I am someone’s daughter, sister, friend, niece, colleague, cousin, godmother. I am a person just like you. I feel. I bleed. I love. I cry. I laugh. I am a litigation attorney and an advocate for inclusion and diversity. I am also a Suzuki-trained violinist, published poet, singer and someone who loves to dance like no one’s watching. I am a human being, and I bet we have at least one thing in common.

My name is Janeen M. Thomas, and I am pleased to present this podcast. Indeed, it is a labor of love. I am presently co-chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the Westchester Women’s Bar Association (WWBA), a member of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA), have held was an executive board member of the National African American Insurance Association’s New York Tri-State Chapter, and alumni of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society’s 2019 Leadership and Mentoring Program.

I am a frequent speaker across a variety of professional and community groups. To name a few, I spoke at Insurance Business America’s Women in Insurance Summit, co-presented on reputational risks at the Northeast Insurance Conference and gave a CLE on Smart Data – The Newest Tool in the Defense Attorney’s Toolbox. Additionally, in 2017 I spoke on The Impact of Cannabis Legislation on the Insurance Industry and was published in Lexology on “Shrinking Damages with Smart Data.” I have also organized and/or participated in inclusion and diversity programs for a number of organizations including the WWBA, Girls Rule the Law, Inc. and Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF).