Q&A: Fisk’s Ngozi Nnaji wants to get students interested in insurance

After spending 20 years in the insurance industry, Ngozi Nnaji this semester joined Fisk University as a distinguished lecturer in the risk management and insurance program for the Department of Business Administration. Before coming to the private institution, she also worked as an adjunct professor for Goodwin University in Connecticut.

Nnaji told the Post that she jumped at the opportunity when she realized she had the chance to mix her insurance knowledge with her love for helping others. In the role, she is aiming to create awareness around insurance as a career path, but also to bring more Black professionals into the industry.

"Ultimately, my goal is to create a Black insurance ecosystem," Nnaji said. "We have Black products that are catered to the Black community, but I need our people to do it. So that's why I'm recruiting, educating [and] bringing awareness to Black students."

The Post also recently spoke with other new additions to the Fisk business department, Sufyan Baksh and Duncan Pelly.

Why did you choose to join Fisk after spending 20 years in the insurance industry?

Both of my parents are professors. They have PhDs, and it has always been an important part of my life, education and giving back and creating awareness. I knew at some point that would be my track. Now, what I didn't know is that the opportunity at Fisk would be the avenue in which I did so. I was an adjunct professor ... in Connecticut. However, I was teaching one class a semester and not feeling like I was making a true impact. ... I'm an HBCU alum, so I support Black excellence and the mission of HBCUs. This opportunity for me to give back in a very different way and ensure [progress] in an industry where we're challenged with diversity and inclusion. I jumped on it right for all the reasons.

How has your background prepared you for your new position?

One, understanding the HBCU experience. I'm very intentional about what I do and how I do it. Those who understand the experience understand what the mission of HBCUs is: to better prepare our students to go into a society in a world that is built on systemic racism. That is a key component, that experience at an HBCU and the fact that I have been in corporate America. Also, it was just the love for education and creating awareness. When I interviewed for the position, I told them, I am your nontraditional professor. I don't have experience with being a professor in the most traditional way and I do think outside the box. That allows me to engage and track students in a very different way ... to get them excited about a topic that nobody's excited about.

What tasks does your new position have you working on?

I'm a distinguished lecturer with Fisk under the risk management and insurance program, which is part of the Department of Business Administration. So basically, I teach courses trying to have students understand the importance of insurance as a wealth-generation and asset-protection tool, but also creating awareness of insurance as an industry. As a professor, I'm there to expose and explore those topics with the students.

In what ways are you hoping to take the knowledge you have collected through the years and transfer it to the students at Fisk?

I do it in a variety of different ways. It's very important to me that the students understand the Black insurance history. We have to teach history as it relates to insurance. The more you create awareness and make it relevant, the more interested students become. Not only do I do that, but I also bring them into the industry early on. For instance, this is the first semester that we've had our first insurance course. Within seven weeks of the course, I had them traveling to Baltimore to be a part of the National African American Insurance Association. They can see the representation that exists in our insurance industry, with over 500 Black insurance professionals in one space. People could argue, well, that's not new to an HBCU student because we see Black excellence all around us, but it's very different when you get to corporate America. They need to understand that the Black excellence that they see on campus can translate to the Black excellence they see in the industry. I try to make it real for them. Part of my course is to teach them how to use insurance as a tool, not just to create career opportunities, but to say, "hey, that auto policy you have, let me tell you how to better structure your policies so you can be an educated consumer and better protect your assets." This course is not just about careers, but it's about how to make you a better steward of your money.

What are you trying to accomplish at Fisk?

There were over 30 Black-owned insurance companies that existed at one time in the U.S. … My goal is to recreate that, but I've got to bring in more Black people into the industry. How do you bring more Black people into the industry? By educating them and bringing awareness and enticing them. I'm starting with the most passionate, most energetic and the next generation because they need to be the ones that once we set it up, have to carry it forward. They have to carry the torch.