Building a Civically Engaged Community
At Travelers, many of our employees are actively involved in the civic life in their communities as members of their local economic development commission, city council, board of education and more. They are bringing the skills and qualities that make them great employees at Travelers out to their communities and in turn are developing leadership and other skills that they can carry over to their work at Travelers.
Through Citizen TravelersSM, we showcase the many ways to contribute, share information and inspire others to get involved as well. Through our internal Citizen Travelers portal, our civic-minded employees are connecting across geographies and interest areas, seeking advice on mutual challenges and supporting each other’s dedication to the civic life. By creating new avenues of collaboration among civic leaders in communities across the U.S., we are working together to strengthen our communities and our country.
Raising resilience
As a volunteer firefighter and EMT, Tracy brings the same analytical mindset she uses as part of Travelers’ Enterprise Catastrophe team to help her community during emergencies. Drawing on her expertise in geospatial data and wildfire risk assessment, she balances the skills inherent in her day job and the mental and physical demands of effective emergency response by building connections that strengthen community resilience when difficult moments arise.
[SIRENS]
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Tracy, Geospatial Subject Matter Expert. Enterprise Catastrophe Risk Management, Travelers.
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TRACY: Whenever I heard sirens as a little kid, my head automatically turned and looked and tried to figure out what was going on.
[UPBEAT CLASSICAL MUSIC]
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Logo: Citizen Travelers. Text: Raising Resilience. Tracy walks through an office.
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My name is Tracy, and I am a volunteer firefighter with Windsor Locks Fire Department. I'm also a volunteer EMT with the Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association.
[UPBEAT CLASSICAL MUSIC]
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Tracy walks into a fire station. She puts on her firefighting gear.
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I started on this journey as a college student over a decade ago, where becoming an EMT on campus led to volunteering for the local fire department as an EMT, which led me to start learning the fire side of things as well.
[SIREN]
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A fire engine leaves the Windsor Locks Fire Department.
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I find there's a balance that I get from my day job being paired with the firefighting and EMT work.
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She sits in an office and talks with co-workers about a map on her laptop.
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Travelers uses geospatial data and analytics in so many parts of our business. What I do with Enterprise CAT and with wildfire risk challenges me mentally in all sorts of great ways. Getting me to think about how do we bring different data elements together to solve our business question?
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She stands in front of several monitors and talks to co-workers about maps and data. Later, she gets behind the wheel of an ambulance. A dashboard screen shows a navigation map.
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At the same time, the fire department and the ambulance are physically challenging. They're making me think in different ways. They're making me think at different speeds. And I like how they all challenge me in different aspects.
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She helps load a patient into the back of an ambulance.
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As a firefighter and EMT, sometimes you encounter folks who are having a really, really bad day. And sometimes it's they've lost their home.
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In the back of an ambulance, she checks a patient's blood pressure.
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Sometimes on a medical call, they've just lost their loved one. And having the empathy to reach them where they are, help them emotionally ground themselves in the moment, so they can take that deep breath and say, OK. Where do I go from here?
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She stands in front of four monitors on a wall in an office that contains many screens. A label at the top reads Geospatial Capabilities, Multi-Peril. She explains one of the maps to two other people.
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I came to Travelers for the hazards and geography. I stay for so many more reasons.
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She wears some of her firefighting gear. She checks equipment on a fire engine.
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At Travelers, we look after our customers, each other and our communities. And recognizing that to be truly a part of a community, there is a level of engagement and being a hands-on contributor, keeping our community whole and strong and connected and resilient.
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She smiles as she poses in uniform in front of an ambulance and a fire truck.
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And by building these connections with each other, that means that when those bad days happen in our community, there's already more of that civic resilience to bounce back together.
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Logo: Citizen Travelers. Text: To learn more, visit travelers dot com slash citizen travelers. Hashtag citizen travelers. Disclaimer: Citizen Travelers is a nonpartisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. Copyright The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
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Pedaling for progress
Drawing on his experiences as an auto liability severity manager at Travelers, as well as on his lifelong passion for cycling, Jonathan has become a leading and engaged voice as a member of his county’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee. The result is a safer community for all – a priority close to Jonathan’s heart and central to our work at Travelers.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
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Logo: Citizen Travelers.
