Membership Directory - Individual
Rebecca Mason
Head of Wordings at MS Amlin Underwriting Limited
About
Bio: Rebecca started working in the London Market in the late 80s, the time of Thatcher, Yuppies and Stock Aitken Waterman. The Lloyd’s Building had recently opened, and its unique glass and steel design promised a future of opportunity. Opportunity if you were white, cis, straight and male. If you were not, well, things were different. People from a non-white background were rarely seen, and anyone who was a part of the LGBTQ community was the subject of derision and ridicule; certainly not welcome in the smoky bars of EC3.
Rebecca’s transition began around the millennium, and while her post transition life has been extremely successful, both professionally and personally, it hasn’t all been straightforward. There were some mixed responses , particularly in the early days, but she continues with an ethos based upon turning up and being the best woman she can be. She believes that changing people’s perceptions happens through being herself and openly talking to people.
Outside of the office, Rebecca’s transition inspired her to rekindle her love of theatre. Having studied English and Drama before starting her career in Insurance, she felt motivated to work on the boards again, and is a member of a number of community theatre companies, gaining a reputation as a director and more recently using her affinity with words to create three plays. Additionally she enjoys live music, cycling and has recently started learning to play the piano.
Since her transition over twenty years ago, Rebecca has seen a change in attitudes. She held a senior position at her previous employer, Accredited Insurance for over five years, which would have been an unobtainable goal for a woman thirty years ago, or even a decade ago for a trans woman, and a recent move to MS Amlin Underwriting to a prestigious role in the London Insurance Market has sited her in an organisation that has not only embraced diversity but has it embedded in the DNA of the company. ‘I look around the office and I see women, people of non-European heritage and people from the LGBTQ community all holding senior roles. I don’t know what that cohort of the late eighties would have had made of this, but to me, this is the future.’
Rebecca’s transition began around the millennium, and while her post transition life has been extremely successful, both professionally and personally, it hasn’t all been straightforward. There were some mixed responses , particularly in the early days, but she continues with an ethos based upon turning up and being the best woman she can be. She believes that changing people’s perceptions happens through being herself and openly talking to people.
Outside of the office, Rebecca’s transition inspired her to rekindle her love of theatre. Having studied English and Drama before starting her career in Insurance, she felt motivated to work on the boards again, and is a member of a number of community theatre companies, gaining a reputation as a director and more recently using her affinity with words to create three plays. Additionally she enjoys live music, cycling and has recently started learning to play the piano.
Since her transition over twenty years ago, Rebecca has seen a change in attitudes. She held a senior position at her previous employer, Accredited Insurance for over five years, which would have been an unobtainable goal for a woman thirty years ago, or even a decade ago for a trans woman, and a recent move to MS Amlin Underwriting to a prestigious role in the London Insurance Market has sited her in an organisation that has not only embraced diversity but has it embedded in the DNA of the company. ‘I look around the office and I see women, people of non-European heritage and people from the LGBTQ community all holding senior roles. I don’t know what that cohort of the late eighties would have had made of this, but to me, this is the future.’