Diversity
Membership / Notices to Members

CAS DEI Strategy: New Look and Feel, Guided by Your Insights

DE&I Hands on puzzle

The CAS sought feedback on the CAS Strategic Approach to DEI through the 2023 Quinquennial Membership Survey. The survey results indicated strong support from the membership for this strategy:

  • With respect to the specific aspects of the stated strategy and underlying activities being undertaken to achieve them, respondents who agreed with the current approach outnumbered those who disagreed by at least 2:1 for every item, with that ratio exceeding 5:1 for the majority of the items.
  • 65% of respondents agreed the CAS should play a role in helping to build a more diverse actuarial profession, while 13% disagreed.
  • 53% of respondents agreed the CAS devotes an appropriate amount of resources to building a more diverse actuarial profession, with 25% responding we should do less and 11% responding we should do more.

While the DEI Task Force of the Board was encouraged by the broad support illustrated, the survey results also highlighted areas where we can clarify the DEI strategy. To provide greater understanding and transparency, the DEI Task Force has reformatted our presentation of the CAS Strategic Approach to DEI. Here, we lay out the CAS vision, the key tactics being pursued to help achieve this vision, and key activities that underlie each of those tactics. Through this presentation, we provide additional transparency into the actions being taken by the CAS, and as a result, CAS members can better determine how they can get involved.

In this presentation, we have added explicit definitions of how the concepts of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion apply in the context of CAS membership and community to help improve understanding. We have also added a specific tactic called “Enhancing Accessibility” to recognize our activities in this area. We have removed references to the setting of numerical goals, which were sometimes misinterpreted as a change in the CAS's admissions standards. In all cases, the strategy as outlined here represents the actions currently undertaken by the CAS in this area.  

Given the results of the Quinquennial Membership Survey, we believe this strategy is consistent with the will of the membership, and plan to present the revised strategy to the CAS Board of Directors in March 2025 for formal adoption. Members that wish to provide feedback can do so by filling out this three-question Reformatted DEI Strategy Feedback Form by February 11, 2025. We are happy to receive such feedback to consider as we evolve our strategy for our final presentation to the Board.

Jason Russ, Chair, DEI Task Force
Stephanie Espy, Member, CAS Board of Directors
Roosevelt Mosley, Former Chair, CAS Board of Directors
Amber Rohde, Member, CAS Board of Directors
Erin Olson, VP-Engagement
Mallika Bender, CAS Staff
Mike Boa, CAS Staff