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Text: Pedaling for Progress.
Tampa, FL. From above, trees and lawn pass by. A white ibis stands in tall grass.
A foot pedals a bike. A reptile swims. Bike gears turn. Three people ride forward on a street.
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Jonathan, Unit Manager, Claim Auto, Travelers.
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JONATHAN: I'm Jonathan. I started at Travelers in January of 2008. In my role as the Auto Liability Severity Manager, the team handles a wide variety of catastrophic injuries.
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A fire engine crosses a street and passes two bicyclists.
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Many times, and unfortunately, it may be car and pedestrian or car and bicyclists, these type of losses are huge emotional scars, and not only emotional scars by the families that are involved here, but also the claims professional. I've always been a lifelong bike rider.
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Jonathan puts on a yellow vest and zips it up. He puts on fingerless gloves and fastens a helmet buckle under his gray beard. He looks forward with soft eyes behind glasses.
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I typically also commute to the office. The Travelers office is about 14 miles south of here in downtown Tampa. We are still a very car-centric community. If you were here 10 years ago, it would be very unfriendly to bicycles. You had traffic that was traveling 55 miles an hour past you.
And so I'm looking at ways that you can make those areas safer. So I was appointed onto Hillsborough County's Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee. This is an opportunity through my local government where I have a say as to the incorporation of bike lanes, the use of roundabouts versus traffic lights and preventing conflict zones.
And this route that we're on is the commonly used route. Walkers will use it and that sometimes is a hazard. Peter's a friend who's in a very active rider in the area and also was interested in some civic engagements.
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Peter, Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Hillsborough County.
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PETER: Jonathan is a certified ride leader marshal. Anytime we're riding, we are safer with him in the group because he knows what to look for.
JONATHAN: These losses happen every day, multiple times during the day. And this is one area where perhaps we can have a slight impact in preventing it.
PETER: He's committed to bike safety in this area. Each one of us are pushing towards safer riding. We're all working towards those things.
JONATHAN: The end result then ideally would be there would be less impact, less deaths, less fatalities.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(DESCRIPTION)
Jonathan plays a ukulele.
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I work for a company that supports this. Isn't that awesome? And it supports what's important to their employees.
It allows me to practice that engagement. Your voice is going to be unique, and it's going to be a different perspective. Use it.
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(DESCRIPTION)
Logo and text: CITIZEN TRAVELERS. To learn more, visit travelers.com/CitizenTravelers. Citizen Travelers is a nonpartisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. ©2025 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Creating community
Ojala’s grandfather told her she would be president one day – an idea that sparked her lifelong passion for understanding how communities work and helping wherever she could. So when she moved to a new town she immediately volunteered for its economic development commission. Now, Ojala is a town councilwoman, tackling issues large and small and learning more about what people in her community need.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
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Text: Citizen Travelers. Creating Community.
A woman sits in an office.
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OJALA NAEEM: Being engaged civically and giving back to my communities is what fills my heart. I also love that I can continue doing that through my role at Travelers as well.
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She stands on a lawn in front of a water fountain. Text: Ojala, Senior Director, Design Ops, Enterprise Customer Experience, Travelers.
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My name is Ojala. My path to public office started when I was really young.
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A picture of a young girl and a man sitting on a couch.
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My grandfather was always very adamant that this girl is going to grow up and one day she’s going to be president of the United States.
It sort of engaged this passion of, like, what does that even mean, understanding why do we have these elected officials, and what are they doing for our communities.
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Ojala talks with a man while walking down a sidewalk.
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The more I understood it, the more I realized it meshes so well with my passion of wanting to give back to my communities and seeing them be stronger.
In 2021, I moved to the town of Windsor.
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A sign: State of Connecticut, Windsor. Ojala walks down a sidewalk next to the sign. She waves at someone in the distance.
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The first thing I did was reach out to our economic development leadership here in town and said, hey, you guys have an economic development commission, how can I get involved? Beginning of 2023, we actually had a vacancy on our town council.
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She walks in front of a redbrick building with columns. She talks to someone in a parking lot. A sign: Windsor Center Plaza.
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So I came in and just told them a little bit about myself and what drives me, my passions, what I’ve done so far and what I’d like to see happening in the town that I now live, work and play in.
