Big ‘I’ Names Whitnee Dillard New Invest™ Executive Director

The Big “I” has announced the appointment of Whitnee Dillard as the new executive director of Invest™ and diversity. Dillard succeeds Deborah Pickford, executive director of Invest, who will retire in May after six years of outstanding contributions to Invest, the insurance industry’s premier classroom-to-career education program administered by the Big “I.”

In her new role, Dillard will direct Invest’s programs to improve the insurance literacy of students and attract diverse talent to the insurance industry, and she will also oversee diversity and young agents. This change gives the association the opportunity to combine three programs with similar goals under Invest. Prior to joining the insurance industry, Dillard managed multiple nonprofit initiatives focused on youth development and college preparation in partnership with middle and high schools, the foster care system and the juvenile justice system.

Dillard has received the national Big “I” Chairman’s Citation, an Ohio Insurance Agents Citation and most recently the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Industry Partner Award.