Ernesta G. Procope

Ernesta Gertrude Procope (née Forster) (2 September 1923 – 30 November 2021) was an American investment banker and insurance executive who was the head of the largest insurance agency run by a Black woman. Quotes “We're not selling potatoes or onions. We're selling service.” Emphasizing the importance of service in the insurance business. Interview June 13, 2006 "The industry does nothing to attract young people to the business." Ernesta G. Procope talks about the insurance industry and its history Interview June 13, 2006 “I don't give up." "They didn't know that Bedford-Stuyvesant had substantial, middle-class homeowners, blacks and whites, who needed and deserved coverage." "It's been a constant battle to open doors and get a chance to show what we can do." "Here was a black company from Bedford-Stuyvesant coming to Wall Street–that was significant. It showed that we had entered the mainstream of the American economy, And it opened doors for other blacks." Ernesta Procope: An insurance pioneer. July 05, 2009 "This wasn't a neighborhood at risk. These were well-built, owner-occupied brownstones." "We have continued to insure and service the people in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community." "There remain vestiges of racism and sexism that continue to make our job more difficult than it should be. But significant progress has been made over the last 50 years. We look forward to an America where people are only judged by their abilities and talents and willingness to work." Today's Pride of Bed-Stuy: Ernesta G. Procope. February 18, 2012 “I never operated with a complex—as a woman, as a black woman, as a black. But instead, as a person in business. We knew there were problems, but I could not let that be a deterrent to me.” From Storefront to Wall Street, Ernesta G. Procope Has Blazed Trails in Insurance and Real Estate. August 4, 2014 External links= Category:1923 births Category:2021 deaths Category:American businesspeople in insurance Category:African-American bankers Category:African-American company founders Category:African American women in business