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She stands in front of a microphone with her right hand raised. She speaks to someone in front of her. She sits at a table, speaking into a microphone.
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And in February, I was officially sworn in as a town councilwoman and it’s been a whirlwind of a few months.
The most eye-opening part coming in as a town councilwoman was that there really isn’t any problem too big or too small that we’re considering as elected officials. In my first council meeting, I covered everything from replacement of trees on our town center and making sure that that’s taken care of in a safe manner, all the way to public safety challenges that we’re having.
I also started developing relationships with the councilors on all sides of the aisle, and just getting to know them a little bit more, making sure they knew me. It was great getting to know folks and sharing a little bit more about myself. It is so important for all of us to get engaged in our communities.
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She stands in front of a red brick building with pillars. She talks to someone in an office. She opens a door to a restaurant for a man. She walks across the street on a crossing walk. She poses with a group of people.
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You can start by talking to your elected officials to better understand how your town works, how your state legislature works. Think about the different policies and concerns that you have that you can advocate for because all of our voices really truly matter. It makes me so proud to work for a company like Travelers that is investing in civic engagement for their employees.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
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She sits at a table in front of an American flag and smiles for a photo. Text: Citizen Travelers. To learn more, visit travelers.com/CitizenTravelers. #CitizenTravelers. Copyright 2023. Citizen Travelers is Travelers’ nonpartisan initiative to empower our employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of the Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Answering the call
As volunteer leaders with their local fire departments, Jason and Dan are using skills they developed at Travelers to make their communities safer and more resilient. Jason, local Fire District Chairman, and Dan, Assistant Fire Chief, are filling a critical need in their communities, dedicating their time and talents to solving problems and ensuring emergency services are available to anyone who needs them.
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Logo: Citizen Travelers, Answering the Call. Enfield, Connecticut. A cloudy sky hangs above a two-story building with a large parking lot. Text: Jason, Property Field Training Manager, Travelers.
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JASON: I'm Jason. I'm a property field training manager.
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Day breaks over skyscrapers.
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I've been with Travelers for almost 14 years now.
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Fire trucks park inside of a fire station. Jason examines a truck as he uses a phone.
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I'm the chairman of the North Thompsonville Fire District Board of Fire Commissioners. I've been on the board for 12 years.
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Jason stands outside of a city building.
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You think of a fireman and going to a call, and they show up and they dump water on it. But there's really so much more to it than that.
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Text: Hebron, Connecticut. A large boulder on the side of the street is painted as an eagle's head. Sign: Welcome to Hebron. Two men talk inside of a fire station. Text: Dan, Consulting Technology Engineer, Travelers.
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DAN: I'm Dan. I am a consulting technology engineer.
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Dan uses a keyboard in an office.
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I deal primarily with exchange servers and mailboxes that are on them.
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Network switches display rows of green indicator lights. Multiple ethernet cables connect to the switches, with numbered labels on the cable ends.
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I'm one of the assistant fire chiefs in the Hebron Fire Department.
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A fireman's helmet displays text: Hebron 10, Fire Department. A vehicle drives past a church. Another car pulls into the long driveway of a two-story home.
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There's always opportunities to contribute to your community. Any bit of time is something that will be worthwhile for both you and for the town.
JASON: So being civically involved with my community and with the fire district has certainly carried over to my job at Travelers.
(DESCRIPTION)
A dalmatian statue stands in front of the North Thompsonville Fire District 10 building. In a time lapse, the sun rises over a Travelers Umbrella statue in a city square.
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Something as simple as knowing the amount of smoke that there is at a fire and how it travels through a home.
DAN: A lot of what I do in my full-time IT job is troubleshooting and trying to figure out what's wrong with something and trying to figure out what you need to do to fix that.
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Dan points to one of many gauges on a wall.
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If you're good at troubleshooting, I think usually you'd be good as a firefighter or as an EMT just because you've got that same mindset of, there's something going on.
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A fire truck rolls out of the garage.
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Let me figure out what it is and what I can do to solve that.
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Multiple fire trucks fill a spacious garage. Yellow lights flash on the back of one of the trucks.
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JASON: So Scott is a long-time friend of mine.
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Jason speaks to Scott Kaupin, Former Mayor, Enfield.
