Danny Harmer and Chika Aghadiuno have been named on Cranfield School of Management’s Women to Watch for 2021. The annual list identifies leading female professionals suited to non-executive positions on the boards of FTSE 350 companies now or in the near future.
Alongside being Chief People Officer, Danny is the Co-Executive Sponsor of our Pride Community, and Domestic Abuse Working Group, which introduced training last year to support customers and colleagues.
Danny is a passionate supporter on issues such as menopause, caring and working parents. She mentors several women, and is a past Master of the Guild of HR Professionals.
Danny Harmer, Chief People Officer at Aviva, said: "I am so proud to be named alongside Chika in the Women to Watch. We know that great businesses are more diverse, including in the boardroom. I look forward to seeing the fabulous women on this list having a positive impact on organisations both now, and in the future as Board members."
Chika Aghadiuno is Aviva’s Group Enterprise Risk Director, as well as Co-Executive sponsor of our Origins Community, which represents race, ethnicity, faith and social mobility at Aviva. Earlier this year, she appeared on the EMpower 100 Ethnic Minority Executives List.
Outside of Aviva, Chika is the Chair of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Diversity Action Group and she mentors academically able boys and young men of African and Caribbean descent through the Amos Bursary. Chika is also a non-executive director for a leading medical defence organisation.
Chika Aghadiuno, Group Enterprise Risk Director at Aviva, said: "Appearing on the Women to Watch List is an unexpected spotlight and a reminder to myself that the light is out there and it could land on any one of us. I will endeavour to live up to what it represents."
About Cranfield School of Management and the annual Women to Watch list
The Women to Watch supplement was introduced by Cranfield University’s Gender, Leadership and Inclusion Centre in 2009.
Cranfield University’s Female FTSE Board Report, launched today, reveals that, while the number of women on FTSE 100 and 250 boards continues to rise, there remains considerable variance between companies, with the overall figures boosted by the efforts of several leading firms.
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Notes to editors:
- We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
- We help our 19.2 million (as at 31 December 2023) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
- We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2023, we paid £25.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
- In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. We are aiming to have Net Zero carbon emissions from Aviva’s operations and supply chain by 2030. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence on our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are also limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
- Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
- As at 31 December 2023, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £376 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus was £8.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
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