BIP Spring 2025

Professional Development

After graduation, 2020 participant Colin Johnson worked for a local insurance company as an underwriter before becoming a financial

systems analyst at the University of Alabama.

NABIP’s Young Members Initiative in Alabama is

creating new opportunities for students by introducing them to the insurance industry and connecting them with industry professionals. As NABIP expands its efforts with the Workforce Leadership Institute and an improved mentorship program, initiatives like Alabama’s serve as a model for cultivating the next generation of leaders. Investing in students early Paige Phillips, a longtime NABIP leader in Alabama, has been at the forefront of the Young Members Initiative, which brings students from the University of Alabama to NABIP’s Capitol Conference. "We have one endowed scholarship on behalf of one of our past state presidents at the University of Alabama, and we’re working on a second," Phillips says. Through this relationship, students are selected to attend the conference, fully funded. More than a trip, it provides mentorship and industry connections. “The university pays for some of it, we pay for some of it, but the student never has to pay anything,” she says. Phillips recalls a standout participant: "One of them got a head marketing job at one of the largest agencies in New Jersey. He was from New Jersey, and

NABIP’s Young Members Initiative is opening doors for future industry leaders With new mentorship opportunities and university partnerships, the program will evolve to ensure young professionals find their place and thrive in the field.

16 bip magazine Spring 2025