RIMScast

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews François Beaume about the AMRAE 2026 RMIS Panorama available now and about the RISKWORLD 2026 session that François presented. Justin and François discuss ESG functional coverage. They discuss how François uses AI daily. They discuss the continuing increase in RMIS users, moving RIMS out of the niche tool category into an enterprise governance platform. They discuss the 2026 RMIS Panorama findings, the Panorama database, and how you can access it.

Listen for insight into the 2026 RMIS Panorama and how your organization compares.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:16] About this episode of RIMScast. We are delighted to welcome back to RIMScast AMRAE President François Beaume. He's here to discuss the findings of the 2026 AMRAE RMIS Panorama. We'll talk all about emerging trends. But first…

[:48] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on June 16th and 17th. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA will be held virtually on July 21st and 22nd. Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:06] You can enroll now in the RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management hosted by the famous James Lam. Beginning July 15th, workshops will be held bi-weekly from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The registration link is in the show notes.

[1:27] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 19th and 20th in Columbus, Ohio. We want to hear from you. Submit a session proposal by June 19th to reach engaged practitioners, innovators, and leaders looking for guidance they can utilize right away.

[1:45] Help define what's next for Enterprise Risk Management. Submit a session proposal by Friday, June 19th. A link is in this episode's show notes.

[1:53] Folks, through the generosity of industry partners, RIMS has launched The Foundation for Risk Management™, which provides scholarships for early-career professionals to attend RIMS events like the RIMS Texas Regional Conference, RIMS Canada Conference, and RISKWORLD.

[2:11] The Foundation also helps beneficiaries earn their RIMS-CRMP and fund research projects. To learn more or contribute to the Foundation, visit RIMS.org/FRM and visit the link in this episode's show notes.

[2:27] RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[2:46] On with the Show! Our guest today is making his third appearance here on RIMScast. He is the Senior Vice President for Risks and Insurance at Sonepar, and he is the President of AMRAE, the Association for the Management of Risks and Insurance in Enterprises.

[3:04] François Beaume is here to discuss the 2026 RMIS Panorama, published by AMRAE, in partnership with EY. Panorama is free and publicly available.

[3:14] Panorama provides an in-depth look at the organizations and professionals who are using risk management information systems, how well they've adapted, and guidance for those seeking their first or newest framework. It's always great to speak with him. Let's get to it!

[3:28] Interview! François Beaume, Welcome Back to RIMScast!

[3:36] François has been Chairman at AMRAE for a year and will be for two more years. Because of his role at AMRAE, Justin wanted to have him on the show to speak about this year's RMIS Panorama.

[4:04] Justin mentions a difference between last year's RMIS Panorama and this year's RMIS Panorama. Last year, AI felt like an emerging capability. This year's report shows a 20-point jump in planned or actual AI integration and an 8-point increase in functional coverage.

[4:19] At the same time, people aren't always happy with AI. The satisfaction part is still a little bit behind. Justin asks, Are we entering a phase where expectations are outpacing execution?

[4:32] François says, Yes, probably. AI has moved faster in CEOs' and leaders' minds than in the organization. Everyone wants the data, governance, and skills. Educating the workforce users takes time. The ambition was there, but the "plumbing" is catching up.

[5:11] François says that is what is being reflected in the 2026 RMIS Panorama's deep dive on AI.

[5:29] François says he uses AI all day long for various things. As a risk manager, he uses it to increase his efficiency and daily productivity. He thinks that is quite common. He says it's also what we need for faster and better analysis.

[6:00] Daily analysis from an AI engine using trusted sources is much faster than manual analysis. Now he has the time to tighten it, understand it, and complement it.

[6:44] SONEPAR is using it for their benefit and to better spread risk management principles throughout the organization through Helpdesk or Chatbot, allowing people who are less skilled in risk management or insurance to ask questions through the tools to get support.

[7:05] Those tools answer almost 90% of the questions. The remaining questions go to the Risk Management team because they are in a gray area. SONEPAR is using AI more and more and is entering a phase where they are looking at automating some risk management processes.

[7:33] François says he is looking at automating business partner assessments, a cumbersome and complex process that the Risk Management team is doing with multiple tools.

[7:49] Now, they are trying to streamline it, still with humans making the decisions, based on an AI data set that will be faster and easier to produce and much more reliable.

[8:24] Justin says one of the more surprising findings in the RMIS Panorama is that ESG Functional Coverage dropped by 15 points this year. François explains why he thinks this is the case. It's not ESG fatigue, but it's in the way companies are approaching ESG.

[9:22] François says a lot of ESG features are moved out of risk management information systems into dedicated tools and sometimes into dedicated teams. In the beginning, some ESG features were encapsulated in Risk Management systems.

[9:39] François says it's less and less the case, at least in the tools that are sold in Europe. In the U.S., it could be more mixed. Separating ESG from Risk Management is more linked to maturity and topical evolution, rather than fatigue or a decrease in the importance of ESG.

[10:06] Justin says the report also suggests that functional coverage overall has stabilized, which Justin asks if that indicates a mature market. François speaks of maturity and breaks down the RMIS Panorama, made from three surveys: Vendors, Risk Managers, and Insurers.

[10:43] Maturity is reflected by a mix of these studies. Almost 250 Risk Managers from 36 countries took the survey. They want smarter features, better insight, better connections, and better decisions. They want the tools RMIS is using to be part of the group's way of functioning.

[11:27] François says this is not yet the case. The tools are a bit apart and not fully connected with the CRM and other tools. François says they are starting to change. The risk managers using these tools are expecting change to come in the next few years.

[11:52] Justin asks if it's easier today for a startup to build from the ground up with their Risk Management Information System embedded in their processes, or for an established organization. François says today it's easier for both, but big groups are more complex.

[12:39] A Quick Break! There are so many other wonderful RIMS events coming up in 2026. The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[12:57] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, which will be held from August 10th through 12th at the Grand Hyatt on the San Antonio River Walk.

[13:08] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[13:18] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[13:35] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. We will be in Quebec City to celebrate the 50th Live RIMS Canada Conference. Booth sales are already open. Advance registration will open on June 10th.

[13:50] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[14:04] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Columbus, Ohio. The deadline for educational content submissions is Friday, June 19th. Get submissions in now. The link is in this episode's show notes. Registration opens in July.

[14:27] Let's Return to Our Interview with François Beaume!

[14:36] François Beaume presented at RISKWORLD 2026. You can check out the materials from his presentation on RIMS.org/ASC. You will have had to have registered for or attended RISKWORLD 2026 to check it out. We're here to continue the dialog.

[15:12] François feels his session went well. There were 50 to 55 people gathered there to listen and take notes. For François, it was pleasant to do.

[16:00] François says you have a feeling when you are connecting with an audience. You can see that they are following you, and the message is passing from you to them.

[16:51] François says, If you are losing your audience, you can try to use humor. Sometimes you succeed. He tells of a session in a noisy room, where everybody, including himself, was provided with a helmet, to listen to like a podcast. He could not feel if they were getting the message or not.

[17:47] When presenting, you try to hold the attention of the room. Justin says that sometimes he locks eyes with somebody who's listening and then talks to that person and hopes that others will pick up on that energy.

[18:18] Justin says risk management is not the easiest topic to make exciting. You have to figure out ways to jazz it up a little bit.

[18:31] François says if you are convinced that the topic is interesting, that conviction, at a certain point, will pass through the mic and go to the room. If you are not convinced, the public will feel it. Justin says, If you are not excited to present, the audience will not be captivated.

[18:58] François notes that he is French and speaks English like a Frenchman, so he has to manage that. His message may not be phrased as the audience expects. The way an American would phrase it is not the way I am using it. Justin stresses listening better to different accents.

[19:58] Justin says François is a very good presenter, and the RISKWORLD audience seemed engaged in his message. Justin says if one person walks away with something actionable, it was worthwhile. François says, "Mission accomplished!"

[20:23] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[20:43] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[20:58] General Grant applications are open, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[21:09] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[21:17] The Spencer 2026 Funding Their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 17th, from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. at a different venue this year. It will be at the fabulous Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

[21:32] Sponsorship opportunities and benefits are available now. A link to the Funding Their Future Gala is in this episode's show notes.

[21:40] Next week's guest is the Funding Their Future Gala Honoree, Marya Propis! More Spencer celebrities and board members will be making appearances on RIMScast this summer, as well.

[21:53] Let's Conclude Our Interview with François Beaume!

[22:09] Justin says the Panorama notes an increase in organizations with more than 200 RMIS users. Does that signal that RMIS is becoming an enterprise-wide infrastructure, or is it still a niche tool for risk teams?

[22:26] François says that this is really positive. A Risk Management Information System is not a niche risk tool anymore. It's becoming part of the company infrastructure.

[22:44] Once you have hundreds of users, expectations explode, the momentum is there, and user patience drops. As the tool starts to become more massive and interconnected with other tools, you have to manage expectations. The scope of usage of these tools is widening.

[23:16] You have not only niche risk usage, but you also have risk management, internal control, insurance, compliance, etc., that are managed inside the tool. The tool reaches all areas of development. The momentum is self-generating.

