CATIC Menu Breadcrumb Home About Us The Initiative HOW WE GOT HERE In June 2020, CATIC publicly demonstrated support for those working to change society for the better and condemned all forms of social injustice due to systemic racism. As a company, we are committed to doing our part to help build better communities through fair and equitable treatment for all – and we determined it was time for CATIC to start leading the change. Through this initiative, our senior leadership team began developing a dynamic Corporate Social Justice initiative to start actively promoting fair, equitable and just treatment for people of color, and all other marginalized groups, in our society in the future. The senior leadership team has committed to taking the following strategic actions: ALIGNED GOALS & OBJECTIVES Of the new Corporate Social Justice Reform Strategy with the company’s strategic business plan in order to keep it a top priority. COMMITTED & COMMUNICATED Obtained full commitment from the Board of Directors to activate a new committee dedicated to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the company, and communicated this commitment to all employees. EXPANDED & SUPPORTED Widened the scope of the CATIC Foundation, the company’s philanthropic organization, to strategically support social justice initiatives through socially responsible investments and charitable donations to not-for-profit organizations committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. EDUCATION AWARENESS Committed to creating new learning opportunities regarding diversity, equity and inclusion for our employees and agents through the CATIC Academy, the company’s new learning and development platform. It will take the collective commitment and effort of all of us to effectuate meaningful change over time – and WE WILL be at the forefront. WHERE WE START Recognizing the importance of engaging all key constituents in the our community to begin actively addressing a prevailing corporate social justice issue, we have launched an employee-led project team called the Initiative focusing on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within CATIC, our strategic partnerships with various community organizations and key stakeholders in the communities we are located. The project team initially developed the following project charter to support this new corporate initiative: We recognize the importance of keeping both our internal and external constituents continuously engaged and strategically aligned along this journey. Therefore, we have organized our efforts around the following 4 focus areas: DATA & RESEARCH We will seek and collect empirical data to help identify contributing factors that influence our current initiative focus. EDUCATION TRAINING We will determine how CATIC can best use its resources to help bridge the divide between identifying quality education that already exists and delivering it to the communities that need it the most. STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Synergy is key to any successful project. We work to identify the right partners who align with our vision and helps us work more efficiently to achieve our current initiative focus. COMMUNITY INITIATIVE Combining all the information gathered, we reach out to organizations within the community where we can begin to share our knowledge and resources with those who need it most. CATIC firmly believes that we all must start taking deliberate actions today that will help promote fair, equitable and just treatment for people of color, and all other marginalized groups, in our society in the future. Additionally, it will take the collective commitment and effort of all of us to effectuate meaningful change over time. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE about CATIC’s corporate social justice initiative or would like to join CATIC in this strategic effort, please send an email to TheInitiative@catic.com. WHAT ARE WE CURRENTLY ADDRESSING MINORITY HOME OWNERSHIP THE ISSUE: Historically, minority home ownership has been very low despite changes to federal laws and public policies to ensure fair and equal housing standards. This discrepancy is based on a variety of systemic issues that we intend to discover. We will establish new strategic partnerships to help create viable solutions across our geographic footprint. OUR GOAL: Identify strategic partners (i.e., community organizations; business partners; legislators; etc.) to help develop strategic solutions that will lead to sustainable changes in the future. The group decided to start their journey by reading Richard Rothstein’s “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” to collectively learn more about the history of housing segregation. Since starting this strategic effort in 2020, we’ve had the opportunity to begin developing key strategic partnerships with several community organizations committed to making a difference, including: MassHousing - Work Force Advantage (WFA) Down Payment Assistance Program Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity Habitat for Humanity, Coastal Fairfield Chapter The Cooperative Fund of New England ALTA Good Deeds Foundation Desegregate CT OUR INITIATIVE LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE SPONSORS Jim Czapiga, Esq. - President & CEO, CATIC (CT) Damon Carter - SVP & CHRO (CT) FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE INITIATIVE Andrea Alessandro, Esq. - Director of Industry Relations & Education (MA) - Committee Co-Chair Deborah Boyd, Esq. - Vice President & State Counsel (FL) Chris Caputo - Director of Project Management (CT) Damon Carter - Sr. VP & Chief Human Resource Officer (CT) Al Caporale, Esq. - Executive Director, CATIC Exchange (CT) - Committee Co-Chair Erin Cabelus - Agency Advisor (CT) Rebecca Cox, Esq. - Managing Counsel (RI) Chris Condie, Esq. - Sr. VP & Florida Operations Manager (FL) Jim Jurgens, Esq. - Sr. Title Counsel (MA) Natasha Livingston - Agency Advisor, Lien Sweeper (TX) Holly Mendez - Jr. Security Analyst (CT) Robert Picone - Business Development (NY) Michael Powers, Esq. - Title Counsel (MA) Robin Scrubb - Business Analyst (NJ) Paul Swenson, Esq. - Managing Claims Counsel (CT) Zach Kammerdeiner, Esq. - Sr. Business & Compliance Strategist (CT) Right where you need us With offices throughout the Northeast, Georgia, Florida , Ohio, and South Carolina our local knowledge of the community means we're on the ground and ready to help. 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