Zurich’s U.S. offices observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In 2021, Zurich North America is observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday across our U.S. offices, to honor King’s legacy and to demonstrate our commitment to progress on racial equity and social justice.

“Racial injustice isn’t new, and clearly, after the many tragic stories we witnessed in 2020, it is not over,” said Zurich North America CEO Kristof Terryn. “Life includes pivotal moments where we must decide if we agree with the way things are or if we will reject them and take action to create a better, more equitable and just world.”

Last August, following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other incidents involving racial injustice, Zurich North America committed to new actions to accelerate progress on diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging in our business, our industry and the communities where we live and work, underpinned by a new belief statement, which appears at the top of our Diversity & Inclusion webpage.

“You have my commitment that our work will continue,” said Terryn, who started in his new role at Zurich North America in January. “We will take action where we can make the biggest impact and be transparent about our progress. Together, we will build a brighter future.”

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service. Zurich employees can use Zurich’s employee giving platform, called Zurich Cares, to find organizations that offer opportunities to contribute to equity initiatives, either through virtual volunteering or donations, which will be matched 100% by the Z Zurich Foundation. Listed organizations include the United Way, the Equal Justice Initiative, Year Up, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU Foundation and Black Girls Code.

The week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Zurich African Ancestry Alliance (ZAAA), one of nine employee resource groups at Zurich, is focusing its monthly member event on a discussion of the Emmy-winning documentary, “King in the Wilderness,” which focuses on the final 18 months of King’s life. It can be seen on HBO or YouTube.

More events are planned for Black History Month in February.

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Diversity and inclusion at Zurich