OLA Industry Newsletter: March 2025
Monday, March 10, 2025
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Posted by: Alan Ramirez
Dear OLA Community,
This industry newsletter is provided to our professional members, industry sponsors, partners, allies, and subscribers to keep you current with OLA's various activities, spotlight members of our community, and connect you with career and volunteer opportunities.
If you are not already on our distribution list, please register for an OLA Member Portal account at members@latinoactuaries.org to receive this newsletter and other important communications!
Please reach out to our newsletter team at newsletter@latinoactuaries.org if you have any questions or feedback (or for corporate sponsors and partners, any items you'd like featured in this newsletter),
and thank you for your continued support of OLA!
Alan Ramirez
Director of Membership
Table of Contents
- Upcoming Events & Announcements
- Mixers
- Community Spotlights
- Career Corner
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Student Section
- Support OLA!
- Connect With Us
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2025 OLA Avanza conference - call for presentations!
Plans are well underway for the 2025 OLA Avanza Conference, which will take place on August 13-15, in San Diego, California.
The Organization of Latino Actuaries (OLA) invites actuaries, industry professionals, and thought leaders to submit proposals for presentations at our 2025 conference. This event will bring together Latino actuaries and allies for professional development, networking, and knowledge-sharing. This is your chance to contribute ideas that will engage and inspire the actuarial community. Presentations can take the form of general sessions, concurrent sessions, or interactive workshops, and we encourage a mix of technical and professional development topics.
We are seeking engaging and thought-provoking presentation topics that will provide valuable insights and spark meaningful discussions among actuarial professionals. Sessions can focus on:
- Emerging trends in the actuarial field
- Innovations in risk management, technology, and data analytics
- Leadership, career development, and DEI initiatives
- Case studies or real-world applications to our community
Presenting at Avanza provides a unique opportunity to:
- Showcase expertise
- Enhance brand visibility
- Support Diversity & Inclusion
- Engage with talent
How to participate:
- Deadline: March 18.
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Submit your ideas by clicking here (scroll to bottom of page), which
will take you to a brief survey
- Please submit a separate survey entry for each idea you propose.
- The Avanza Conference Committee will review all submissions and select the most relevant topics for this year’s program.
Thank you in advance for your contributions – we look forward to your ideas!
OLA's 2025 LEADERSHIP MEETING!
The 2025 OLA Leadership Meeting was a great success, bringing together our dedicated leaders to discuss the future of our organization. During the meeting, we focused on refining our strategic direction by updating our mission, vision, and strategic pillars. This effort reflects our commitment to evolving and positioning OLA as a leading force in our industry, as well as our focus to grow and support our members. These updates will be officially released in the upcoming weeks.
Also on January 31, we hosted the OLA L.A. Mixer: Meet the OLA Leadership Team! It was a great opportunity to connect with OLA members, corporate sponsors, allies, and to meet the 2025 OLA Leadership Team in Los Angeles.
Special thanks to WTW, Platinum Sponsor of OLA, for hosting OLA's Leadership meeting.
See you all at Avanza in August!
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We are excited to announce upcoming mixers in Boston in May and Phoenix in June! Network and connect with OLA leadership, actuarial candidates, corporate sponsors, and allies!
Follow us on LinkedIn for official announcement!
Will Ringhofer, ASA
Hometown: Dallas, TX
University: University of Texas at Dallas
OLA Involvement: OLA Avanza Conference Program Manager
Current Position: Associate Actuary, Steadily
Tell us a little about yourself: I am an actuary at Steadily, a landlord insurance company for rental property owners, working remotely from Dallas, TX, where I was raised and have lived most of my life. A unique fact about my actuarial journey is that shortly before obtaining my ASA, I made the incredibly smart decision to jump to property and casualty and take my exams all over again. Seriously though, no regrets! When I am not studying, I enjoy exercising, sports, and binge-watching TV shows with my wife.
