“You are in charge of your careers,” fastTrack founder tells Airmic members

“It doesn’t matter how many members you have if they are not engaged,” said Kate Wallin, founder of Airmic’s fastTrack scheme, speaking at the Airmic conference.

At the heart of fastTrack, a network for younger Airmic members and those new to the industry, is its ethos that all Airmic members should be engaged. “Before fastTrack was set up, I had concerns that we at Airmic were not touching all parts of the membership,” Wallin, also a member of the Airmic board, explains. “I voiced my concerns to John Hurrell, chief executive, and he has been extremely supportive ever since.”

FastTrack had a strong presence at this year’s conference. Over 50 members came to the fastTrack-hosted panel discussion on getting ahead in risk and insurance, including David Ross, CEO of Arthur J. Gallagher, John Ludlow, SVP global risk management at IHG, and David Carr, managing partner at Idex. The lively seminar covered a range of topics from the importance of a mentoring scheme for new members of the industry, to the need for risk managers to broaden their experience in order to stand out from the crowd.

FastTrack also hosted two receptions which provided the chance for its members to network and to link up with a mentor from more established members of the industry.

Formed at the beginning of the year, fastTrack is quickly establishing itself with over 170 members already. But Wallin knows real progress will take time. “We know there are more people out there that we want to support in their journeys.”

And if she had one message for those new to the industry? “You are in charge of your careers so network network network!”