As the Newfront companywide Town Hall was wrapping up this week, Ivoree King-Reinaldo’s plane touched down in Dallas, where she planned to visit some of her fintech and financial services clients. Dialed into the meeting from her seat, Ivoree learned that she had been named the Newfront Woman of the Year for 2022, the inaugural recognition for this prestigious internal award. Ivoree, who has made history at Newfront both as a woman and as a Black female producer, delivered a moving speech to the company. “Winning this award, especially during Black History Month, made me feel like I made my own history for family, friends, and future generations to be proud of,” she said in an interview later. “My grandparents’ grandparents were slaves. I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams. It is the validation that authenticity, grit, and perseverance will pay off.”

The Newfront Woman of the Year award was created by NewHER, Newfront’s employee resource group (ERG) for women and allies. The honor represents NewHER’s motto of “ARCS” — which stands for advance, recognize, community, and sponsorship — as well as Newfront’s core values. The award is given to individuals who personally embody the mission, vision and pillars of NewHER and Newfront:

• Someone who stands as a role model and inspiration for others in the organization

• Someone who plays an active role in creating a more equitable and inclusive environment for all women at Newfront

• Someone who elevates women to reach their highest potential, and breaks down barriers that stand in the way

• Someone who actively looks to advance, recognize, sponsor and create community with women and allies within Newfront, our industry, and her greater Bay Area community

Ivoree, Senior Vice President, P&C, was nominated by six team members at Newfront, all who cited her encouragement of women and people of color in the workplace, uplifting of colleagues, and mentorship of young professionals as a few of the many reasons she should win. 

“Ivoree exemplifies what it means to be strong, confident, outspoken, passionate, caring and engaged,” said Linde Hotchkiss, Ivoree’s supervisor and Executive Vice President & Regional Managing Director, Southwest. “She stands up for what she believes in and helps others in understanding challenges and triumphs she has in forging her path.”

Ivoree is an exceptional leader in her field with almost 20 years of commercial insurance experience as an insurance advisor and risk management consultant. Last year, Profile magazine called her “Insurance’s Secret Weapon.” She was a recipient of the 2021 Insurance Agent of the Year Award sponsored by Insurance Journal and is a subject matter expert who has testified before Congress on insurance matters related to nonprofit property protection. 

In 2021, Ivoree became the first Black female insurance executive to be a principal and owner on Newfront’s P&C team. In 2022, she booked $1M+ in revenue, crossed $3M in sold revenue, and maintained a 100% client retention rate. She is a highly sought-after broker, in part, due to her championing of diversity and equality initiatives, both internally and externally. Ivoree has taken a leading role with BLACKfront, Newfront’s ERG for Black team members and allies.

Growing up in the inner-city of South Central in Los Angeles, nonprofits were pillars of light and safe havens in Ivoree’s community. Because of this, she has made it her mission to support local and national nonprofits in both her personal and work life. Though Ivoree works with clients across the private and public business sectors, she especially loves working with organizations aiming to change the world — for her, this is where passion meets professionalism. “It doesn’t matter whether you are an insurance broker like me, a tech engineer, a waitress, or a shared economy worker,” she said. “Any time you are interfacing with people, you have an opportunity to help them and impact them in some way.”

As Ivoree arrived in Dallas and got news of her win, she thought of the fact that, not long ago, a Black woman wouldn’t have been welcome in Texas to do business. “I am humbled to be an executive with multiple clients in this state, nationally and globally,” she said. “As I was landing, I was appreciative of those who came before me to pave the way.”

The other nominees for Newfront’s Woman of the Year 2022 include Anna Dineros-Rocacorba (Operations Learning Specialist), Robin Hendrickson (SVP, Occupational Health and Safety Practice Leader), Angie Lopez (VP, Director of Client Services), Shanee Malone (Senior Director, Marketing), Coleen McNally (SVP, P&C Service Strategy), Amanda Pratt (Director of Programs and Operations), April Rowe (Global Benefits Consultant), and Lin Yuan (Vice President of Engineering). “These women stood out for the time, attention, and care that they pour into their teams,” Schwartz said in the Town Hall. “They're consistently going above and beyond to create a culture of inclusivity, and empowering those around them to be the best version of themselves.”

Ivoree closed her speech by adding: “To all women, let's continue to share our power with one another and impact the world that we literally gave birth to.”