How has OLA impacted your career? Being Latino is something I have always been proud of due to the passion, hard work, and enthusiasm I feel were instilled in me from a young age. When a fellow actuarial student of mine introduced me to OLA in my senior year of college, I also felt those shared values, accompanied by the detail-oriented, analytical thinking mindset that basically all of us actuaries share. OLA helped me prepare for and succeed at interviewing and networking, landing me my first job offer. From this initial encounter, I saw how powerful an impact OLA could have on both students' and young professionals’ lives, and it encouraged me to give back once I started my full-time role. I’m excited to continue helping to grow the organization, increase awareness of the actuarial profession, and empower Latino actuaries to continue to excel at being thought leaders and bringing passion to the workplace.
What is your favorite thing of being an actuary? My favorite thing about being an actuary is the community. For starters, the actuarial community is essentially built on shared suffering through the grueling exam process. This fosters discussion and collaboration amongst actuarial students trying to help each other make it across the finish line. We all want one another to win, and I truly believe that. The exam process not only emphasizes making sure we are all experts at what we do but also teaches discipline and perseverance. Seeing myself and others succeed is one of the most rewarding things about being an actuary. Secondly, the actuarial community is a very small, tight-knit community. If you’re an actuary, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll meet another actuary who has met your coworker, ex-coworker, manager, or chief actuary. This interconnectedness not only helps with career growth and mentorship but also creates a sense of belonging in a profession that thrives on collaboration and shared experiences.
We enjoy featuring and sharing the stories of members of the Latine actuarial community! If you have a nomination for a spotlight, please ask them to fill out this form with their information/headshot.
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Looking for a new opportunity? Check out the job postings in the link below.
DO YOU HAVE JOB POSTINGS TO SHARE?
Our Platinum, Gold Plus, and Gold Corporate Sponsors can now share job postings on our new Career Center portion of our OLA Membership Portal!
Any member of your team who has an OLA Member Portal account associated with your company can easily post an opportunity by logging into their OLA Member Portal account and navigating to
members.latinoactuaries.org/networking to submit an opening. Please note that, when submitting the opening, you’ll want to click “No, I will tell them ‘How to Apply’ below” for the
“Allow online applications?” option so that applicants aren’t mistakenly led to apply on our site instead of yours.
As a reminder, Silver sponsors can only post entry-level and intern job postings on the Career Center; any postings that do not comply with this condition will not be approved on the backend.
Please reach out to the OLA Career Center team at careercenter@latinoactuaries.org if you have any questions.
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VOLUNTEER WITH OLA!
Are you interested in volunteering with OLA? Sign-in to your OLA Member Portal account and edit your profile to indicate your volunteer interests! If you do not already have an OLA Member Portal account, you can click here to
register.
2025-2026 Academic SCHOLARSHIP!
The Organization of Latino Actuaries (OLA) 2025 2026 Academic Scholarship application deadline is March 31, 2025. OLA awards scholarships of up to $7,500 to students who will be enrolled in a U.S. based college or
university during the Fall 2025 to Spring 2026 academic year and who are pursuing the actuarial profession.
All applicants will be considered for both the general scholarship and named scholarships. Named scholarship winners will receive a $5,000 scholarship as well as a Summer 2026 internship with one of OLA's Gold Plus and Platinum sponsors, a
fantastic opportunity to gain real-world experience while receiving financial support for your academic studies.
Exam Support!
As a reminder, OLA provides the following exam support programs for those in the exam taking process:
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First time exam support stipend
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Regular exam support stipend
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Covers only 2 exams (P, FM, FAM, SRM, ASTAM, ALTAM, MAS-1, MAS-2, Exam 5 (CAS))
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RLP students have the opportunity to earn points to help pay towards a 4th exam
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$425 - $700 assists in covering the cost of study materials and registration; amount awarded is exam dependent
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Failed exam reimbursement
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Study Materials
We have different sponsorship tiers that can fit your company's size and strategy! If you are interested in sponsoring OLA, please e-mail us at info@latinoactuaries.org. We can schedule a call and provide
information you need or answer your questions.
OLA supports our Latine actuarial prospects (students, career changers, etc.) via scholarship programs, exam materials and registration reimbursements, and our travel program that sends prospects to OLA's Early Career Symposium (ECS) and industry
conferences to help them network and securo jobs at the on-site career fairs.
Individual donations of any amount can go a long way in helping us sustain these programs, so please click here if interested in donating!
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