[24:15] François says executive involvement in RMIS usage is positive. Executives want clarity from dashboards. They want to know what matters, why it matters, and what we can do next. They want the deep insight of the tool. They may not go into the tool, but will use the dashboard.

[25:10] François speaks of the progress of the techniques of Risk Management Information Systems. Data mining, SaaS contracts, and AI usage have contributed to making RMIS easier to deploy, connect, and access in order to load data, analyze data, and extract data.

[26:08] Now is a time of wider usage of Risk Management Information Systems; once they have been adopted, they are there for life, and then you have to make them evolve.

[26:21] This means that we have more discussions inside the corporations on RMIS evolutions and replacement. Are we able to make it evolve on its own, or is it time to change? If yes, what kind of process can I depend on to contemplate and manage that change?

[26:56] This is executive level. You have created expectations. You have provided dashboards and KPIs, and you have to manage the production. Once it's done, you need a different momentum to run the production and make it better and more accurate over time. It's not easy.

[27:40] With their partner EY, AMRAE is finalizing the deployment of the 2026 Panorama Sessions. The French translation will be released by mid-June, and explanation sessions will be run with vendors, risk managers, insurers, and brokers.

[28:05] François says AMRAE is already working on the 2027 Panorama, which will be ready for the next RISKWORLD session in New Orleans.

[28:27] If someone wants to participate in the Panorama, they need to contact AMRAE. Risk managers will be contacted by the risk management association of the country where they operate. If you are a vendor, you can contact AMRAE. AMRAE contacts insurers and brokers.

[29:35] Justin says if you wish to participate, reach out. Go through your risk association where you have membership, like RIMS, FIRMA, or IFRIMA. The confidential information collected helps educate the global risk community. This Panorama is very important for us.

[30:08] François says that inside the Panorama, all the contact details are available. As part of the panel, you have access to an online data form. The Panorama has a PDF version, a snapshot of what's in the database. The full database is accessible to anyone.

[30:27] François says that as a risk manager or a vendor, you can run your own analysis by filtering and sorting the Panorama database.

[30:45] Justin says that's the nice thing about it: AMRAE has made it complimentary and is broadening the horizons of the global risk community by doing so.

[30:57] Justin says, I do miss recording with you in person. So, next year, hopefully we get a chance to see each other and have some Cajun food, put the mic up, and eat some jambalaya and talk. It will be great. I want to thank you again, and you're welcome back any time.

[31:17] Special thanks again to François Beaume for joining us here on RIMScast! We look forward to seeing him at a future RIMS event. You can visit AMRAE.fr to access the free and publicly available RMIS Panorama 2026.

[31:34] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[32:03] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[32:21] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[32:39] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[32:55] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[33:09] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[33:21] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RIMS ERM Conference 2026 | November 19‒20 in Columbus, Ohio | Session Submission Deadline: Friday, June 19

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | www.rimscanadaconference.ca | Registration Opens June 10

RIMScast on YouTube!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam | Register Now!

2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference | July 28‒Aug. 1 | Register Now

RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2026 | Aug. 10‒12 in San Antonio | Register Now!

ChicagoLand Risk Forum | Sept. 24, 2026

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management Magazine | Contribute | Look for the Awards Edition in "Digital Issues"!

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

RIMS, the Foundation for Risk Management

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Stories

RIMScast Canada — Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RISKWORLD 2026 Presentations Available via Attendee Service Center — www.RIMS.org/Asc - and via the RIMS Events App

RMIS Panorama: https://www.amrae.fr/bibliotheque-de-amrae/2026-rmis-panorama

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA | July 21‒22, 2026 RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM | June 16‒17, 2026

Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes: "Strategy and Change with Ward Ching and Aaron Olson"

"Live from RISKWORLD 2026!"

"The Evolving Role of the Risk Analyst"

"AI and the Future of Risk with Dan Chuparkoff"

"Live from RISKWORLD 2025"

"AI Risks and Compliance with Chris Maguire"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"AI-Scale, Risk Ready: Engineering Controls for the New Data Center Boom" (New!) | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

'Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

Sponsor RIMScast: Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Have a question or suggestion? Email: [email protected].

Join the Conversation!

Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About our guest: François Beaume, SVP Risks and Insurance, Sonepar

President of AMRAE

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Emily Buckley, Insurance Risk Manager at Specialized Bicycle Components. They discuss how, in her career, she arrived at risk management, from tossing T-shirts into the stands at Ball Stadium. They talk about her work leading risk at Kroenke Sports and Entertainment for years, and then joining Specialized Bicycle Components to become their Risk Management program and launch ERM for them. Emily talks about Specialized hiring the best people, including professional and Olympic athletes, to make the best product. Emily's purpose is to build the best Risk Management and ERM Program for them. Justin and Emily discuss how she feels about being named the RIMS 2026 Honor Roll Recipient. They discuss her involvement with the Rocky Mountain RIMS Chapter and her engagement in the ERM Engage Group. Listen for the excitement and energy Emily brings to the ERM Program at Specialized.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:16] About this episode of RIMScast. We are so excited to welcome back to the show Emily Buckley of Specialized Bicycles. She was recently named to the RIMS Honor Roll at RISKWORLD, so we have lots to discuss regarding safety, career development, and ERM. But first…

[:48] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held on June 9th and 10th. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on June 16th and 17th. Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:04] You can enroll now in the RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management hosted by the famous James Lam. Beginning July 15th, workshops will be held bi-weekly from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The registration link is in the show notes.

[1:25] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 19th and 20th in Columbus, Ohio. We want to hear from you. Submit a session proposal by June 19th that will reach engaged practitioners, innovators, and leaders looking for guidance they can utilize right away.

[1:43] Help define what's next for Enterprise Risk Management. Submit a session proposal by Friday, June 19th. A link is in this episode's show notes.

[1:51] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[2:10] On with the Show! Our guest today is one of the liveliest RIMS members I know! She is Emily Buckley, the Insurance Manager for Specialized Bicycle Components, a global performance brand.

[2:23] Emily is the Vice President of the RIMS Rocky Mountain Chapter. At RISKWORLD 2026, Emily was named to the RIMS Honor Roll in 2026. Emily made her RIMScast debut in 2024 for National Bike Safety Month in Man, and we're recording in May again.

[2:47] We'll have a lot of fun talking about bicycle safety and how Emily embeds safety into all aspects of risk management and the risk culture over at Specialized Bicycle Components.

[2:59] Emily has had a remarkable career at Specialized. She is the company's first-ever dedicated risk manager. She has built a modern enterprise-ready risk and insurance function from the ground up, which we are going to talk about today.

[3:12] We'll talk about her risk philosophies, her approach to polycrisis and supply chain risk management, and why her involvement in the RIMS Rocky Mountain Chapter has been so critical for her career. Let's get to it!

[3:27] Interview! Emily Buckley, Welcome Back to RIMScast!

[3:50] Emily says receiving the RIMS Honor Roll award seemed surreal. It was very cool to be onstage, be recognized, and have the village she had built around herself there supporting her. Everyone was so excited for her. It was one of the coolest things she had ever experienced.

[4:27] Justin calls Emily the Risk Queen of Denver and the Greater Denver Area and says she has a lot of support behind her. She's "got heat!"

[4:48] Justin is recording this episode during National Bicycle Safety Month. This is Emily's month. At Specialized Bicycle Components, every day is National Bicycle Safety Month!

[5:19] Justin talks about safety being embedded into the manufacturing and shipping of bicycles.

[5:34] Emily says every day, even when she is sleeping, safety is on her mind.

[5:46] Specialized Bicycle Components has a Safety Team. Emily's broker has a Safety Specialist assigned to her account. Emily has connected those two teams. She is a liaison between them, and she works very closely with her Safety Team at Specialized Bicycle Components.

[6:02] Emily has monthly meetings with groups at Specialized Bicycle Components to discuss safety initiatives. She says the Safety Team at Specialized does a phenomenal job.

[6:26] Emily says Risk Management is a department of many hats. She tells people that if there is pushback on an initiative, I'll be the bad guy. Tell them, Sorry, Risk Management is making us do this. Sometimes that's a little bit easier to sell.

[7:11] Emily has been practicing risk management for almost 15 years. She started at Kroenke Sports and Entertainment in Customer Interaction, including tossing T-shirts into the crowd for the Denver Nuggets. People wanted those shirts.

[9:05] When Kroenke posted a job for a risk analyst, Emily applied, and Peggy Miller hired her. Emily talked about this in her past appearance on RIMScast. Peggy is the President of Rocky Mountain RIMS. Peggy taught Emily almost everything Emily knows about risk management.

[9:34] Peggy took Emily under her wing. She taught Emily how to review contracts for risk management wording and insurance requirements. Emily could go to Peggy with any question, and Peggy would explain it. Emily says that Peggy is a phenomenal boss.

[10:07] Emily found an opportunity at Specialized when it was time to spread her wings. She still calls Peggy from time to time for advice. Peggy is always willing to help.

