Empowering Our People

How we treat our people is just as important as what we deliver. We truly live our values daily. But what truly drives our work forward is our passion. Our employees are motivated to bring their best each day because we are passionate about our customers, our company and our communities.

Diversity and Inclusion

At American Family Insurance, Diversity and Inclusion is a strategic initiative. We believe a strong culture of conscious inclusion allows us to build deeper relationships with each other, our customers and our communities. Some of our specific efforts include the creation of a Diversity & Inclusion department, establishing an Executive Diversity Council, formation of our Business Resource Groups, development of specific diversity and inclusion metrics & training and development programs for employees at all levels.

Business Resource Groups

A key component of our Diversity and Inclusion efforts are our Business Resource Groups, (BRGs). BRGs support American Family by:

Providing a diverse and inclusionary viewpoint into customer driven corporate initiatives
Proactively presenting ideas that promote business development
Providing professional development opportunities for members
Sponsoring events or activities that promote diversity and inclusion awareness for and about our customers, employees and communities

Our Business Resource Groups

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
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: 241

Pride Flag Raising for June PRIDE Month

Wear Your Pride week

Participated in Madison OutReach Pride Parade
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

Investing in Employee Well-being

American Family believes an individual’s well-being goes beyond just physical health, extended to his or her financial wellness, community engagement, meaningful relationships, stress management and heightened mindfulness. 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.

The program was designed to:

Encourage all employee segments
Increase physical activity, while encouraging improvement in all areas of well-being
Motivate users to participate in daily healthy behaviors and achieve healthy outcomes: “Learn-Do-Become”

For years I didn’t pay enough attention to my health and fitness. Since we started the Virgin Pulse program, I’ve started to change habits a little bit at a time. While I’m still a work in progress, I am going to do all I can to make it the best me I can be. Ultimately, it’s up to each and every one of us to decide how we go through life. I choose to live life fearlessly and pursue what truly inspires me.

Cheryl Swenson

Instructional Designer

Employee Development

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Employee Gardens

Employee Development

Talent Development is focused on driving organizational culture and performance. We enable employees to do their jobs now and to prepare for the jobs of the future.

American Family believes having an educated workforce is an invaluable asset to the company. We offer several options for employees to continue their education:

Tuition Reimbursement of $5250/year
A new Employee Scholarship of $2500/year, renewable for 4 years
A college loan repayment program
Insurance education courses to help producers maintain their insurance licenses.

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.