Statement of the National Fair Housing Alliance on the Retirement of Steve Rasmussen, CEO of Nationwide
April 8, 2019
Contact: Jessica Aiwuyor, Associate Director of Communications
Jaiwuyor@NationalFairHousing.org
Last week, Steve Rasmussen, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide, announced that he will retire from the company later this year after a 45-year career in insurance. The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and the entire fair housing community congratulate Steve on his many years of service to the insurance industry and the civil and human rights community.
Steve Rasmussen is one of this nation’s best and most respected CEOs. Under his leadership, Nationwide has remained a Fortune 100 company, was named as one of Fortune’s Best 100 companies to work for, and was lauded for increasing its minimum wage to a living wage. Steve has championed support for public libraries and education, children’s health, and the successful re-entry of people returning to society from incarceration.
“Steve Rasmussen has been an ardent supporter of fair housing and civil rights. He leads by conviction, compels his associates to do the right thing, consistently pushes for excellence, and makes choices based on principle – even when it’s tough to do,” stated Lisa Rice, President and CEO of NFHA. Rice continued, “I have met few CEOs who actually subscribe to and live their lives by the values espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Steve is one of them. The fair housing community will miss Steve dearly, but we know he has left a tremendous legacy at Nationwide and that the company will thrive and continue to support civil and human rights.”
Under Steve Rasmussen’s leadership, Nationwide executive-produced an award-winning short film entitled Seven Days, which chronicles the seven days between Dr. King’s assassination and the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. Response to the film was so overwhelming that Seven Days was distributed to more than 400 civil and human rights organizations throughout the nation. These groups have used the film to enhance their teams’ commitment to fair lending and equal housing opportunity. Seven Days was invited for submission to the Cannes Film Festival under the Creative Effectiveness category.