[10:34] Emily joined Specialized Bicycle Components and became the risk management department. She came in two or three months before they did their insurance renewal, so it was initiation by firehose.

[10:53] It was a great opportunity to learn about the program. She was also educating them about what risk management does and how they should be running their program, and educating them about insurance requirements.

[11:16] Emily says Specialized has an amazing executive team and ownership. They were so receptive to all the ideas Emily brought them. They also had a lot of creative ideas. As a risk manager, it was fun to come into that environment.

[11:49] The risk department has not grown since Emily joined Specialized.

[12:21] Emily started an ERM Program at Specialized. It takes a team, and it takes the right partners. Emily thinks every company will benefit from an ERM Program. Stepping into a manufacturing company very dependent on the supply chain, Emily saw that ERM was a must.

[12:49] Emily worked with the right partners, did a couple of different tabletops, and hyper-focused on three or four ERM initiatives, for which she built the ERM foundation and the risk management foundation on top. Every project she works on goes back to those initiatives.

[13:24] Emily says she is very fortunate to have the ear of the executive leadership.

[13:32] One of the mantras at Specialized Bicycle Components is Innovate or Die. Emily has taken that to heart in Risk Management and ERM. Emily is constantly trying to find ways to make the ERM stronger and better, going back to those three or four initiatives.

[13:51] Emily thinks outside the box. She has seen some products that don't completely fit Specialized, but by working with the service providers and saying she likes this product, but she needs it to do this, she has found some amazing service providers and partners to work with.

[14:24] As a risk manager, Emily lives in worst-case scenarios. Professionally and personally, she can never get away from worst-case scenarios. A good risk manager is always preparing for the worst-case scenario, always thinking, what is the absolute worst thing that could happen.

[14:46] Emily says one of the hardest things is realizing that a lot of people don't live in that headspace. When she goes to teams and tells them the worst thing that can happen, they ask if she is OK. She insists that this worst-case scenario is something they need to think about.

[15:12] That's where education comes in. We need to think about it. If this worst-case scenario happens, all of these ripple effects hit every portion of the company.

[15:43] Emily says Specialized has been around so long, and with the leadership and experts they have in place, Emily is amazed every day at the team that Specialized has assembled. She says they are the best in their class. There are Olympic and professional athletes on the team.

[16:43] A service provider noticed that Specialized Bicycle Components recruits the best people in the world. They want that experience so they can build a better product with better processes.

[17:07] A Quick Break! There are so many other wonderful RIMS events coming up in 2026. The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[17:27] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, which will be held from August 10th through 12th at the Grand Hyatt on the San Antonio River Walk. Advance rates are available through June 5th.

[17:41] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[17:51] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[18:08] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. We will be in Quebec City to celebrate the 50th Live RIMS Canada Conference. Booth sales are already open. Early-bird registration will open in June.

[18:22] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[18:37] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Columbus, Ohio. The deadline for educational content submissions is Friday, June 19th. Get submissions in now. The link is in this episode's show notes. We'll let you know when registration opens.

[18:59] Let's Return to our Interview with RIMS 2026 Honor Roll Recipient Emily Buckley!

[19:13] Justin speaks about the profile of Emily Buckley in the RIMS Risk Management Magazine Awards Edition. It mentions that Emily consolidated fragmented global insurance structures into a unified strategy across more than 30 countries.

[19:38] Emily says, trying to get the insurance together at a global company was hard. A lot of people were autonomous, getting their own insurance and doing their own thing. In almost 15 years as a risk manager, Emily learned that insurance is very touchy for a lot of people.

[20:23] Insurance costs a lot of money for something that you can't see. You're not using it unless something bad has happened. So it's a very sensitive subject for a lot of people. Emily says it's a job that won't ever really be done because there are so many different moving parts.

[21:03] Emily says that in all the different countries we're in, every country has different insurance laws, different ways to buy and pay for insurance, and what kind of insurance you have to have.

[21:13] Emily says in some countries, I have to have a locally placed general liability policy, but the property policy that I place on a global level will sit over that. In a different country, I have to have a locally placed general liability/property and a locally placed stock throughput.

[21:31] For almost 40 different countries, you have to know which countries you have to have insurance in. That's when your broker becomes invaluable.

[21:48] It's helpful to have a foreign team on your broker who are subject matter experts in placing locally placed policies. Emily says she would not be able to do that without the team at her broker, Brown & Brown.

[22:03] Emily talks about educating the people at your company: This is what we currently have, and this is what we need. We need it in almost 40 countries. These 20 are our top priority. You tier them down so you're not throwing everything at the wall.

[22:27] You're formulating a plan, then educating and speaking with the people in your company. A lot of questions come up, not only about general liability, but also cyber, and directors & officers.

[22:37] It's a sensitive subject that you have to take your time with. Build a relationship with those offices so that when something does happen, or they have a question, they come to you.

[23:04] You will always be making connections with your offices, making sure they're happy with their insurance, they understand it, and they have a local contact. If something happens in Taiwan, they need a local contact who can answer questions and relay that to the global team.

[24:12] Emily says that every year, there are two or three problem countries, from an insurance perspective, where the carrier or broker has thrown a curveball. Sometimes she has had to pull people out of the program and put them on their own. It's a constantly moving target.

[25:13] Emily says at Kroenke, she and Peggy did a business continuity tabletop, where they sat down with all the different department heads at Ball Arena (Pepsi Center, then) and walked through scenarios. They presented a worst-case scenario tabletop with 30 people in the room.

[25:52] Emily and Peggy also did a couple of cyber tabletop exercises. Emily stresses how important it is to do a cyber tabletop with your executive and leadership team. They're always amazed at how many different small issues and questions come up that they never thought of.

[26:35] Emily says her leadership team at Specialized is fantastic. They've been very supportive. She can throw ideas at them, and they'll say, "Let's do it."

[26:49] Justin says people receive these awards from RIMS not just for their achievements in risk management, but also for what they give back to the broader risk management community or their local chapters.

[27:09] Justin says Emily is very involved in the RIMS Rocky Mountain Chapter and is a great Networker and is very plugged in. Justin says that if it weren't for Emily, he doesn't think he would have gotten Rich Lenkov from SERMA on the show this year. (Shout out to Rich!)

[27:40] Emily says she started going to the Rocky Mountain RIMS Chapter when she was an analyst, working under Peggy Miller. She remembers walking into a Lunch and Learn. Going to Chapter meetings was very inspiring. She wanted to be that knowledgeable one day.

[29:10] Emily says this industry is built on your connections to people and how you know people. She says we have the best people in our chapter. We're very involved with students and RRP.

[29:24] Emily tells students in RRP, "Come to our meetings. If you don't know anybody, you know me. I will introduce you to everybody. This is where your career is going to take off. This is where you're going to be able to make steps and strides and really make connections."

[30:11] Emily says she cannot say enough great things about Rocky Mountain RIMS. She thinks they have one of the best chapters in the U.S., because they have the best people.

[30:24] Justin recalls that Ondrea Matthews with CoorsTek was on the show last year. She is in Rocky Mountain RIMS. Emily says Ondrea is one of the best people she knows. Justin says she had fascinating stories. A link to her RIMScast episode is in the show notes.

[31:02] Emily says when she joined Specialized, she told them she's a Rocky Mountain RIMS board member, she speaks at conferences, and is a guest lecturer at CU Denver. They were super supportive.

[31:47] Emily says Specialized wants to put the best product on the market, and Emily takes that into risk management and insurance. She wants to create the best risk program that she can. She wants to work with the best service providers that she can.

[32:12] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[32:32] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[32:57] General Grant applications are open, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[32:59] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[33:07] The Spencer 2026 Funding Their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 17th, from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. at a different venue this year. It will be at the fabulous Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

[33:23] Sponsorship opportunities and benefits are available now. A link to the Funding Their Future Gala is in this episode's show notes.

[33:32] Be on the lookout for some of the honorees and Spencer Board members to join RIMScast in June and July.

[33:41] Let's Conclude Our Interview with RIMS 2026 Honor Roll Recipient Emily Buckley!

[33:48] Justin mentions the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council. The RIMS ERM Engage Group is a member-only offshoot of SERMC for people to have candid dialogues. All RIMS members have exclusive access to the ERM Engage Group. Emily is a member.

[34:38] Emily says the ERM Engage Group gets together monthly for an hour. Morgan O'Rourke, VP of Editorial at RIMS, leads it. Everyone brings issues, or Morgan will have a guest speaker. Emily says it's just such a great place to go and learn from industry peers with similar issues.

[35:55] Emily is not trying to reinvent the wheel. If she can bring the problems she is dealing with to a group of professionals, ask how they have done it in the past, and get 10 or 20 ideas, it's amazing.

[36:13] Emily recommends the movie, Project Hail Mary, which she calls amazing.

[36:27] Justin talks about the monthly guest speaker, often from SERMC, who presents a topic and then engages the group in discussion. The Engage group lets the leaders see who the next ERM leaders are going to be through their participation. It's very interactive.

