When the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford wanted to raise $18 million for a new recreation facility in the South End of Hartford, the nonprofit’s executives needed a strong leader to help champion the fundraising campaign.
They turned to Christopher Swift, chairman and CEO of The Hartford, one of the largest property-and-casualty insurers in the country. Not only did Swift chair the fundraising campaign, but The Hartford also donated $1 million to the cause.
Swift represents another corporate CEO who has significantly ramped-up his civic engagement. He was one of three insurance executives in 2017 who declared that his company would give the city of Hartford $50 million over five years, to help with its dire financial issues. He was also a member of the state legislature-backed Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth.
At his day job, Swift has continued to bring stability and growth to a major Hartford employer that teetered on the edge of destruction during the 2008 financial crisis.
He’s made several major deals since becoming CEO, including buying Aetna’s U.S. group life and disability business for $1.45 billion and paying $2.1 billion for Stamford global specialty underwriter The Navigators Group Inc.