The Spencer Educational Foundation was established in 1979 and remains the leading organization that funds the education of the future leaders of risk management and insurance.

Since its inception, Spencer has awarded more than $9.5 million in scholarships and over $8 million in grants to universities and other professional institutions. These programs have impacted over 85,000 students across the United States and Canada!

SPENCER PROGRAMS

Click the links below to learn about our programs that support students, colleges, universities, Risk Managers, and other RMI non-profit organizations.

Scholarships

Spencer is dedicated to promoting innovation in the field of risk and insurance by providing financial assistance to talented students. The scholarship program supports students pursuing studies in risk management, insurance, actuarial science, and related fields in the United States and Canada. Spencer Scholarships are awarded to the most promising students who exhibit exceptional academic and professional potential.

Since 1980, Spencer has invested over $9.5 million in the Scholarship program, with awards to over 1,500 students. More than 85% of Spencer Scholarship recipients remain in the industry to this day.

Course Development Grants

Course Development Grants are designed to support the development and implementation of both Introductory and Advanced RMI Courses in universities and colleges throughout the United States and Canada.

Spencer is keenly focused in bringing new RMI curricula to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to expand the number of students who are introduced to the profession.

Since 2014, Spencer has invested over $1 million in developing risk management and insurance (RMI) courses at over 40 colleges and universities, exposing thousands of students to the RMI industry.

General Grants

General Grants aim to support initiatives that promote experiential learning opportunities and attract more young individuals to the risk management and insurance (RMI) industry. Some examples of such initiatives include student attendance at industry conferences and symposia, outreach programs for high school students, initiatives dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in RMI education, and other unique programs that aim to strengthen the talent pipeline.

Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3 million in General Grants to support student-centered experiential learning opportunities at universities and industry orgs.

Internship Grants

Internship Grants offer $7,500 to Risk Managers who wish to hire interns within the risk management function of their companies.

These interns will learn about the field in a real-world business setting where they can apply their knowledge quickly, respond to new experiences, and begin to develop contacts in the RMI industry.

Risk Managers apply for grants from Spencer, and interested students can then apply directly with the companies for the newly-created risk management internship opportunities.

Since 1999, Spencer has awarded over $2.7 million in Internship Grants to over 500 recipients.

PROGRAM IMPACT

Since 1979, Spencer has impacted over 85,000 students!

Review the videos below to see how our programs have impacted students over the years.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

In 2023, Spencer awarded over $680,000 in DE&I-related funding.

At Spencer, DEI is not an initiative - it is a business imperative and baked into all of our programs. We strive to attract the best diverse talent to the industry and support our donors in finding diverse talent. Below are some examples of steps we have taken since 2019:

• Redesigned our scholarship application so that applicants can self-select their race/ethnicity and gender identity, in order to track (and measure) who exactly is receiving our scholarships.

• Changed our scholarship application review process so that all identifying information (name, demographics) is not visible during scoring to avoid interference from unconscious bias to the extent possible.

• Enabled the creation of hundreds of diversity scholarships to be awarded over the next ten years, representing a deliberate investment of over $1.5 million in diverse talent.

• Partnering with the Alliant Foundation to create a robust Risk Management & Insurance Program at Southern University, an HBCU in Louisiana. The program is also supported by the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

• Awarded Risk Manager on Campus Grants to 3 Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs): University of Houston Downtown, Johnson C. Smith University, and Lincoln University.

• Working with corporate partners to sponsor course development grants at Minority-Serving Institutions, including Fisk University, the University of the District of Columbia, University of North Texas, University of Nevada Reno, Mercy College, Brooklyn College, Northern Arizona University, California State University Fullerton, University of Houston Downtown, Fayetteville University, Stony Brook University, New Mexico State University, and New York Institute of Technology.

• Awarded grants to foster a diverse talent pipeline, including support for NAAIA, HBCU Impact, NABCRMP, Appalachian State University’s D&I in RMI Initiative, Indiana State University’s Recruitment and Career Awareness Diversity program, Howard University's FIRM Symposium, and others.

• Collaborating with other industry organizations to learn how we can partner on DE&I initiatives, including the Asian American Insurance Network (AAIN), American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA), HBCU Impact, Insurance Careers Movement (ICM), Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies (LAAIA), the McGannon Foundation, National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA), Rising Insurance Star Executives (RISE), Risk & Insurance Teaching Society (RITS), the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research (TNA), and University Risk Management & Insurance Association (URMIA).