[37:32] If you are a RIMS member, just check out the RIMS ERM Engage Group. Justin says Emily's involvement is above and beyond, not just for her job, but for RIMS, so he was not surprised she received the 2026 RIMS Honor Roll; it's well deserved.

[38:18] Emily loves her job. She loves this industry.

[38:40] Emily admits her blood caffeine content was through the roof, preparing for the awards ceremony. Emily looked it up. She is the 43rd recipient of the Risk Management Honor Roll in 75 years of RIMS. She has the award in her window in her office. It is cool to be celebrated.

[40:26] Emily says her award makes it into everything. After she got it, she carried it around with her. At lunch, it was sitting on the table. At dinner, it was sitting on the table. She carried it onto the plane with her.

[41:22] In the profile about Emily, it talked about perseverance in mountain biking. Juston asks Emily for her inspiration for the next generation of risk professionals.

[42:04] Emily's words: "Keep going. You're going to fail, and that's fine. It's part of the journey. Fail. Learn the lesson or lessons, but keep going. Always keep looking at the horizon, saying, OK, I'm going to get there. I'm going to get there, I'm going to get there.

[42:21] "The absolute most important thing is, have fun on the way." Emily says she did a little dance on the awards stage, and some students told her they loved seeing her having fun with it. It made Emily's day for them to stop and tell her. "If you're not having fun, what's the point?"

[43:21] Justin tells Emily, We look forward to more great things from you in the coming years. We thank you, and we congratulate you again.

[45:33] Special thanks again to Emily Buckley of Specialized Bicycle Components for joining us here on RIMScast! Congratulations again to her for being named to the RIMS 2026 Honor Roll. More coverage is available in the RIMS Risk Management Magazine's Awards Edition.

[43:27] Go to RMMAgazine.com and check out the digital issues section. We look forward to having Emily back again.

[43:55] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[44:23] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[44:41] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[44:59] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[45:15] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[45:29] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[45:41] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RIMS ERM Conference 2026 | November 19‒20 in Columbus, Ohio | Session Submission Deadline: Friday, June 19

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | www.rimscanadaconference.ca | Registration Opens in June

RIMScast on YouTube!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒ Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam | Register Now!

2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference | July 28‒Aug. 1 | Register Now

RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2026 | Aug. 10‒12 in San Antonio | Register Now!

ChicagoLand Risk Forum | Sept. 24, 2026

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management Magazine | Contribute | Look for the Awards Edition in "Digital Issues"!

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Stories

RIMScast Canada — Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RISKWORLD 2026 Presentations Available via Attendee Service Center — www.RIMS.org/Asc - and via the RIMS Events App

Press Release: "RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Award Goes to Prologis Head of Global Risk Jeff Bray, Honor Roll to Emily Buckley"

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep | June 9‒10

RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM | June 16‒17, 2026

Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes: "Live from RISKWORLD 2026!"

"RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Jeff Bray"

"RIMS Rising Risk Professional Award Winner Tyler Vaughan"

"Sports, Spotlight, and Risk Leadership with Rich Lenkov, Founder and CEO of SERMA"

"Supply and Bike Chains with Emily Buckley" (2024)

"Absence Management with Ondrea Matthews"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"AI-Scale, Risk Ready: Engineering Controls for the New Data Center Boom" (New!) | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

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RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

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Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Have a question or suggestion? Email: [email protected].

Join the Conversation!

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Ward Ching and Aaron Olson of Aon about their recent session at RISKWORLD 2026 and the book they co-authored, Strategy and Change: Finding Opportunity in Disruption Through Insight, Choice, and Risk. They discuss the dizzying, disruptive transformation in today's market, where conventional risk management frameworks, tools, and solutions have become increasingly ineffective. They explore technological innovation in terms of the new powers of next-generation microprocessors and the accompanying robustness of machine learning-based analytics. Aaron explains how he built an AI analysis agent over a weekend. Aaron and Ward discuss their book and how to use it to help you and your organization navigate disruption. Listen for insight on how to use disruption without being disrupted in the risk ecosystem.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:16] About this episode of RIMScast. Our topic is strategy and change in a world full of innovation and disruption, and we will be joined by our guests, Aaron Olson and our friend Ward Ching of Aon, but first…

[:45] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held on June 9th and 10th. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on June 16th and 17th. Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:01] Webinars. On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:17] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[1:36] On with the Show! Our guests today are, respectively, the Executive Vice President at Aon Corporation and a Managing Director at Aon Corporation. They are Aaron Olson, making his debut on RIMSCast, and our good friend Ward Ching, also a former RIMS-CRMP Commissioner.

[1:52] They presented a session at RISKWORLD 2026, titled "Strategy and Change: Understanding Disruptive Innovation Through Insight, Choice and Risk." They recently published a book, Strategy and Change: Finding Opportunity in Disruption Through Insight, Choice, and Risk. [2:11] We will talk about the risk management practices, philosophies, and frameworks that went into the book and the session, what it took for Mr. Olson to build an AI agent, and how you can assess whether this is the sort of business decision for your organization. Let's get to it!

[2:32] Interview! Aaron Olson and Ward Ching, Welcome to RIMScast!

[3:12] Aaron says Ward and he work together at Aon, and they work with risk managers around the world. They also do some academic work. Ward, at USC, Marshall School of Business, and Aaron, at Northwestern, just outside Chicago.

[3:25] Aaron says that for 20 years, he's been working as a member of the faculty there, part-time, teaching on the topic of the intersection of strategy and leadership.

[3:38] About 10 years ago, Aaron did some research and published a book focused on the intersection of strategy and leadership. He looked at different companies and examples to learn how individuals lead strategy.

[3:55] Ten years later, Aaron and Ward talked about it regarding the clients they work with and the challenges risk managers working in those organizations face. In the last 10 years, the world has gotten a lot more complicated and volatile, and is facing more and more risk.

[4:16] Aaron and Ward decided to do some new work. This time, it's not strategy and leadership; it's strategy and disruptive change.

[4:27] They looked at what lessons they could learn from COVID, from the supply chain, and from the unpredictable rising cost of doing business. What can we do about that?

[4:42] How can companies be successful? How can risk managers be successful? What is the changing, evolving role of risk in the midst of that?

[4:53] Ward says one of the interesting things is that disruption has always been part of the economic environment. It is now a hyper-important part of economic decision-making in every industry vertical.

[5:12] Ward's research in the disruptive innovation space started with a paper for RIMS that he did with Paul Walker several years ago on the issue of enterprise risk management tools and capabilities. Paul and Ward did the research, looking at all the tools.

[5:38] Then February 2020 rolled around, and the world went completely dark. Everybody predicted that there was exposure to a pandemic, but nobody had any thought of how it would go from ranking number 25 or 50 on risk registers to number one, overnight.

[6:14] Paul and Ward asked each other what was underneath this. Why did all of our tools fail? They found an interesting literature base around disruptive innovation. Ward says a lot, if not all, of our core disruptive events throughout history started with a technological innovation.

[6:38] Aaron and Ward went further, looking at all the disruption in the marketplace now: new silicon chips, our speed toward AI, agentic AI, the things we can do now with data that we couldn't do or see five years ago. That's creating a very interesting, disruptive environment.

[7:10] Disruption needs to be considered as part of the decision calculus for most organizations. Similarly, disruption is a new risk issue that has not been well understood, measured, or evaluated in the past. That's what Ward and Aaron were trying to look at.

[7:30] In the book and at RISKWORLD, Ward and Aaron looked at it from several perspectives: How is disruption creating advantage? How is disruption creating new opportunities? How is it changing the way we think about risk, risk management, and risk mitigation?

[7:58] Aaron says one of the things we uncovered as we got into this was that going back 10 years ago, on any given day, your average executive was maybe dealing with one crisis or issue coming at them.

[8:14] Aaron says that today, an executive coming into the office or dialing in on Zoom is probably dealing with two or three simultaneous challenges, and that has a compounding effect. Technology is an accelerant and also an amplifier.

[8:37] The combination of speed and severity means that organizations deal with an external environment that has multiple concurrent risks. Then you have internal execution risks, and they, too, are more complicated.

[8:52] Take AI, as an externality, but also inside. All kinds of new risks are surfacing as AI is changing workflows, processes, and the nature of people's jobs and work. That is a level of complexity we have not had to deal with in most of our professional lifetimes.

[9:12] Ward says most of the tools that we use to mitigate those risks are now obsolete. When you look at a heat map, it is point-specific. You look at various risks along a series of axes. These point-specific numbers or locations don't answer the question, "So what do you do?"

[9:59] You understand where the risk might be, on a frequency, severity, or likelihood scale, but if you were the CFO, you would be asking, "What investment do I have to make to move something that's at an extraordinarily high, or even uninsurable space, into someplace more acceptable?"

[10:18] Those comparative static tools don't give you enough information to make significant decisions, especially now that a problem may have adjacencies that impact a decision, so that needs to be broader in terms of its context and execution. A lot of those tools don't work now.

[10:41] A Quick Break! There are so many other wonderful RIMS events coming up in 2026. The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[11:02] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, which will be held from August 10th through 12th at the Grand Hyatt on the San Antonio River Walk. Advance rates are available through June 5th.

[11:16] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[11:29] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[11:46] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. We will be in Quebec City to celebrate the 50th Live RIMS Canada Conference. Booth sales are already open. Early-bird registration will open in June.

[12:01] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[12:15] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Columbus, Ohio. Details will follow on RIMS.org.

[12:24] Let's Return to our Interview with Ward Ching and Aaron Olson!

[12:33] Aaron built the strategy agent at Aon. Aaron shares how it was done. He was a one-man team on this project. Aaron tells about vibe coding. He took a routine that he and Ward have been doing for years, and he realized that an agent could do some of that work.

[13:36] Aaron and Ward have been working together for a couple of years. On the academic side, they wrote a book and codified some of the work they do with their clients. Aaron says they took a framework and turned it into a simple worksheet.

[13:53] Aaron now uses that worksheet to prepare for clients. It's an analysis tool for what is going on in that client's industry, what key issues they need to deal with, and what insights, decisions, and risks Aaron will discuss with them.

[14:09] As Aaron started to look at agents, he realized that he didn't have to do all that work himself.

[14:16] Aaron uses ChatGPT. There's an ability within ChatGPT to create a Custom GPT. It asks you to follow a set of instructions. It isn't coding, just guidance.

[14:36] Aaron wrote out his guidance, uploaded his worksheet, and constructed prompts. A prompt is a good question to ask. Aaron preloaded some good prompts to get an agent.

[14:52] Aaron, Ward, and others use this agent, which they call the Strategy and Change Diagnostic. They input the client's name and problem, the type of conversation they want to have with the client, the situations they are focusing on, and the present disruptive changes.

[15:16] Aaron asks the agent, "What are the things we should be focusing on?" It comes back with a lot of the work Aaron would have had to think through himself. It's pulling on the logic he taught it and pulling real-time, relevant financial information from the internet.

[15:43] Aaron says it would have taken a team of people working for months to get the same result. We're living in a different world.

[15:52] Ward says that Aaron can change the persona of the agent. The agent is looking at it from one point of view. It can look at it from a different point of view or a competing point of view. All of those will generate additional insights into what the client's issues might be.

[15:14] Aaron built the Strategy and Change Diagnostic over a weekend and refined it by trying it out with some real situations. Aaron thinks this type of agent is in the future for all of us.

[16:27] Ward says, Strategy and Change: Finding Opportunity in Disruption Through Insight, Choice, and Risk, and the recent RISKWORLD 2026 session, cover disruption and disruptive innovation in a clinical way, and case studies, new tools, and responsibilities that are coming out.

[16:54] Ward talks about the necessary skills. Many people in risk management are asking what skills and capabilities they need to be successful going forward. That's a big issue. What is the impact of AI? What is the impact on data analysis and on the types of things they need to do?

[17:19] Risk professionals wonder if they should be coders, actuaries, or engineers. Ward says, the answer is yes. They need to be all of those, going forward. That's a big issue in question.

[17:28] Justin says an editorial strategy shift at RIMS is that it's no longer just about identifying risk. It's how to leverage it to do your job better. It's what you need to know now to enable you to succeed later. It's not just about the "what." It's about the "why" and the "how."

[17:52] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[18:14] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[18:27] General Grant applications are open, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[18:39] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[18:48] The Spencer 2026 Funding Their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 17th, from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. at a different venue this year. It will be at the fabulous Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

[19:03] Sponsorship opportunities and benefits are available now. A link to the Funding Their Future Gala is in this episode's show notes.

[19:12] Be on the lookout for some of the honorees and Spencer Board members to join RIMScast in June and July.

[19:21] Let's Conclude Our Interview with Ward Ching and Aaron Olson!!

[19:32] Aaron says this is the second book he has written and the first book he has written with Ward. They enjoyed the opportunity to bring together some things they had been doing in their respective professional backgrounds.

[19:46] The book is an investigation into what is driving us to live in a world that's more complicated and faster-moving, where risk is different, and we need to work differently because of it.

[20:01] They go into practical things with three different lenses on the issues we all face in a world of disruptive change. The lenses are insight, choice, and risk. They get to the practical aspects of what that means for us.

[20:15] They address success in a world that's more complicated, is moving faster, and has a lot more volatility that's not going away. They use case examples. They look at real organizations. What happened to GE over the last decade? How did they navigate changes in their industry?

[20:35] How did S&P Global evolve from a very different business a decade ago? They were McGraw-Hill, the publisher. These are real companies that have faced real challenges, and they've taken proactive approaches that have evolved the way they do business.

[20:52] The book brings it down to individuals and how you lead through that kind of change. There are practical things and a few tools to use.

[21:05] Ward adds that it points to some additional literature to think about.

[21:09] Clayton Christensen at Harvard did a lot of interesting work associated with the innovator's dilemma, in which he was asking the question, "How do organizations that have been innovative throughout their lifespans, when they continue to be innovative, fail?"

[21:28] Ward says it has to do with disruptive elements in the marketplace. It raises the question of how you, in risk management, can help the organization think slightly disruptively to help it push through the biases and barriers that might cause it to have difficulties going forward.

[21:40] The issue of understanding disruptive innovation is part of the new toolkit that the next generation of risk professionals is going to have to have, sharpened up, with a strong acumen around, to help their organization succeed going forward.

[22:09] Those are some of the more subtle elements of the book. It also talks about a risk ecosystem as opposed to separate distinct property and casualty, wealth, well-being, and more.

[22:27] They're not in separate locations; they're in an ecosystem. The data is showing us how they interact with each other. New skills, new capabilities, and new perspectives are highlighted in the book.

[22:44] Special thanks again to Aaron Olson and Ward Ching of Aon for joining us here on RIMScast! Remember to check out their book Strategy and Change: Finding Opportunity in Disruption Through Insight, Choice, and Risk. It is available worldwide right now.

[22:57] If you are looking for the slides from their RISKWORLD 2026 presentation, open up the RIMS Events app and go to the Attendees Service Center. Also visit RIMS.org/ASC. Navigate over to their names, and you should find it.

[23:13] Be sure to check out the links in this episode's show notes for the past appearances of our friend Ward Ching.

[23:20] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[23:48] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[24:07] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[24:24] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[24:41] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[24:54] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[25:06] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | Registration Opens in June

RIMScast on YouTube!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference | July 28‒Aug. 1 | Register Now

RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2026 | Aug. 10‒12 in San Antonio | Register Now!

ChicagoLand Risk Forum | Sept. 24, 2026

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Stories

RIMScast Canada — Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RISKWORLD 2026 Presentations Available via Attendee Service Center — www.RIMS.org/Asc — and via the RIMS Events App

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep | June 9‒10 RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM | June 16‒17, 2026

Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction | May 28 | Presented by Zurich

RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes: "Live from RISKWORLD 2026!"

"RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Jeff Bray"

"James Lam on ERM, Strategy, and the Modern CRO"

"Rethinking the Impact of Disruption on ERM Tools and Processes with Ward Ching and Dr. Paul Walker"

"Disruption and the Digital Age with Ward Ching"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"AI-Scale, Risk Ready: Engineering Controls for the New Data Center Boom" (New!) | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

Sponsor RIMScast: Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Have a question or suggestion? Email: [email protected].

Join the Conversation!

Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About our guests: Ward Ching, Managing Director, AON

Adjunct Professor of Risk Management, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California

Aaron Olson, EVP, Enterprise Client Group, Exec Sponsor, University Partnerships, AON

Lecturer, Northwestern University

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Jennifer McNelly, CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals, about her wide-ranging safety career, the ASSP publishing the first U.S.-Based standard on risk assessment and management, the ASSP's Standards-Based User Groups, and how safety practices are not about worker behavior but overall organization system safety improvement. Jennifer shares her excitement about National Safety Month and the upcoming Safety Conference + Expo 2026, from June 15th through 17th in Anaheim, California. Listen for inspiration on closing the safety gap in your organization.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:16] About this episode of RIMScast. We are releasing this episode ahead of National Safety Month in June, and our special guest is Jennifer McNelly, the CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals, but first…

[:43] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held on June 9th and 10th. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on June 16th and 17th. Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[:58] Webinars. On May 21st, GRC returns to present "Is Your Fire Protection Strategy Outdated? Emerging Risks Are Changing the Rules."

[1:10] On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:25] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[1:43] If you plan to submit a session for the RIMS Canada Conference 2026, today, the air date May 19th, is your last day to do so. Visit RIMS Canada to submit your session. We hope to see you in Quebec City, October 18th through the 21st.

[2:02] On with the Show! June is approaching, and that means National Safety Month. That is also observed in several parts of the world. Who better to speak about safety than Jennifer McNelly, the CEO of The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP)?

[2:20] Jennifer is an accomplished executive with more than 35 years of leadership experience in associations, government, and industry. She has been the Society's CEO since 2018, leading the global organization of more than 36,000 occupational, safety, and health professionals.

[2:36] Jennifer has some new risk management standards to discuss, under the safety umbrella. I also thought we would benefit from hearing her philosophies on safety and how the ASSP encourages its members to embed safety into their organization's culture. Let's get to it!

[2:55] Interview! ASSP CEO, Jennifer McNelly, Welcome to RIMScast!

[3:29] Jennifer McNelly and Gary LaBranche, CEO of RIMS, run into each other often at ASAE. They have talked about connecting. Jennifer is excited to be here on RIMScast to talk about collaboration, partnership, and keeping everybody safe at work.

[4:04] Jennifer asks every safety professional she connects with, "Tell me your story." She says she is an amalgamation of many stories that have led her to be the CEO of ASSP. She started in the political world. She says you've got to build strong partnerships to move things forward.

[4:26] That is the foundation of the mindset Jennifer brings to the ASSP. After politics, she spent time in the U.D. Department of Labor in the capacity of public-private partnerships. That's how you move things forward.

[4:41] This was followed by a deep commitment to the people in this nation who make things through leadership at the Manufacturing Institute and Global Stages. All of Jennifer's career has been at the intersection of people and the world of work, and making the world a better place.

[4:58] Jennifer says now she gets to do that with unbelievable honor for those who get up and run the world's economy every day, ensuring they get to go home as they were and better than when they walked in the door.

[5:11] Jennifer says that's about economic contribution, keeping everybody safe, and the commitment and heart of every safety professional. Safety brought her in the door, with a very unique lens of how we need to work together to send everybody home.

[5:32] Jennifer has been with ASSP for eight years, moving into her ninth year. She brings energy, passion, and connection to what ASSP is doing. She likes to think of herself as the catalyst for impact, to make workers' safety, health, and well-being an inherent right for everybody.

[6:11] Jennifer says everyone's got a safety story. Often, the thing that hits the headline is the "Somebody did …" and there was a whole set of events.

[6:23] Hence, today's conversation, anchored in the importance of risk identification, risk management, and integration into thinking every day by everyone.

[6:33] It's not just one thing that starts it. It can be the mindset of someone who's had a bad morning and lost childcare for their family. It can be about a system in process. It can be about a bad piece of equipment. It can be a bunch of other things, but what we hear is the headline.

[6:53] Jennifer says our goal is to unpack the story and get to the root cause and improve it, for everyone.

[7:00] Jennifer says the ASSP has over 35,000 members globally. A lot of the membership is in the industrial space. They have partners in insurance, and those who service as well as those who produce. ASSP calls this the Safety Ecosystem.

[7:26] Justin says RIMS sees that Enterprise Risk Management is leading the way for the future of the profession. Justin asks how Jennifer sees safety risk integrating more deeply into ERM frameworks.

[7:42] Jennifer said in 2019, early in her career at ASSP, her pitch to the Board of Directors was for moving safety professionals and workers from basic compliance to a complete integration of human capital, total worker health, and principles like prevention through design.

[8:10] Risk Enterprise Systems are critical to that objective. ASSP just released a new standard, "ANSI/ASSP Z310.1 Risk Management — Guidelines for Assessing and Managing Risk."

[8:34] It's about management systems, operating in an organizational context, and creating and documenting a comprehensive approach. It's about stakeholder engagement, culture, and inclusivity.

[8:49] It also has an important mindset: Change always happens. Therefore, it's about dynamic operations, not static operations; about how you use clear and available information to lead forward, and consider culture and human factors, always with continuous improvement.

[9:11] Jennifer says we can't move forward without all those factors integrated into Enterprise Risk.

[9:18] The ASSP's Z310.1 Committee is comprised of 28 organizations. ASSP plays an important role in the marketplace. Its logo is a shield, and its members are guardians of workplace safety. Every one of them is a workplace superhero.

[10:05] Jennifer loves all superheroes because she loves the potential of hope that each one of us has that power.

[10:12] One of the things that is unique about ASSP's market position is its global-based standards. It brings companies together around the table to flesh it out. It's not a single company.

[10:34] Jennifer says injuries, serious incidents, and fatalities happen in an environment that's complex, dynamic, and always changing. By bringing together those who are doing the work, we gain consensus.

[10:49] Justin says there is a link to the press release in this episode's show notes. The press release mentions how ANSI/ASSP Z310.0 builds off the ISO 31000 standard. There's a lot of value in it for RIMS members. Please check out the link in this episode's show notes.

[11:17] Justin notes that ANSI comes with a lot of heft. The RIMS-CRMP is ANSI-accredited. RIMS is the only globally recognized risk management program through ANSI.

[11:37] Jennifer says that early in her career, she sat on ANSI's 17024 PCAC, the group that approved those kinds of standards. She is a firm believer in business driving business outcomes. They know what works.

[11:54] The workers doing the work and the business conducting the business know what works. Jennifer talks about cross connections and says we should be talking and doing more together. Each of us has a critical role.

[12:42] A Quick Break! There are so many other wonderful RIMS events coming up in 2026. The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[13:04] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, to be held from August 10th through 12th at the Grand Hyatt on the San Antonio River Walk. Advance rates are available through June 5th.

[13:18] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[13:31] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[13:49] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. We will be in Quebec City to celebrate the 50th Live RIMS Canada Conference. Booth sales are already open. The call for educational sessions has been extended to May 19th, the air date of this episode.

[14:06] Submit your session today. Early-bird registration will open in June.

[14:12] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[14:27] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Columbus, Ohio. Details will follow on RIMS.org.

[14:37] Let's Return to our Interview with ASSP CEO Jennifer McNelly!

[14:44] Jennifer says standards bring consensus together, but members are asking how to use the standards and what to do with them.

[15:03] Members want the playbook because they are busy, underresourced, and over-expected. They have a stressful work environment. The ASSP launched Standards-Based User Groups in January of this year.

[15:20] The ASSP's partners collaboratively spend close to $7 million a year investing in keeping the standards updated. How do you move the standards to market? What do you do with them? There are hundreds of thousands of companies around the world that use the standards.

[15:38] To somebody who is just starting that journey, it's a challenge. The ASSP's Standards-Based User Groups dig into the company's maturity, the maturity of the safety professional, and help them move one step further.

[15:59] The point of Standards-Based User Groups (SBUGs) is to make the standards accessible. Jennifer says there are a couple of unique angles to the approach they are taking.

[16:29] The ASSP's Standards-Based User Groups approach starts where serious incidents and fatalities happen, fall from heights and energy controls, two things where there is a lot of technical expertise in lock-out, tag-out, and fall prevention standards.

[16:51] Jennifer says there is a disruption happening in business and in safety, the impact and influence of Big Data, AI, and analytics. The third SBUG is AI and Safety. Through technology partners, by integrating the Standards, it will level up what people have access to.

[17:23] The ASSP's traditional routes are through the safety professionals. By putting Standards-Based User Groups in the hands of the reporting systems they have to use every day, that is scaling in a way that has never been done before.

[18:06] The focus of the Standards-Based User Groups is scaling great knowledge in a framework denied by the industry.

[18:16] Justin says it becomes a strategic risk management function. Jennifer says it is built into enterprise systems to drive action and make better decisions.

[18:30] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[18:51] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[19:06] General Grant applications will open on May 1st, 2026, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[19:18] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[19:27] Let's Conclude Our Interview with the American Society of Safety Professionals CEO Jennifer McNelly!

[19:47] Justin points out that June is National Safety Month. Jennifer thinks every day is National Safety Day! National Safety Month puts a consistent spotlight on safety. She believes safety professionals need more celebration.

[20:34] Jennifer loves to tell their stories. She is grateful to any safety professional and to anybody in the ecosystem listening today. Thank you for everything that you do.

[20:48] June is coming, and we are not done. Jennifer often talks about the gap. She uses the roots of ASSP and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire as a real example that the gap is always going to exist.

[21:12] Jennifer speaks of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. It is the roots of the ASSP. There remains a building on the corner of NYU where about 149 individuals perished jumping out of windows because the doors were locked. It is the foundation and grounding of safety in the U.S.

[21:36] Jennifer repeats that it is a real example of the gap. A couple of years ago, the ASSP Board of Directors went to the dedication of the building. Every year, Taps is played, and the ladder goes up, and it stops at the sixth floor.

[21:49] You see the bunting and the gap between where we are today and where they were then. Someone next to Jennifer said, "But it needs to go higher!" That's the point. There is always a gap because business is dynamic and ever-changing.

[22:06] Our responsibility as safety professionals and associations is to fill the gap and get ahead of it. With serious incidents and fatalities, the data has been flat for 10 years. Let's do something different.

[22:23] Let's think about the principles of prevention through design and crack the C-Suite decision-making. Jennifer talks about safety as good governance. How safety succeeds is about the economic decision-making process.

[22:44] Jennifer says it's got to be built into business in every way, shape, and form. Safety is never a moment or a one-and-done. It is a part of every part of business decision-making.

[23:07] NIOSH does tremendous research on the future of work and how dynamic it is. Every year, Jennifer calls senior executives and talks through critical things. She does that because research says one thing and the ASSP membership says another. There's a gap.

[23:28] Often, in that gap, Jennifer hears the term "research to practice." That leads back to the Standards-Based User Groups. What does the research say, what does the data say, and how do you scale it?

[23:42] There are several forces at play when looking at what's shaping the world of work. There's workforce instability; a fluidity that never existed before. It's one of the biggest emerging risks Jennifer sees.

[24:02] Next is the fact that safety is not a metric. Then there's the pace of change and technology, and the influence of leadership. Jennifer believes that leadership happens in every role and function. How do we empower individual and corporate leadership?

[25:15] If a company is doing minimal compliance with the law, data tells us that's not enough. Jennifer said a volunteer was excited to tell her they had removed cell phones from a site. But cell phones can be used to photograph risks you hadn't seen.

[25:54] First, understand what problem you are trying to solve. Is it technology looking for a problem, or a problem looking for a solution that the technology enables? That's the approach ASSP is taking.

[26:13] If we continue to have individuals die every year, falling from heights, how do we solve that through technology, because somewhere in that complex system, things are not where they need to be. That's a statement of forward motion.

[26:39] Jennifer says she thinks there is a huge opportunity, but it needs to be ethically used, transparent, and clear what problem we are trying to solve. AI in safety isn't new. ASSP worked with MakUSafe AI for three years as they started studying technology advancements in safety.

[27:04] Jennifer says wearables have been around "forever." They're a good practice. Someone has seen the problem and identified the solution, and our challenge is replication, application, and scale. ASSP is striving toward that and how technology can enable it.

[27:24] Jennifer says guardrails are something we hear from membership all the time. Jennifer wants it to be done in a way that integrates it seamlessly, not a new shiny penny. Jennifer is very careful to make sure changes are made at every level. This isn't a blame-the-worker approach.

[27:53] This isn't Big Brother is watching somebody in the workplace. This is about empowerment in an era of action. How does information become a learning opportunity to understand A + B + C + D?

[28:18] Jennifer says when she thinks of behaviors and actions, she thinks of the C-Suite decision-making.

[28:26] What does the Board of Directors governing an enterprise know and understand about the human capital management and decision-making on the capital investment side of safety in the workplace?

[28:39] Justin notes registration is open for Safety 2026, held from June 15th through 17th in Anaheim. It's the 65th Annual Conference and Expo. Jennifer calls it a Safety Revival! For Safety members, coming together to learn, connect, and grow gives a unique sense of belonging.

[29:19] Jennifer calls it a battery-filling, energizing, impact like no other. It's a great opportunity to see what is on the leading edge and solve problems. The Expo is not a sales pitch. Everybody on that floor has to have a reason and something to share with safety professionals.

[29:45] Jennifer describes the 200 classes. There are over 700 program applicants each year. There's too much content and not enough time. There's top-notch technical content and the opportunity to connect with someone that you know you can call and get an answer from.

[30:20] Jennifer's favorite thing is to run around, hear stories, and take selfies. It truly is a welcoming and impactful event.

[30:32] Jennifer says she's the reason people stop the second they walk in the door. She reminds them why they're there. Last year, she wore an ASSP pickleball outfit to show it's about not just being together but also having fun. Sometimes we forget that connection and fun.

[31:14] People are going to learn, but have a great time while you're doing it! Jennifer says she will see everybody onstage! Anaheim will be the place to be!

[31:29] The link to the 65th Annual Conference and Expo for Safety 2026 is in this episode's show notes. Justin says it has been such a pleasure to connect with you, finally, and get the word out for National Safety Month. We're priming for National Safety Month.

[32:07] Special thanks to ASSP CEO Jennifer McNelly for joining us here on RIMScast! There are lots of links in this episode's show notes. Visit ASSP.org for more information, as well as the Safety 2026 Conference at Safety.ASSP.org.

[32:27] Also in this episode's show notes are the links to RIMS coverage of Worker Safety and prior coverage of National Safety Month. A lot of this information is evergreen, so I hope you'll check it out.

[32:39] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[33:08] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[33:25] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[33:43] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[34:00] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[34:14] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[34:26] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | rimscanadaconference.ca | Submit Your Session by May 19!

RIMScast on YouTube!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference | July 28‒Aug. 1 | Register Now

RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2026 | Aug. 10‒12 in San Antonio | Register Now!

ChicagoLand Risk Forum | Sept. 24, 2026

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management Magazine | Contribute

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Stories

RIMScast Canada – Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

www.assp.org | safety.assp.org | June 15‒17

"ASSP Publishes First U.S.-Based Standard on Risk Assessment and Management"

Jennifer McNelly — ASSP Bio

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep | June 9‒10 RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM | June 16‒17, 2026

Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

"Is Your Fire Protection Strategy Outdated? Emerging Risks Are Changing the Rules" | May 21 | Presented by Global Risk Consultants

"From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction" | May 28 | Presented by Zurich

RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes: "RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Jeff Bray"

"Risk Leadership on the Construction Frontlines with Cynthia Garcia"

"Rubber Meets Risk: Lessons from John Baldwin of Discount Tire"

"Company Safety and RIMS Chapter Leadership with Tamieka Weeks"

"Security Risks with William Sako"

"Safety and Preparedness in 2024 with National Safety Council CEO Lorraine Martin"

"Opioid Awareness and Workers Comp Risks with Raji Chadarevian of the NCCI"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"AI-Scale, Risk Ready: Engineering Controls for the New Data Center Boom" (New!) | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

Sponsor RIMScast: Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Have a question or suggestion? Email: [email protected].

Join the Conversation!

Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About our guest: Jennifer McNelly, CEO, American Society of Safety Professionals

More from ASSP:

Standards-Based User Groups (SBUGs)

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• Webpage: Standards-Based User Groups

AI white paper

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• Webpage (with 2026 report): ASSP Corporate Listening Tour

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin takes the opportunity of RISKWORLD 2026 to interview on-site two session co-presenters, Sandy Avina and Angel Guerra, and a fellow podcast host, Joel Appelbaum. Sandy and Angel co-wrote a book, Riskfetti: Risk Management for the Rest of Us, which comes out on May 18th. They discuss their careers, how they came to team up to write, and why this book, now. Justin and Joel discuss Joel's career in risk, from underwriter to Chief Content Officer at the International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) and podcast host of The Edge of Risk.

Listen for thought leadership on communicating risk to business professionals and translating complex risk research into media content.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] About this episode of RIMScast. It was recorded live, on-site at RISKWORLD 2026, in Philadelphia. It's one of my favorite episodes of the year. We will be joined by a range of guests. But first…

[:43] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Course will be on May 13th and 14th. The popular CBCP and RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Bootcamp will be held from May 18th through the 21st. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be held on June 9th and 10th.

[1:02] Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:05] Webinars. On May 14th, Origami Risk will return with a new session, "Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility."

[1:17] On May 21st, GRC returns to present "Is Your Fire Protection Strategy Outdated? Emerging Risks Are Changing the Rules."

[1:27] On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:41] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[2:00] On with the Show! We are live on the exhibit floor at RISKWORLD 2026 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. There's a lot of great energy. That energy transferred from the stage to our booth! My first guests are from our LA RIMS Chapter, Sandy Avina and Angel Guerra.

[2:23] Sandy and Angel co-presented the session on Tuesday, May 5th, "Between Truth and Trauma: Investigating the Invisible." RIMScast caught up with them right after they came off the stage to discuss the state of mental health claims and get a preview of their new book.

[2:37] Sandy and Angel co-authored the book coming out on May 18th. It's called Riskfetti: Risk Management for the Rest of Us. We're going to have a lot of fun! Let's get to it!

[2:44] Interview! Sandy Avina and Angel Guerra, Welcome to RIMScast!

[2:58] Angel says this is her third RISKWORLD and she loves it! She last attended two years ago in San Diego. Sandy says this is her first time at RISKWORLD. She's trying to experience everything, and it's like trying to put ten pounds of sugar in a five-pound bag. She's getting there.

[3:17] Sandy is The Riskfluencer on TikTok.

[3:25] Angel has a business, Beauty and Beast in Business.

[3:28] Together, Sandy and Angel make Riskfetti.

[3:41] Angel started in the mailroom of SRS 20 years ago, moved through Claims, Operations Management, and Global Risk Management, and is now a VP at Arrowhead Evaluation, which does independent medical and risk consulting.

[4:11] Angel's variety of experiences lets her see everything and gives her knowledge of risk management and the ability to manage a program well.

[4:31] Right out of college, Sandy joined California's workers' compensation state fund as an adjuster. She loved it and started to learn other lines. She now works for California Schools JPA, a public risk pool supporting K-12 and community colleges.

[4:54] Sandy leads the California Schools JPA claims program for property liability and workers' compensation. She loves it.

[5:03] Sandy and Angel connected through LinkedIn.

[5:25] Sandy and Angel presented a RISKWORLD session on developing the defense for psychological claims. Sandy says we're seeing the change in legislation for allowing mental-mental claims and not just physical-mental claims.

[5:35] Dr. Ron Heredia was also on the panel. He spoke on how to crack defenses and properly investigate. There are red flags and also very truthful claims. As professionals, check your unconscious bias. Think about fact-finding without a specific agenda.