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He is the former mayor of the town of Enfield.
SCOTT KAUPIN: Enfield as a community, especially in local government, relies on the volunteer.
(DESCRIPTION)
Scott and Jason grin as they speak to a group of firefighters in a break room.
(SPEECH)
And we see that it's harder and harder to recruit volunteers, whether it's for here in the fire department, boards and commissions.
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Jason and Scott have a conversation while standing in a command center.
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So it does require a special kind of person that wants to invest their time in the community.
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Jason speaks to another man as they stand behind a fire truck.
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JASON: The Travelers emphasis on civic engagement is unique. It made me feel good as a Travelers employee to know that there was a focus on getting people involved in their community. My community matters to me, so to me, it's worth putting that extra effort in and that extra time.
DAN: There's always new things to learn, new problems to solve.
(DESCRIPTION)
Dan smiles as he sits on the front grille of a firetruck.
(SPEECH)
And that's one of the things that I love doing is trying to figure out how to solve a problem and make it better for someone. It's very rewarding.
(DESCRIPTION)
Text: Citizen Travelers. To learn more, visit travelers dot com slash citizen travelers. Citizen Travelers is a nonpartisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. The Travelers Indemnity Company, all rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of the Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Partnering for public safety
After 25 years of pouring his heart and soul into his work with the police department, Jim knows a lot about the power of partnership in fostering safer communities. After transitioning from his role in public service to corporate security, Jim did not hesitate when the mayor asked him to volunteer as Chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners.
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[UPBEAT MUSIC]
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Logo and text, Citizen TravelersSM, Partnering for Public Safety. Text: Jim, Corporate Security, Travelers. Jim smiles at you.
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JIM: Hi, I'm Jim. I'm a director of corporate security operations. My primary duty is I oversee a 24/7 control center, Hartford campus.
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Jim walks into the control center and checks a monitor screen. The room has many computer monitors up on a wall and on desks.
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I just finished just over 25 years with the New Britain Police Department.
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Jim is in a kitchen, and coffee drips into a mug decorated with the shield of the New Britain Police Department.
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I poured my heart and soul into that career, but I certainly never stopped caring about the men and women of the police department.
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A photo of Jim in police uniform and smiling and waving is on a frame that is decorated with three brass stars at the top. The text New Britain Police Department is below the stars. In the next scenes, Jim uses a computer, then walks in a hallway while holding a coffee cup.
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I had just retired four or five months earlier and started my new position at Travelers. And I received a call from the mayor and asked would I please come back to serve in the capacity as commissioner on the New Britain Board of Police Commissioners.
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Jim walks towards the entrance of the police department building.
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I said yes in an instant.
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Text: Mayor Erin Stewart, New Britain, CT. Mayor Stewart talks to Jim and Chief Matthew Marino on the building's balcony. A flagpole with the flag of the USA is in the background.
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ERIN STEWART: Civic engagement and civic involvement is, unfortunately, something that people take for granted. But it's people like Jim who are involved right from the beginning doing it out of the genuineness of their heart, that's important and that's what makes our communities thrive.
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Jim poses in the police department building.
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ERIN STEWART: That's what makes our community stronger. That's eventually what is going to make our entire nation stronger.
JIM: The city of New Britain has been very good to me.
(DESCRIPTION)
Suburban housing in New Britain. Jim walks across a street crossing downtown near a church. We soar above the police department building, then zoom and hover just above the entrance.
(SPEECH)
My experiences here have the full range from wonderful to horrific, but it made me the man that I am.
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Jim walks into the police department building.
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And I am forever appreciative of this community. I could not imagine not wanting to give back.
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Overhead images of the town are seen. A man sits at a desk in a church library and writes on a pad while referring to a book.
(SPEECH)
Pastor Barger.
(DESCRIPTION)
Pastor Barger stands and walks towards Jim with a bright face.
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GERVAIS BARGER: Hello, chief. How are you doing?
JIM: I'm doing really good.
GERVAIS BARGER: Oh my goodness.
JIM: How are you?
GERVAIS BARGER: So great to see you, sir.
JIM: Great to see you.
(DESCRIPTION)
The two men shake hands and hug each other. A street sign near the church indicates a crossroads of Main St. and Chestnut St.
