Empowering Our People

Our American Family Enterprise is committed to doing what’s right for our customers, company and communities. And we believe a strong culture of inclusion helps us all do our best work to deliver superior products and services to our customers. People are our most valuable asset. That’s why we work to sustain a collaborative environment where uniqueness is valued, individuals are treated equitably and are empowered to contribute to our collective success.

Tyler Whipple

Diversity and Inclusion Director

At American Family Insurance, we’re weaving inclusive excellence into our DNA. It’s who we are, what we do and how we’ll continue to deliver excellent results. Our leaders and employees are champions of diversity and inclusion.

View 2018 people Report

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to executing initiatives that drive a deeper awareness, and application of leading diversity, inclusion and equity practices in our workplace and communities. Over the years, we’ve increased our commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity.

We have:

Created an Inclusive Excellence Division with direct line of sight to our CEO.
Established The American Family Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. This team invests in visionary entrepreneurs who are building scalable social enterprises in the following areas: economic opportunity for all, healthy youth development, learning and academic achievement, and resilient communities.
Continued ongoing success of our Community Investment area which carries out American Family's objective of promoting social responsibility and investing in the community through grants to charitable organizations, supporting employee and agent community efforts through donation match and volunteer efforts, and working with other business units to carry out philanthropic efforts.

Inclusive Excellence

Our CEO, Jack Salzwedel, is dedicated to making positive impacts to society. In 2018, he joined 450 other CEOs and presidents of the world’s leading companies and business organizations to sign a pledge for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

“I’m proud to join the hundreds of other CEO’s and company presidents who support inclusive workplaces and are committed to creating a safe space for complex, and at times, difficult conversations about these issues.”

In 2019, he also joined leaders from local Madison companies to form a CEO round table aimed to make Wisconsin a great place to live and work for everyone. This also included signing a diversity and inclusion pledge.

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Milwaukee Corporate Expansion

We see Milwaukee as a city on the rise with great potential to deepen our community impact as aligned with our overall, corporate social responsibility efforts. With our expansion to Milwaukee we will develop a thriving, urban workplace and community hub for over 350 employees, supported by our vision for the changing nature of work. Extensive community partnerships and philanthropic support, along with the development of a diverse and tech talent pipeline and workforce, will contribute to our broader inclusive culture and create meaningful impact for our organization, our customers, and our state.

We are excited to renovate the 110-year old former Mandel Graphics Solutions plant on North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, which sat vacant for more than a decade. Situated in an opportunity zone, once complete, beyond our designated workspace, the building will include a DreamBank, a sales and agent recruitment center, and community space.

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Our Business Resource Group

A Business Resource Group (BRG) is a network of employees who share a common identity characteristic or set of interests. Our BRGs promote an inclusive, respectful workplace, contribute to ‘customer-driven’ business initiatives, while providing professional development, networking and leadership opportunities to its members.

BRGs help the company bring diverse perspectives forward and include employees from many locations who represent a variety of divisions, job levels and generations.

Membership: 92

Hosted first enterprise-wide celebration of National Disability Employer Awareness Month

Collaborated with VMBRG for 2019 Dough for Dogs fundraiser to sponsor second service dog
Membership: 241

Pride Flag Raising for June PRIDE Month

Wear Your Pride week

Participated in Madison OutReach Pride Parade
Membership: 454

Black History Month celebration — Two day event

Celebrating young dreamers

Partnership with Centro Hispano for Escalera events

Passport to Diversity event — Theme “Share Your Culture”
Membership: 217

Fallen Hero Table for Memorial Day-across all regions.

Veteran’s Day Ceremony & Celebration

Dough for Dogs fundraiser — Raised $10,000 to place a service dog with a Veteran
Membership: 742

Women’s Professional Development Series

Annual Women’s Speaker Series

“The Balancing Act: Self, Family, Work”

“Leading with Authority”

Partnership established with Lean In to provide additional resources to AmFam women

Investing in Our Employees

At American Family Insurance, we recognize the importance of continuous learning and skill development, and we support our employees in their educational efforts with tuition and loan assistance, and an employee scholarship program.

Student loan assistance program

For employees who have graduated with an associate’s degree or above and have student loan debt, American Family provides a monthly contribution of $100 for student loan repayment with a lifetime maximum of $10,000. And our Advisor Program helps to lower loan payments, assists with refinancing and offers guidance on other financing options for a college education.

Employee scholarship program

Our employee scholarships are open to American Family Insurance employees in undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate programs, and offer a $2,500 annual scholarship, renewable for an additional three years. Tuition, fees, books and supplies can be covered with scholarship funds.

Tuition reimbursement program

Tuition reimbursement is available to employees who have been with the company for one year. Employees are reimbursed for tuition, books and other education expenses, up to $5,250 annually for full-time employees and $2,625 for part-time employees who qualify. In addition, several colleges offer American Family employees a tuition discount.

Awards & Recognition

Top 50 Companies for Diversity 2019 – recognized by Diversity Inc
The Best Employers for Diversity 2019- recognized by Forbes
Best place to work for LBGTQ Equality- recognized by Human rights campaign
40th on 2019 Best Employer for Women – recognized by Forbes
6th on 2019 Best Employer for Diversity in Wisconsin – recognized by Forbes

Best Employers for New Grads 2019 – recognized by Forbes
Winning “W” recognition – recognized by 2020 Women on Boards
Nominated for 2018 Veteran Friendly Workplace Award – recognized by USO Wisconsin
Extraordinary Employer Support Award – recognized as top employer of military personnel
Score of 100 on CEI for 4 consecutive years

Employee Wellbeing

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Employee Gardens

Employee Well being

Partnering with Virgin Pulse, we offer a program that cultivates good lifestyle habits for our employees. Teamwork, competition, rewards and fun motivates employees to embrace healthy behaviors and maintain these habits over time.

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

In 2015, American Family installed three, two-port, level-two electric vehicle-charging (EV) stations at its national headquarters, where employees could recharge their EVs for free. In December 2017, the company added three stations. With more than 30 unique EV drivers, employees use charging stations an average of 76 percent during weekday office hours.

The Corporate Responsibility team continues to assess current and future needs, looking for ways to encourage rapid EV adoption. Two other office locations also have level-two charging stations. The lifetime environmental impact of the installed charging stations helps avoid 10,739 kg of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of planting 275 trees and letting them grow for 10 years.

Employee Gardens

American Family’s National Headquarters is located on 450 acres, some of which had been agricultural. Our National Headquarters hosts 122 garden plots, an orchard with more than 30 fruit and nut trees, 20 fruit-bearing bushes, wren houses, and several hundred row-feet of raspberries and asparagus. Additionally, a group of employees built and manage a large flower garden designed to nurture and protect Monarch butterflies.

The garden is also good for employee gardeners, who appreciate the benefits of growing their own food, enjoying outdoor activities and meeting new people.

Empowering Our People

Tyler Whipple

Diversity and Inclusion

Inclusive Excellence

Milwaukee Corporate Expansion

Our Business Resource Group

Abilities Business Resource Group (ABRG)

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and Allies Business Resource Group (LGBTQA BRG)

Multicultural Business Resource Group (MBRG)

Veteran’s and Military Business Resource Group (VMBRG)

Women’s Business Resource Group (WBRG)

Investing in Our Employees

Student loan assistance program

Employee scholarship program

Tuition reimbursement program

Employee Well being

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Employee Gardens