February is Black History Month and this post is dedicated to the incredible story of a pioneering insurance broker, Ernesta Procope.
In 1953, Mrs. Procope founded the insurance services firm E.G. Bowman and Co. in Brooklyn, New York. This was at a time when not many financial services businesses were owned by women or African-Americans. She focused on providing service to homeowners in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Her brokerage did not just push paper. It provided risk management services, immediate response and singular commitment to its clients.
The firm was a success. In 1972, Mrs. Procope was honored as Woman of the Year by the president. By 1973, E.G. Bowman was so successful that Mrs. Procope was the first female C.E.O. listed on Black Enterprises Top 100 list.
Mrs. Procope decided to focus on large corporate clients. Most notably, her firm was the insurance broker for the American section of the Alaskan Pipeline. In 1979, Mrs. Procope made history when she moved her firm to 97 Wall Street - becoming the first African-American Business on Wall Street. Today it is the largest minority-owned and female-owned insurance brokerage in the country. Mrs. Procope's list of achievements includes her 2006 induction into the Minority Business Hall and Fame and Museum.
Dr. Dennis Kimbro, in an article for the The Black Collegian Online, writes that Mrs. Procope described success as: ''Continuous hard work. Stubborn determination. Faith.'' When choosing an insurance professional to work with, consider whether your insurance professional possesses the same level of commitment.