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GERVAIS BARGER: Chief, I'm telling you, my view of policing changed because of you.
(DESCRIPTION)
Jim nods slightly as he listens to Pastor Barger. Text: Rev. Gervais Barger, Pastor of Peace Mission Ministries, New Britain, CT.
(SPEECH)
And the path that you were trying to create was one where the police department is one that's transparent.
(DESCRIPTION)
A photo shows Pastor Barger shaking hands with Jim as he gives Jim a framed document. Text: Humanitarian Award, Black Ministers Alliance of New Britain.
(SPEECH)
And I want you to know Jim, we gave you that award because it embodied the things that you were doing in the city and how we genuinely felt of the great job that you were doing.
(DESCRIPTION)
Jim and Pastor Barger smile brightly as they hug and shake hands in the church library. We fly towards the facade of the police department building. We are back on the building's balcony, where Mayor Stewart, Jim, and Chief Marino are talking.
(SPEECH)
ERIN STEWART: I think having Jim serve as head of the police commission, it's monumental for this community because in the trusted and respected person that you are throughout our community. And you established that when you were chief, but you're continuing that in service in a different role and volunteering, might I add, for that too.
JIM: Mayor Stewart, you inspired me. We had a big team effort throughout. Chief Marino, you were a part of it. I saw you go from patrolman to sergeant to lieutenant to captain, and now chief.
(DESCRIPTION)
Chief Marino nods as he listens to Jim. Jim poses with his arms crossed in the lobby of the police department building. Text: Chief Matthew Marino, New Britain, CT Police Department.
(SPEECH)
MATTHEW MARINO: Jim's always going to be chief to me. He set the example that I want to live up to as a chief now.
(DESCRIPTION)
A police car turns right and heads near the church. We are back on the building's balcony, where Mayor Stewart, Jim, and Chief Marino are talking.
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ERIN STEWART: We've been through a lot. And our city is not necessarily an easy one. And so having that respect and people that are respected in the community through and through serve in these volunteer roles, it means a lot for how the public views and interacts with our police department today.
(DESCRIPTION)
A small lake in a park, a street lined with low buildings, the campus of Central Connecticut State University. We are back on the building's balcony, where Mayor Stewart, Jim, and Chief Marino are talking.
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ERIN STEWART: And you did a lot of laying the groundwork to help where we are today for that.
JIM: When I started working at Travelers, civic engagement was a reoccurring theme.
(DESCRIPTION)
Jim works in the control center with a colleague, then they wave goodbye to each other.
(SPEECH)
It's a theme that I embrace.
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Jim buys coffee from two brightly smiling workers at Brew & Moo coffee shop, then they wave goodbye.
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You have to just stay involved, contribute, and make where we live the best possible place.
[MUSIC FADES]
(DESCRIPTION)
Jim smiles at you. Text: Citizen TravelersSM. To learn more, visit travelers.com slash Citizen Travelers. Citizen Travelers is a nonpartisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Powering the polls
Trish, Lisa and Tom share their experiences as election officials, each assuming a pivotal responsibility in ensuring their community’s election runs smoothly and is fair and accessible for all. Trish is an election judge, Lisa is an elections poll manager and Tom is an assistant registrar. These Travelers employees exemplify steadfast leadership in their communities – evolving from concerned citizens to inspiring election officials, committed to civic service and democratic values.
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Logo, Citizen Travelers Service Mark. Text: Powering the Polls. South Carolina, Connecticut, Illinois. Trish, Director, Global Services, Travelers. Trish walks down a sidewalk.
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I’m an election judge here in DuPage County. I’m responsible for setting up the election, hosting the election, ensuring that all of our election procedures are adhered to.
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Lisa, Business Process Manager, Personal Insurance, Travelers. She pours coffee into a red Travelers mug. She sits at a laptop with the mug in the foreground.
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I work with the elections as a poll manager, and my responsibilities are making sure that people who come in to vote are able to vote.
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Tom, Sr. Director, Enterprise Market Research, Travelers. He stands in front of Eno Memorial Hall. He sits in an auditorium.
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I’ve been the checker, who is the individual who crossed your name off the list, the ballot clerk, who hands out the ballots, the tabulator tender, the person who stands in the back and makes sure your ballot stays in the ballot machine. And then finally, the assistant registrar.
