Anuradha Mishra, Senior Director – Talent, Learning & Inclusion – Marsh McLennan’s Global Capability Center, spoke on Inclusive Voices, CRG, at the 2025 Best of Best Conference & Awards.
Anuradha shared a personal shift – from being a bystander to becoming a vocal leader of inclusion at Marsh McLennan, a 150-year-old global organization with nearly 90,000 colleagues. And colleague is the operative word because language, she emphasized, truly matters. The organization avoids terms like “employees” or “staff,” choosing a culture where everyone belongs.
Their Colleague Resource Groups (CRGs) reflect this philosophy. The gender-focused CRG is intentionally inclusive not only of women and LGBTQ+ individuals, but also men and colleagues who are still finding their place and voice. Rooted in the company’s purpose of helping people “thrive,” the vision is for everyone to find themselves within the organization.
Despite global headwinds, including restrictive executive orders in the US, Marsh McLennan continued strengthening its inclusion initiatives. Their work spans cultural education, awareness-building, and practices that shape what a newcomer experiences on Day 1.
A cornerstone of this culture is co-creation: policies are shaped not by leaders alone, but by people. One example is their structured support for maternity returnees, resulting in an impressive 92% return rate.
The CRG’s mission is ambitious: to build a community of 11,000 allies—women standing for women, gender-neutral identities supporting each other, LGBTQ+ colleagues championing inclusion for all. And they are guided by a powerful question: Should CRGs only serve the organization, or should they influence the world beyond it?
