up in seniority, taking on the role of Executive Vice-President in early 2023, where she played a key role in shaping and executing ICMIF’s 2023-2026 strategy while overseeing the organisation’s daily operations and team management.
Liz has enjoyed a career spanning over two decades in the mutual insurance sector, bringing a wealth of experience to her role. Before joining ICMIF, she spent 13 years in senior communications roles within the UK life insurance industry, including at Swiss Life (UK) and Royal Liver Group, which later became part of Royal London Group. Earlier in her career, she specialised in financial services as a PR consultant. Now, as CEO, Liz Green is poised to lead ICMIF into its next chapter, driving its mission and strategic vision forward.
Liz, you took over as ICMIF CEO during the 2024 ICMIF Biennial Conference in Buenos Aires (Argentina), what are your reflections on the event and the key themes that were brought out for and by members during the Conference?
The ICMIF Biennial Conference in Buenos Aires was a truly inspiring event. This was the seventh ICMIF Conference that I have been a part of, and each time I am blown away by the strength and diversity of ICMIF’s global network as well as the energy, spirit of collaboration and openness, and desire to make a difference from the delegates across the three-day event. We had the perfect hosts and location in Buenos Aires, and it provided the perfect backdrop for the conference. We’ve been so pleased to hear all the amazing feedback and how their attendance at this event really inspires and assists them in achieving their own strategic goals.
There were two themes that really stood out for me from the event.
Firstly, is the notion of “Profits for purpose”, hearing numerous case studies from members about how they are transforming their businesses to strike a balance between commercial success – something that, to their own admission, has only become an imperative in recent years – and societal impact. Many ICMIF members are reimagining their role as purpose-driven insurers, ensuring long-term profitability but also contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future for people and the planet. We also heard many examples of ICMIF members that are creating new business and growth opportunities from this approach.
The second is the true value and huge potential of collaboration and partnerships. The theme of the Conference was Collaborating with purpose and we heard numerous examples of how ICMIF members have forged partnerships across our global network to exchange best-practice and develop new solutions; as well as some of outcomes from the various the strategic partnerships that ICMIF has with industry bodies. The potential for this stakeholder collaboration in the future, as we collectively try and navigate and mitigate the global challenges we all face, could help many ICMIF members contribute to building more resilient communities.
What are your key priorities as ICMIF’s new CEO?
ICMIF is at the midway point for its 2023-2026 strategy, Leading with purpose and impact, which represents an evolution from the previous strategic cycle to build on our successes, but with a focus on aligning with our refreshed purpose and maximising our impact. I look forward to working with my team to implement this strategy which will continue to guide the Federation’s activities over the next two years.
Over the course of my first year of my leadership as CEO, I have identified five priorities within this strategy that I hope will continue to position ICMIF as a driving force towards a resilient and thriving future.
- Scale up the sector – facilitate better access to mutual/cooperative insurance across the world, in both advanced and emerging markets; leveraging successful models for development through the ICMIF Foundation, and also using this year’s International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) to advocate for national commitments
- Better links with regional mutual associations and partners– create closer links across national and regional associations to support each other in the delivery of our missions. Perhaps even create some more unified messaging about the mutual model.
- Grow the member network – increase the opportunities for member value through a tailored approach to member engagement, combined with adding in new member organisations that bring further best-practice and diversity to the network.
- Align our membership proposition with CEOs’ strategic priorities – Building on regular conversations with our leaders to understand their strategic challenges and competencies and match our membership service to areas that will most effectively assist their organisations.
- Transform ICMIF into a modern membership organisation – Ensure ICMIF, as a business, remains financially resilient, develops its staff with the right capabilities and adopts new technologies to enhance the service we provide to members.
In 2024, you conducted over 50 interviews with a representative sample of ICMIF member CEOs to understand their business challenges and successes and also how they wish to gain maximum benefit from their membership of the Federation. What were the main insights from these interviews? What are your plans for connecting with members this year and where will members have a chance to meet you in-person?
These connections with various leaders across ICMIF’s diverse, global network provided valuable insights into their challenges and expectations. This has helped shape my vision for the future of ICMIF and the services we offer to our members.