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A suburban neighborhood.
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My county has 400,000 people, and they need 1,500 people to work the elections each year. So it was really my opportunity to get involved and do my civic duty and volunteer to be one of the poll workers here in my county.
I volunteered to be an election judge in 2022. It was very important for me to get involved and work towards improving the way our country’s been polarized over the last few years.
I was actually one evening watching the news, and they were running a piece about how COVID in 2020 was driving people away from participating in the elections. As a poll worker or election official, I immediately went to my computer and I sent an email saying, do you need any help?
It’s nice to have representation from everywhere, just to make sure that people have access to vote and it’s a fair election.
So I think that’s the part of working the polls that’s really valuable is that you’re helping your neighbors, and you’re helping the democracy process by being able to get everybody in to vote that’s eligible. Without poll workers, you are going to have the things that you see on the news about long lines or people waiting after the polls have closed to vote in those long lines.
I would say my two biggest priorities as an election official are integrity and supporting the electors to vote. And I am a big advocate for sharing with anybody and everybody all the steps that we go through to maintain the integrity of the voting process.
One aspect of being an election official that surprised me, pleasantly; we don’t talk about politics. When we’re working the election, everybody is dedicated to the integrity of the election and allowing the electors to move through the process so they can vote.
I love that Travelers created Citizen Travelers to help us be more civically minded and civically engaged. If you think about our values of taking care of our customers, our communities and each other, it directly aligns with my own personal values. So if I was talking to somebody who wanted to think about volunteering for the election, I would tell them, just do it. Volunteering has helped to set me up for success at Travelers because it’s a front-row seat to meeting people where they are.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(DESCRIPTION)
Logo and text, Citizen Travelers Service Mark. To learn more, visit travelers dot com slash CitizenTravelers. Citizen Travelers is a nonpartisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. © 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of the Travelers Indemnity in the U.S. and other countries.
Revitalizing our neighborhoods
When Elizabeth first moved into her neighborhood, she worried about the derelict houses on her block – and the danger they could pose to the community. But when she heard gunshots in her front yard, she knew it was time for her to act. Elizabeth got involved and was elected as Neighborhood Council Chair – and that was only the beginning.
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Text, Citizen Travelers. Revitalizing Our Neighborhoods. Spokane, Washington. We look over Spokane from a high vantage point. Older red, brown, and tan buildings occupy streets lined with trees. A bridge crosses a river downtown. A woman wearing black with long straight hair walks up to a house on a block. There is gravel instead of a yard in front.
(SPEECH)
ELIZABETH MARLIN: A lot of the folks in this community don't have the ability to advocate for themselves. So, I have a responsibility, almost a stewardship of the neighborhood, to show up and represent those who can't speak for themselves and make sure that their voices are heard.
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She turns to face the street, her chin held high. Elizabeth faces us in an office. Text, Elizabeth. Personal Insurance Team Lead, Travelers.
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My name is Elizabeth. I'm Chair of the West Central Neighborhood Council.
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Colorful wind chimes hang on a porch. A row of houses in an older neighborhood. One has a fenced in front yard and an American flag on the porch.
(SPEECH)
I bought this house and realized pretty quickly that throughout the neighborhood every single block had derelict abandoned houses that were creating nuisance activity and were dragging down entire blocks.
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A house in the neighborhood with junk piled in the yard. A chain link fence bounds a front yard.
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The a-ha moment for me came when we actually had a shooting right here on my front lawn.
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Elizabeth faces us in an office.
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My son was four months old. I will never forget, at quarter to 5:00 in the morning in the nursery hearing gunshots and huddling on the floor with my baby.
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Elizabeth tilts her head and frowns
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And that's when I realized it was time to get involved.
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She walks down the sidewalk in the neighborhood.
(SPEECH)
The first step for me was getting involved with my neighborhood council. In Spokane, neighborhood councils are democratically elected representation.
(DESCRIPTION)
She faces a house with leaves piled on the roof. A house has an open door and a stairway in the entry foyer.
(SPEECH)
Some of the neighbors got together and just started walking up and down each block and creating an inventory. And then I reached out to Habitat, and they began to purchase and rehab some of these zombie houses.
