R.I.S.E. – The Ryan Family Insurance Program for Success and Equal Opportunity

As I reflect on the opportunities presented through R.I.S.E., I can only describe the program as monumental. Experiencing the world of insurance has changed my outlook on possible career paths, as I have found a job that I can be content with every day. I am extremely thankful for the R.I.S.E. program, as it has allowed me to experience the corporate world while being comfortable with who I am.

Julian Garrett

Fisk University, Class of 2025

I was a member of the R.I.S.E. program's inaugural cohort, which provided me with the chance to complete my first internship with Lexington Insurance Healthcare. Now, I am a student member of the National African American Insurance Association and the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters Society and am working toward getting my property and casualty license. R.I.S.E. helped me figure out what I wanted to accomplish with my career, and I'm eternally thankful.

Erika Morris

Fisk University, Class of 2025

The R.I.S.E. Opportunity Foundation gave me more self-assurance about the future. Through the seminars and mentorship, I was able to gain important knowledge and career prep that developed my professional abilities. I recommend the R.I.S.E. Opportunity Foundation to any student looking for an encouraging and supportive environment with the resources they need to succeed.

Dominique Middleton

Oakton College, Class of 2024

The community that is formed is truly one of a kind and one of the many reasons why I recommend R.I.S.E. to others. Joining R.I.S.E. has been one of the best investments for my future that I could have possibly made. It’s given me opportunities that I never would have had without joining, and the support I’ve had has been unwavering.

Lauren Givens

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Class of 2027

Every year, when I attend their summer program, I meet new faces and learn new things about social networking, different facts about the stock market, risk management, and the chance to create and solve our scenario with a well-thought-out case study. I would not trade my experience with this program for the world, and I am blessed that I got to be a part of it.

Noah Black

Providence St. Mel, Class of 2024

If you are a young black person looking to expand your knowledge and build your intellectual toolbox, you should investigate joining the R.I.S.E. program, because it’s about more than just business and financial literacy, with R.I.S.E. I have gained a lifelong friendship, mentorship, and connection with Patrick and Maurice to where I truly consider them family.

Xavier Woodhouse

Morehouse College, Class of 2027

The R.I.S.E. internship helped me understand the ins and outs of how to run a big company like Ryan Specialty. I got to meet some amazing people such as Pat Ryan himself, John Rogers, Michael Blackshear, etc. I am now a freshman in college with a major in business administration and a concentration in finance economics, hoping to one day own my very own insurance company.

Zyon Ewing-Hooks

Fisk University/Harold Washington College, Class of 2027

Learn more

The Ryan Family Insurance Program for Success and Equal Opportunity (R.I.S.E.) seeks to increase the diversity in the risk management and insurance industry through promoting the recruitment, training and placement of underrepresented communities at all levels within the commercial insurance industry.

Who We Are

The cornerstone of the Ryan Insurance Program for Success and Equal Opportunity (R.I.S.E.) is the establishment of risk management and insurance training, mentoring, and internship programs for underrepresented students at select high schools and historically black colleges and universities.

R.I.S.E. exposes these students to the many different roles within commercial insurance, including investment management, technology, claims, human resources, and financial accounting/actuarial science, among others. Our scholars undergo workshop training, as well as mentoring and coaching, as a supplement to their academic year schedule, culminating in paid internships and a partial scholarship for scholars at our HBCU partner institution.

Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan initiated R.I.S.E. following the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery in 2020—events which ushered forth a renewed focus on the great harm systemic injustice and inequality continue to have on communities of color. From boardrooms to grassroots organizations, many are mobilizing to implement remedies to correct this tragic legacy. From improving our criminal justice system to addressing education inequities on local, state and federal levels to working to create fairer and more inclusive workplace environments, R.I.S.E. is proud to be a part of this collective effort.

Schools

Fisk University

Fisk University is an historically black university and the oldest institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tennessee. Fisk’s outstanding faculty and students continue to enhance the University’s international reputation for academic excellence. A Fisk education prepare students to become beacons in servicing the community and well-rounded leaders and scholars in their respective fields.

Leo High School

Leo is a Catholic high school in Chicago, IL that offers College Prep and Honors Curriculum. For over 100 years, Leo has been committed to working with students and challenging them to give their best and be there best. Their educational leaders have developed a rigorous and well-rounded curriculum designed to prepare students for the “next step” as they convert 21st century challenges into opportunities.

Providence St. Mel

Providence St. Mel School (PSM)—located on Chicago’s West Side—has an impressive legacy of providing children with a quality education for 42 years. Working with students from preschool through high school, PSM makes college dreams a reality for students by building the foundation for students’ future with a proven model of academic excellence.

Recognition

Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year

Business Insurance's 2021 U.S. Insurance Awards

We are humbled and proud to share that R.I.S.E. and its work with Ryan Specialty was named the Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year at Business Insurance's 2021 U.S. Insurance Awards.

Thank you to Business Insurance and congratulations everyone who has helped launch R.I.S.E. over the past several years.

Meet the Team

Patrick Phillips

Chief Executive Officer

Patrick Phillips is Chief Executive Officer of the R.I.S.E. Opportunity Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization founded by Pat and Shirley Ryan whose goal is to increase the representation of underrepresented communities in risk management and insurance by providing career readiness training, financial literacy education, mentoring, and industry internships to high school and HBCU students.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Patrick began his high school education at Cass Tech in Detroit and graduated from Cranbrook Kingswood High School thanks to the Horizons Upward Bound Program. Patrick is also a dual degree graduate of The University of Chicago (UChicago), where he earned a BA in Public Policy and a MA in Social Science.

From there, Patrick spent more than 25 years as a financial adviser before returning to UChicago as a career advisor and program director in the university’s career advancement office. During this tenure, Patrick also helped design, launch and lead the Rogers Scholars Program, a cocurricular program endowed by UChicago Trustee John W. Rogers, Jr., Founder, Chairman and Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, with the goal of exposing underrepresented UChicago college students to careers in endowment management.

Maurice Macklin

Vice President

Maurice "Moe" Macklin joined the R.I.S.E. Opportunity Foundation in early 2021 as Vice President. His job responsibilities for the foundation entail working with scholars on post-secondary education, career readiness, mentoring and entrepreneurship opportunities within the insurance industry.

Maurice has over thirty years of experience as an entrepreneur and a notable career in law enforcement. Maurice progressed through the law enforcement ranks to finally serve as the Deputy Chief for the Cook County State's Attorney Investigations Bureau before retiring. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Maurice received his Master of Science from Saint Leo University.

“My public service and business career was full of ethical decisions, leadership, and moral reasoning, which immediately connects with the honor of sharing knowledge, wisdom, and mentorship to empower our scholars as they RISE toward their future success.”

Natalie Borneo

Lead Consultant, R.I.S.E.
Lead Risk Management and Insurance Lecturer, Fisk University

Natalie Borneo, an insurance industry veteran executive and professor, leads the risk management curriculum at Fisk University and performs consulting duties for R.I.S.E. With over thirty years in risk management and insurance, Natalie has served as a casualty broker, a risk and compliance officer and a non-profit operations leader. She is a Howard University graduate, where she majored in insurance.