Tailored engagement was a key theme, with members seeking differentiation of ICMIF from other industry bodies and the unique value ICMIF offers in terms of peer-to-peer assistance in a non-compete environment. Members also expressed a desire for assistance that addresses both immediate and long-term needs. This will influence our member service proposition in the coming 12 months, as we seek to offer more proactive strategic support, that will provide our members with actionable guidance alongside inspirational content and greater collaboration on navigating the changing insurance landscape.
I will continue to speak regularly to the CEOs of ICMIF members across the world, learning more about their strategic challenges and competencies as we seek to further improve how our membership proposition can “join the dots” across our global membership.
I also look forward to connecting with many leaders within the membership at a number of ICMIF events in 2025. This includes the Meeting of Reinsurance Officials (MORO) in Helsinki (Finland) in June; the ICMIF Americas Conference in San José (Costa Rica), in August; the Global Strategy Summit in Paris (France), in October; and the Resilience and Sustainability Summit in London (UK) in November.
I also hope to connect with members at several industry events and national mutual insurance conferences in 2025, as well as representing ICMIF and the global sector on a number of Board seats and speaking engagements throughout the year.
Given ICMIF’s role as a global membership organisation and a “knowledge broker”, what are the key benefits of ICMIF membership that you would like to see more members take advantage of?
The opportunity for members to connect, exchange, learn and collaborate with fellow ICMIF member companies – usually in a non-competitive environment – is something that came across loud and clear in my recent CEO interviews as something that makes ICMIF unique as a membership organisation; providing a tangible differentiation to the value that certain members receive from national or regional insurance associations or trade bodies.
As one CEO termed it, the ICMIF peer network provides “light touch consultancy” helping members gain access to a wider community of insurers globally, discussing strategic issues and learning from diverse approaches. It is therefore our responsibility to understand our members’ strengths and challenges to allow us to make relevant recommendations, connecting organisations that can offer this unique depth of, knowledge sharing, insight or support.
In our recent Member Impact Report, we highlighted this strength of the our global network, reporting 154 global connections between members between 2022 and 2024. We also showcased a number of examples of these member-to-member connections, such as Capricorn Mutual (Australia) who learned from the experiences of upgrading claims systems and workflows from other members; and MAS (New Zealand) who used insights from a member visit to Canada to develop its own roadmap for successful transformation to support their future strategic growth.
I expect we can facilitate more of these connections between members over the next year. This happens organically, and we’ve heard many stories from members of ongoing relationships that have developed since the Buenos Aires Conference last year. If members are facing a strategic challenges or emerging issue, I hope they will look to ICMIF and our network as one channel that could provide them with a solution.
In recent years, ICMIF has seen a huge growth in demand for its in-person Advanced Management Course, what do you believe to be the reasons for that and can you tell us about the new virtual learning programmes that have been launched by the Federation in the last year?
It has been amazing to see the surge in member demand since 2023 for the Advanced Management Course (AMC). I feel that the anticipation post-pandemic was a factor in this, as many member use the AMC as one of their key channels to develop their senior managers and leaders.
However, I think the biggest drawing factor was that, since 2023, the AMC has been enhanced with new content focused on leading with purpose and activating strategy in purpose-driven organisations—topics that resonate strongly with today’s leaders.
Another major draw of the AMC is its transformative approach to leadership development. The course equips participants with cutting-edge frameworks and practical tools derived from behavioural economics, helping them navigate complexity within their organisations. Moreover, its global reach attracts senior leaders from diverse backgrounds, fostering a dynamic exchange of insights and best practices. This unrivalled opportunity for diverse networking and peer-to-peer consultancy elements further enhance the experience, creating a lasting support network for participants.
In response to growing demand for learning and leadership development resources from ICMIF, and in a move to be more inclusive and make this content more accessible, we have developed online learning opportunities for members.
In April 2024, ICMIF launched its first on-demand learning offering, the Mutual Leadership: Adapting to a Complex World course. This online leadership development course is designed to equip existing and emerging leaders with tools and mindsets to help their organisations adapt to a changing and complex world. The course consists of 20 videos split across six modules, covering topics such as embracing complexity, judging and deciding, effective collaboration, and working across cultures.
