License to Thrive

Vikki Pryor - SBLI USA

SBLI USA’s President and CEO Vikki Pryor has been breaking down
barriers her whole life.  In high school, she ran with the boy’s track
team because there was no team for the girls.

Pryor is the first African-American woman to run a life insurance company
in the United States and has held the President and CEO positions since
1999.  The 69-year old company is one of the leading financial services
providers to low-to-moderate income families.  SBLI USA has over 300,000
customer policies and $1.5 billion in assets.  Key to their growth has
been an effort to embrace diversity including Spanish-language products
and efforts to cultivate non-traditional demographics including women,
seniors and multi-cultural communities, with women making up more than
50% of the company’s customer base.  Women are also well-represented
at all levels of the company:

- 57% of employees
- 48% of management
- 33% of Senior Management
- 33% of Officer roles

Five of the thirteen members of the Board of Directors are also women.

Pryor’s commitment to providing access and opportunities to women of
color can be traced to her younger years.  Despite having the opportunity
to study abroad in Denmark at the age of 16, college was still a struggle
financially.  Due to her gender and color, she received little career
guidance.  She majored in history and education and ended up at law school
as a default.  Her law studies made her aware of the Title IX legislation
and its role in combating inequities for women.
 

Despite knowing very little about finance, Pryor started her legal career
with the Department of Treasury.  A taxpayer she was investigating gave her some advice that she should consider a career in business.  Because not a single major law firm in Chicago would hire her, she made a decision to pursue a business career.  Ultimately, she would decide that this was the right path for her.

Pryor acknowledges that being the “first” can sometime be a lonely
experience, lacking the information and contacts that others have access
to.  Pryor likens it to “playing a game without equipment.”  However, she
has clearly earned her position and her success including convincing
colleagues that tapping into non-traditional markets made good business
sense for SBLI USA.

As a single mother, Pryor is inspired by her son Daniel’s encouragement
to “Have it all!”  From the looks of it, she’s doing just that.