Tag Archives: riskworld 2022

Immediate Vault

RIMS Kicks Off RISKWORLD 2022 Honoring Top Risk Professionals

Posted on by

SAN FRANCISCO—At today’s RISKWORLD 2022 opening ceremony and awards luncheon, RIMS recognized top risk management and insurance professionals with the society’s annual awards.

This year’s Risk Manager of the Year is Courtney Davis Curtis, assistant vice president of risk management and resilience planning for the University of Chicago. As reported in the cover story of the 2022 RIMS Awards Edition of Risk Management, Curtis oversees a small risk management team at UChicago that is responsible for insurance programs covering a wide array of risks, claims management and alternative risk financing and captive operations. In addition to weathering the pandemic and a couple of significant property losses in 2021, Curtis also co-led the sourcing and adoption of a new enterprise risk management framework. Additionally, she has made significant contributions to the broader risk community, serving as this year’s president of the University Risk Management and Insurance Association (URMIA), where she has instituted a new diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative for risk professionals in the education sector.

“Courtney Davis Curtis’ risk management philosophy is spot on,” said RIMS President Patrick Sterling.

buy zofran online greendalept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/zofran.html no prescription pharmacy

“Risk professionals must make it their priority to deliver solutions and create pathways for strategic initiatives to move forward.
buy apixaban online greendalept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/apixaban.html no prescription pharmacy

Not only is Courtney’s tremendous success at the University of Chicago inspiring but her commitment to giving back to the global risk management community and sharing her experiences to advance this profession is beyond admirable. It is RIMS honor to present Courtney with the 2022 Risk Manager of the Year Award.”

Risk management legend and former RIMS President Lance Ewing earned the society’s most prestigious award, the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award. Ewing, vice president of enterprise risk management and operations for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, was honored for furthering the risk management discipline through outstanding service and achievement.

buy anafranil online greendalept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/anafranil.html no prescription pharmacy

In recognition of outstanding programs implemented within her organization, the newest inductee into the Risk Management Honor Roll is Jana Utter, vice president of enterprise risk management for Centene Corporation.

“Collaboration is critical to risk management success and it is apparent that Jana Utter’s ability to bridge gaps across her company has created opportunities to build a strong, cross-functional program that accentuates risk management’s value at Centene,” Sterling said. “Through her volunteer work serving on RIMS committees, this society has benefited directly from her expertise and we could not be more proud than to induct Janna into RIMS Risk Management Honor Roll.”

The society also honored excellence among its chapters, which have been particularly pivotal for engaging the risk community with professional development and networking opportunities amid the pandemic. Lori Seidenberg, director and global head of real assets insurance risk management for BlackRock, Inc., and the current president of RIMS New York Chapter, received the Ron Judd “Heart of RIMS” Award for outstanding performance in furthering the risk profession through the society’s chapters. Several chapters were also recognized for offering exceptional resources, programming and professional opportunities for local members, including RIMS Chicago, RIMS Nevada, RIMS Upstate New York and RIMS Washington. The Atlanta chapter was named RIMS Chapter of the Year, an honor accepted by Tamieka Weeks, Atlanta chapter president and manager of insurance risk for Southwire Company.

Among rising risk professionals, the RIMS Rising Star Award went to Charles Vu, enterprise risk supervisor for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund, who was honored as an up-and-coming leader in the risk management community for “demonstrating exceptional initiative, volunteerism, professional development, achievement and leadership potential.”

For more information on this year’s award winners and their experiences in risk management, RIMS members can also check out the April 2022 RIMS Awards Edition of Risk Management, available as a digital issue here and a special print issue for those attending RISKWORLD.

RISKWORLD 2022: Q&A with Opening Keynote Michael C. Bush

Posted on by

RIMS RISKWORLD is just a few days away, kicking off in San Francisco on April 10. This year’s opening keynote will be delivered on Monday by Michael C. Bush, the CEO of Great Place to Work and author of A Great Place to Work for All: Better for Business, Better for People, Better for the World.

Bush recently sat down for an interview on the RIMScast podcast, discussing how the pandemic has redefined satisfaction in the workplace and the critical steps that risk professionals can take to increase equity and happiness in their organization. Download the RIMScast episode for Bush’s full interview and check out a preview of his April 11th keynote below:

What will you discuss in the keynote address at RISKWORLD?
Michael C. Bush: We’re going to talk about making a connection in a way that [makes] people, employees and clients feel they are cared for. Physical and mental health is a top priority now and risk professionals play a role because there is data and policy to consider. But, if you approach it correctly, it can lead to organizational success even during a pandemic or the Great Resignation.

How has the definition of happiness or satisfaction changed against the backdrop of the pandemic?
MB: Prior to the pandemic, we could talk about happiness, satisfaction, engagement and empowerment in one context. COVD has changed that. We were suddenly in a world where people felt like really nobody cared, because they were living a life where there was so much uncertainty. They didn’t know what they needed to do to protect themselves or their family members—physically and financially. This left huge voids because there was economic insecurity on top of it all. People had to watch their communities suffer as small businesses shut down one after another.

Great companies realized this was a time to care. Therefore, they became the one thing that their employees could rely on. In our interviews, we heard stories of companies sending employees necessities like toilet paper during shortages, making deliveries to their parents and other instances that were happening at a personal level. Those lucky employees realized their employers actually cared about them as people and not just as an employee, and that led to happiness. The only silver lining from the pandemic was that humanity has surfaced in a way that has connected us all.

How do you view resilience? 
MB: We all have tough days. When a person is under pressure but knows that they have support or someone or an organization that can relieve that pressure and enable them to bounce back, that’s resilience. It can eliminate burnout, but there’s a difference between burnout and being burnt out. And we’re going to discuss that difference at RISKWORLD.

Fans of language and communication—or those looking to sharpen their skills—will find some really strong takeaways from your take on active listening. Now that so many professionals depend on remote capabilities to work, how has your perception of active listening changed or evolved?
MB: I’ve become a more intense believer in active listening, especially over the last couple of years. It’s not just making eye contact and not just me repeating the last thing you said. Listening is really about caring. When you listen to a person in a deep way, it is the ultimate show of respect—and not doing it is equally disrespectful. If all I’m doing is waiting for someone’s mouth to stop moving to grab tidbits of what they said to make my point, that is not listening, that’s just a spring-loaded response.

When it comes to being remote, try to dial in and focus on the person who’s in front of you on the screen. Put down your mobile phone and stop multitasking—chatting, posting and “liking” things on social media. 

Listening, in the way I’m talking about, takes practice. It involves emptying your mind and being humble enough to do that and not holding on to your own point of view so tightly. When your mind is open, you start asking questions and learning starts. Through that exchange, something unusual and great happens: people feel safe and will start to say more. You might help someone solve their problem, they might help you, or you might identify a new risk altogether.