NAAIA executive director takes pride in organization and career
accomplishments
In the insurance industry, certain dedicated young
professionals stand out among their peers and are members of an
elite squad of individuals. These are their stories. “Dun dun.”
By Christopher W. Cook
For Omari Aarons-Martin, executive director and chief operating officer of the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA), his career vertical has been in the field of human resources, learning and development, and executive development. In his current role as NAAIA’s senior staff person and chief spokesperson, he’s responsible for ensuring that the organization’s members and partners receive the most value from their experience, from involvement in the group’s programs and events to the career connections it offers.
After earning degrees in public relations and theology from Xavier University in 2007, Aarons-Martin started his professional career at Macy’s—following an internship at Apple as a campus representative and a position at an environmental nonprofit as a communications associate. During those years at Macy’s, he would hold seven different roles in nine years in its Executive Development program.
“It was a long-storied leadership-intensive program that had been responsible for producing many of the store and corporate leaders in the organization,” he says. “My experience there was great; I had a lot of responsibility and was nurtured and supported into becoming one of the youngest directors at 26.
“As I had more exposure outside of Macy’s, I started to think about the next step in my career and challenged myself to pursue higher roles internally and externally.”
His college roommate at Xavier, with whom he had kept in touch, told him about his experience in the insurance business. “I went home and applied for a few roles online, and five months later, I moved from Cincinnati to Boston for an industry role.”
Aarons-Martin started his insurance career with Liberty Mutual in 2016, where he would have three different roles over the course of almost five years, departing as employee enablement strategy leader.
In 2018, he became the chair of NAAIA’s Boston Chapter Formation Steering Committee before becoming the inaugural president of the Boston chapter. The same year, he started his own consulting firm, Aarons Group LLC. He joined NAAIA as staff in June 2022, initially as the national program director, before taking over his current roles in October 2022.
Furthering his education, Aarons-Martin completed a year at Wesley Theological Seminary in 2022 as a fellow to study the intersection of faith, politics, and the public square. In 2023, he received a Master of Divinity in Global and Community Engagement from Boston University School of Theology, where he was a Howard Thurman Fellow.
Regarding his career, Aarons-Martin is thankful for the “extensive list” of individuals who have helped him along the way. “I believe in something I heard years ago about mentoring with a capital ‘M’ and lowercase ‘m,’” he explains. “Capital M mentors are longer-term or lifelong mentors who stay with us during our many seasons of life; lowercase ‘m’ mentors are present with us for a season, but their impact is no less important in the lessons we learn.
“I am a product of a village of people who raised me, poured into me, affirmed me, and corrected me as a child and young adult. As an adult, I’ve chosen who stays with me on the journey, and I’m honored to have mentors who have become friends and business partners, advisors, and counselors who I can call with the big life moments and the smaller transitions.”
Speaking of big moments, Aarons-Martin has received awards for his accomplishments throughout his career. “Awards are interesting because they validate your work, but more than that, they encourage you to keep going,” he says. “Earlier in my career, I was the second person ever awarded the Advancing the Profession Rising Star Award from the Association for Talent Development, and that was key to me being recognized by several other organizations.
“Two I’m especially proud of: In 2020, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce named me one of their Ten Outstanding Young Leaders, with a list of past winners that includes President Kennedy, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and Senator Edward Brooke. And Native Son, an organization that supports, uplifts, and provides a community for Black gay and queer men, named me to their Native Son 101 Class of 2023, a list of Black gay and queer men who have had a transformative impact in their spaces. I’m particularly humbled because there is no application process for the award and the list is full of incredible and powerful people whom I admire.”
“You need both to have a successful career: trust in your instincts and trust in the instincts of the people you’ve put in your inner circle as friends, mentors, and advisors.”
—Omari Aarons-Martin
Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer
National African American Insurance Association
Involvement and advice
When it comes to insurance organizations, Aarons-Martin is a member of NAAIA. “Being on staff doesn’t always mean that you are a member of the association you lead, and so I like to make it clear that I am a NAAIA member, first and foremost, before any of my other roles or titles in the association come in play,” he says.
“That perspective for me is important because when I make decisions, I think about them from the lens of being a member first, and then all the other roles that I’ve held in NAAIA—a partner liaison, a chapter president, and now executive director.”
Aarons-Martin is also a proud affiliate member of the CPCU Society and experiencing Traci Adedeji’s “historic reign” as the first Black woman to be the Society’s president and lead an executive board comprised of all women of color.
As for involvement outside of the insurance industry, Aarons-Martin supports a plethora of organizations. “I’m a Trustee for Roxbury Community College, the only historically Black community college in the Northeast,” he says, commenting on the groups he’s most active with. “I’m a Big, a board member, and co-chair of the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion committee for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts, and I’m the board president and co-chair of common cathedral, a nonprofit ministry serving the unhoused community. I’m also a member of the National Black MBA Association.”
For a new professional starting out in the industry, Aarons-Martin advises to “go along for the ride” but to also take a turn behind the wheel.
“Insurance is an industry that touches everything and needs everyone; the career possibilities are only limited by your interests,” he says. “Go along for the ride means that, sometimes people tap you on the shoulder and point you in a direction because they’ve seen something in you that you haven’t seen in yourself. Yet sometimes you need to advocate for yourself on where you want to go and what you want to do next.
“You need both to have a successful career: trust in your instincts and trust in the instincts of the people you’ve put in your inner circle as friends, mentors, and advisors.”
When he isn’t doing “insurance stuff,” Aarons-Martin is kept busy with his recently adjusted home life. “I am a newlywed and a newish homeowner; both keep me busy, especially following Instagram accounts on home updates and repairs,” he says.
“My husband is active in the community, so we support each other in our causes and work. I am also an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and I serve on its staff as the Minister for Social Action.”
On top of this, he is proud to be “Uncle O” to his nieces and nephew. “It brings me immense joy and a sense of purpose in transforming this world to be better, safer and kinder for them,” Aarons-Martin concludes.”