(DESCRIPTION)
Sign, Habitat for Humanity® Spokane. www.habitat-spokane.org. 509-534-2552. Building Homes, Building Hope. A man on a ladder works on a ceiling.
(SPEECH)
Rehabbing these houses, Habitat, it was pulling entire blocks back from the brink, one house at a time. And that's kind of how the whole ball got going.
(DESCRIPTION)
We look over the neighborhood in the winter. A for sale sign from Prime realtors is posted in front of a house with a new wood and wire fence. Many houses now have tidy yards and porches with decorations and outdoor furniture.
(SPEECH)
We had immediate improvement in the neighborhood surrounding these houses. A lot of the neighbors noticed the change. So they started investing in their own homes, picking up the trash, painting, taking pride, planting flowers, it was amazing.
(DESCRIPTION)
Elizabeth sits at a computer desk in an office.
(SPEECH)
A lot of my work in customer service is dealing with customers who sometimes aren't at their best. And I developed the skills to de-escalate, to teach, to educate, to calm them down, and to help connect them with solutions. And really, that's all I'm doing with the neighborhood council.
(DESCRIPTION)
Elizabeth speaks with a neighborhood resident standing at her chain link fence with her dog.
(SPEECH)
Because of my experience with Travelers, I'm now able to sit people down to educate them, to work with them, and to help them find an equitable solution for all of us.
(DESCRIPTION)
In the interview chair, she smiles wryly and raises a fist.
(SPEECH)
I hear this a lot. I hear from people that they should fix it, someone should fix this problem.
(DESCRIPTION)
She lowers her fist and raises her eyebrows.
(SPEECH)
And I hate to break this to people, they aren't coming.
(DESCRIPTION)
She walks down the neighborhood sidewalk and waves to people with a smile.
(SPEECH)
We as a community, as an organization, as individuals really have to step up and to be an active part of our government and an active part of our community is so important. And I'm beyond proud to be a part of Travelers and to be part of a company that encourages me to be a good citizen.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(DESCRIPTION)
She opens the gate in the white fence to her house's yard and smiles. Text, Citizen Travelers. To learn more visit travelers dot com slash Citizen Travelers. Citizen Travelers is a non-partisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities. The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Enabling election protection
As the child of immigrants who became naturalized citizens, Krishna has never forgotten the pride her parents took in voting. Now a lawyer, she’s helping others fulfill the promise of representative democracy through her election protection work. She’s a guide through the registration process, getting people to the polls and ensuring they have the opportunity to vote.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Citizen Travelers. Election Protection.
A woman walks down a city sidewalk. She sits in an office. Text, Krishna, Senior Counsel, Personal Insurance Legal Services.
(SPEECH)
KRISHNA: My name is Krishna, and I'm a senior counsel in the Personal Insurance Legal Services organization. I've been with Travelers for 12 years.
I've been doing election protection work since I was 18.
(DESCRIPTION)
A picture of a couple sitting together on a couch, smiling.
(SPEECH)
When election protection came to our campus, what it made me actually think of was my parents coming to this country and becoming naturalized citizens. They've been so proud of their right to vote, and it's something that's always stuck with me. And I want to empower others.
(DESCRIPTION)
Krishna crosses a street. She sits at a table in front of a window with a sign that reads, Equality. A hand places a piece of paper in a box. A person fills out a ballot. A sticker that reads, I voted. People in line behind tables with signs that read, Vote.
(SPEECH)
I have been helping monitor the polls, help inform people about how they can register to vote, ensuring that people actually get to the polls and have an opportunity to vote.
(DESCRIPTION)
She enters a building through a revolving door. She walks down a hallway, passing a sign on the wall that reads, Travelers Reception.
(SPEECH)
I would hope that other companies see our efforts and follow in suit, so that no matter what type of job you have or what commitments you have, you're able to hopefully set aside some time and you can go vote.
There's always the person who's voting for the first time. It's really special to help that individual go through the process for the first time, and then after they voted and they come out and they're so excited.
I think it's great to work for a company that supports civic engagement. That's why it matters to me.
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Citizen Travelers. To learn more visit travelers.com/CitizenTravelers. Citizen Travelers is a non-partisan initiative to empower Travelers employees to take part in the civic life of their communities.
The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of the Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
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