Symetra Life Insurance Company has announced the appointment of Solynn McCurdy as senior vice president, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, a new role for the organization. Mr. McCurdy, who joins Symetra’s leadership team, will lead Symetra’s newly formed DE&I office, with responsibility for driving the company’s DE&I strategy. He reports to Anne-Marie Diouf, senior vice president, Chief Human Resources Officer.
“Solynn is a respected leader and recognized innovator with deep experience developing and strengthening equitable and inclusive programs, practices and policies. He joins Symetra at a critical point on our DE&I journey and will be responsible for crafting a long-term holistic vision to advance our current work — ensuring we deliver on our DE&I commitments, building on the results achieved by our Inclusive Diversity Council and Employee Resource Groups, and collaborating on our divisional and departmental action plans. As an organizational change agent, Solynn will partner with our senior leaders to embed DE&I goals as drivers of sustained results across the company, for products, partners, customers and employees,” said Ms. Diouf.
Most recently, Mr. McCurdy was senior vice president of Social Impact at BECU, where he oversaw all philanthropic and financial health efforts, community engagement and cooperative community advocacy for Washington state’s largest credit union and its more than 2,300 employees. He was instrumental in reimagining the BECU Foundation and strategizing to accelerate its DE&I work, and he was the founding executive sponsor for their Black Alliance Cooperative Employee Connections Group.
Prior to joining BECU, Mr. McCurdy was chief executive officer at Social Venture Partners Seattle and led social impact programs at Premera Blue Cross. Formerly, he was director of external affairs at Seattle University, where he stewarded regional strategies in community engagement and advocacy.
Mr. McCurdy received a master’s in education from Seattle University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Washington. He has served on the curriculum committee for Leadership Tomorrow and on the board of trustees for the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