And this year, we introduced a virtual version of our highly-rated Young Leaders Programme. This blended learning programme combines self-paced, on-demand learning with interactive live virtual networking sessions. It aims to empower young and emerging leaders (generally aged 35 and under) with essential tools and mindsets to drive adaptability in today's complex world.
We are excited to hear feedback from members about these new learning opportunities and will continue explore this area of our member proposition to help members develop their people and the capabilities needed by leaders to navigate the future
Looking to 2025 as the UN International Year of Cooperatives (IYC), are you optimistic about the future and the opportunities for ICMIF and its members to amplify our collective impact. How do you see ICMIF members using this year to address the many challenges of an ever-changing world and demonstrate how they are meeting the increasing demands of consumers and stakeholders?
2025 and the IYC present a unique opportunity for ICMIF and its members to amplify their collective impact. I am optimistic about the future as this year will allow ICMIF members to showcase the impact that they have made in each of their countries, while learning from leaders from the broader cooperative world. I am anticipating lots of new opportunities for joint ventures and innovation from this group of leaders.
The formation of the Cooperatives and Mutuals Leadership Circle (CM50) is a significant step towards this goal. Our hope is that many ICMIF leaders as part of the CM50 will advocate for the cooperative and mutual business model as a key solution to global challenges. As a business model, we have proven that we are profitable yet equitable; we have been resilient to past challenge, but invest for a sustainable tomorrow; and we are the businesses of the future, built on the legacy of our values, heritage and principles.
Closing the protection gap: how can supporting microinsurance in emerging markets, for example by collaborating with the ICMIF Foundation, fit into ICMIF members’ purpose-led strategies?
Supporting microinsurance aligns with the purpose-led values held by many ICMIF members to address the protection gap and promoting financial inclusion for underserved communities – in both advanced markets and emerging markets. Through the ICMIF Foundation, particularly initiatives like the UNDP ICMIF Insurance Innovation Challenge (IIC), microinsurance members can help expand access to affordable insurance while reinforcing their commitment to social impact and sustainable development.
By funding and sharing technical expertise through the ICMIF Foundation, members from developed nations can support microinsurance initiatives in many ways whether it is to enhance global impact, gain insights from emerging markets or to reinforce their mutuality-driven purpose.
Microinsurance is not only a social good but also a strategic business move. It helps insurers expand into new regions, build trust, and future-proof operations. Supporting microinsurance through the ICMIF Foundation combines business growth with social responsibility, showing that purpose and profitability can coexist while making a lasting difference in emerging markets.
What is your personal approach to leadership and what are the key things that drive you professionally?
I once heard one of our members refer to herself as having ‘a cool head and warm heart’ and that really resonates with me.
I have many years of experience in terms of building thriving, high performance teams. Each situation required a very personalised approach and for me to be very present and curious. With my business coaching background I naturally work towards a win, win scenario. For me it the best way to make change stick. This takes an investment in time, patience and empathy but the rewards are long lasting.
I also maintain that most of us are often unaware of our own knowledge gaps and blind-spots, so being an attentive listener is essential in my leadership style. Every day presents an opportunity for learning, and I find value in broadening my perspective through all my interactions.
I am driven by the opportunity to make a positive, lasting impact on collaborators, whether they are team members, CEOs, or political leaders. A major part of my role is to clearly communicate ICMIF’s vision and engage various stakeholders to bring it to life. I find energy and excitement in achieving mutual benefits and discovering new possibilities together. This effort is always worthwhile and often very enjoyable.
How do you like to spend your spare time?
My top priority is my family. I have a husband of twenty years and two grown-up children. We love to travel but most enjoy our time together at home.
I also believe in prioritising my mental and physical well-being. My role at work, requires personal resilience and a lot of energy. I get a lot of benefits therefore from nature. I am lucky to live near the sea and have lovely coastal walks to enjoy on my doorstep.
I also try to get to the gym three times per week to work on strength training. On the mental well-being side, I am a keen personal development junkie. I enjoy many podcasts, books and audio books that focus on managing my personal impact and natural remedies.