[6:12] Justin points out that May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S. Sandy partners wth Kind Souls Foundation, a non-profit that provides a warm, emotional support line for anybody with a work-displacing event. Sandy notes the struggles of the Sandwich Generation.

[6:56] Angel says we see people are being a lot more open about mental health and self-care, but there's still a stigma to it. It's important to recognize that, not just in May, but throughout the year.

[7:15] Justin mentions a guest from a couple of weeks ago who served in the Canadian military. He was very open about his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. They had a wonderful conversation about it. Justin doesn't want to bring it up if somebody doesn't want to talk about it.

[7:40] Sandy says, when you have the conversations more often, and they're more open, people feel more comfortable bringing it up.

[7:50] Sandy and Angel's session was "Between Truth and Trauma: Investigating the Invisible." Angel says a lot of people told them they were very happy with the session. They see increases in legislation that allow for more mental-mental claims, and it's a challenge to keep up.

[8:11] Angel says having Dr. Ron Heredia with them gave a view of what it looks like from the employer's side. Are you investigating those claims, recognizing the importance of very clear documentation? If it's not in writing, it didn't happen. Have a doctor help with questions to ask.

[8:43] Riskfetti: Risk Management for the Rest of Us is coming out on May 18th. Sandy says she and Angel both started in claims, and they found that a lot of employers they spoke to didn't know risk management. They didn't understand their coverage or insurance, or how it works.

[9:12] Sandy says a lot of the education in the industry today is very academic and is meant for the risk managers. Employers are not going to go get their CPCU or take webinars on coverage or understanding endorsements. They assign someone else to do it. It's split in the organization.

[9:35] Sandy says nobody is speaking to that audience from a layperson's perspective in a way they'll be receptive to. Sandy said we wanted to make that information accessible, so we created a book that is fun, engaging, and more accessible for business owners.

[9:49] Angel says they used case studies, fun stories of claims they had managed or others had managed. It's very engaging. People say they've read the book and laughed. It's for HR Managers, Safety Managers, and CFOs, who don't understand insurance but have responsibility.

[10:41] Angel's advice for beginning risk professionals: Find a community of individuals who are willing to support you and talk about the hard things and cheer you on when you're not sure if insurance or claims is where you want to be. It's not an easy industry, but a wonderful industry.

[11:00] Sandy's advice for the young generation is to make content about this industry. If you are working in this industry, make your TikToks and post on socials. We need to hear from that generation. It democratizes the flow of information. They already do it for their personal life.

[11:18] Sandy says, talk about your experience. I want to know what it's like for somebody coming into the industry right now. I know what it was like 23 years ago; I want to know what it's like now. That's the best way to get that information out there. We want to know those opinions.

[11:40] Justin says, I love what you're doing. You've got a lot of great energy! Angel, Sandy, thank you so much for joining me on RIMScast. You were wonderful guests! I hope to see you again next year.

[12:04] A Quick Break! There are so many other wonderful RIMS events coming up in 2026. The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[12:25] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, to be held from August 10th through 12th at the Grand Hyatt on the San Antonio River Walk. Advance rates are available through June 5th.

[12:39] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[12:53] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[13:10] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. We will be in Quebec City to celebrate the 50th Live RIMS Canada Conference. Booth sales are already open. The call for educational sessions has been extended to May 18th. Early-bird registration will open in June.

[13:29] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[13:44] The RIMS ERM Conference 2026 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Columbus, Ohio. Details will follow.

[13:52] Our final guest is Joel Appelbaum, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer at IRMI, the International Risk Management Institute! Joel is the host of IRMI's podcast, The Edge of Risk. He was formerly a Chief Risk Officer.

[14:10] We are going to talk all about our shared interests and the importance of risk management education, and some of the trends that are emerging, some that are overhyped, and what he's seeing on the risk landscape. Let's get to it!

[14:23] Interview! Joel Appelbaum, Welcome to RIMScast!

[14:28] Joel Appelbaum is the Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer for IRMI. Joel says he is used to asking the questions; he says it will be really cool to be asked the questions.

[14:47] Joel is the host of The Edge of Risk. When they launched, six years ago, the idea was to come up with more relevant content, quickly, by talking to leaders. In the last year, it has grown by 60%. There's a need for insurance podcasts. It's still growing.

[15:24] Justin notes that Elise Farnham was a recent guest. Elise teaches for RIMS. Justin says insurance podcasts share the same space, and there's some natural crossover. Justin and Joel sat together the day before at the main stage keynote.

[15:53] Justin asks Joel about his having been an Enterprise Chief Risk Officer, when Enterprise Chief Risk Officers first came into vogue. He felt there were not a lot of resources for being a good ECRM, after coming from an underwriting background with CPCU and IRMI.

[16:22] It was a challenging time. Joel cites Adam Grant's theme of low ego but honestly trying to help. Joel remembers bringing up to his boss that IT could be a risk, and being yelled at by his boss for about an hour for yellow-flagging IT.

[16:53] Joel loves where Enterprise Risk Management has gone. It's necessary to identify risks in a positive way and deal with them proactively.

[17:06] Joel says when it started, it was a rough job. Asking people what keeps them up at night, and sharing that with the board regularly, people weren't ready for it. It's a necessary and important job, but Joel found it to be one of the most challenging, alone on an island.

[17:30] Joel thinks everyone who's been an Enterprise Chief Risk Officer or Risk Officer will tell you they do it with very few resources. Joel is glad to have an organization like RIMS to help.

[17:50] Joel says he was in a lot of positions that IRMI serves. He was a Product Officer, an Enterprise Chief Risk Officer, a Chief Underwriting Officer, and a Chief Actuary. He did a lot of great things with a lot of great people. None of that prepared him to be a Chief Content Officer.

[18:17] Being a Chief Content Officer is about writing and deep research. Joel works with people who research all day.

[18:29] Joel learned that there's a disconnect between deep research and understanding coverage and analysis well, and practical insights and thought leadership for how it works in the real world. Parsing it and putting it together, and communicating it is the challenge.

[18:53] Joel says it was a bit bumpy coming in and changing the way that IRMI approached things. Joel speaks of his joy of working for Jack Gibson at IRMI.

[19:15] Joel says trying to put all the research into writing, keeping it up to date, making it useful, and changing it from just research to practical insights was challenging. It's been a great challenge, and he loves it.

[19:29] Joel says he loves being at IRMI and working with people in the industry every day, trying to understand what they need.

[20:16] Joel says he struggled with translating research into print, CE courses, and conferences. That takes time, and they need to be updated with the times, as well. A podcast can be simple. Yesterday, Justin and Joel came up with six or seven relevant questions and were ready to go.

[20:48] Joel says podcasts fill the gap for the on-demand, necessary knowledge somebody might be seeking on the go. Joel's 30-something children listen to podcasts in the car or while they're exercising. You don't have to sit. Joel likes to do 20- or 30-minute Edge of Risk podcasts.

[21:35] Joel says you can cover a very specific, timely topic. It doesn't take the effort of doing a research project or writing a book. Getting it to print takes time. If something changes in war, terrorism, or cyber, you can have a new podcast out in a day.

[21:54] Justin says he finds it very gratifying when a guest's words on RIMScast are cited in a white paper. Seeing a reference to something he has done is very gratifying. Joel agrees.

[22:10] Joel feels like it's such an honor to meet with thought leaders in the industry, sit down with them, and ask them questions. Joel says he gets great knowledge, meeting them, and learning a little bit about them personally.

[22:43] Joel says it's gratifying when young professionals come up to him saying they know him from the podcast. Justin mentions people hearing him talking in the halls at RISKWORLD or RIMS events and recognizing him as the RIMScast guy or the webinar host guy.

[23:26] Joel says AI has been a little overhyped. We all need to understand how to use it, but it isn't going to provide all the answers. A guest on his podcast told him at RISKWORLD they're going all in on AI for learning.

[23:55] Joel says he gets that AI can be a quick fit for the answer you need. It's the right tool for the right time, but all risk managers know you have to have a lot of tools in your tool kit. AI doesn't replace foundational knowledge.

[24:16] Joel's MBA helped him understand the other disciplines in the organization, to know when he was getting good information or bad information, and how to talk the language.

[24:35] Joel believes that RIMS certifications and IRMI certifications help risk managers and insurance professionals understand the foundational knowledge. Then they know if they're getting a good answer from the AI.

[24:50] Joel says that AI is trained on the internet. The internet has some flaws. Joel predicts AI will hit a learning curve. You're not getting the latest and greatest insights from RIMS or IRMI just writing a white paper on a new topic. Are you getting your AI from a reliable data source?

[25:25] Joel advocates for using AI on IRMI material. They have an AI agent in beta now. IRMI has ReferenceConnect for its customers. AI is a good tool, but it's overhyped as a solution for everything. It's not going to solve all the problems.

[26:00] It's a great tool if you're using it to gather data. Joel went to a great session at RISKWORLD with LineSlip about bringing all your different brokers' information together so you can get real insights. AI is a great tool to be used at the right place, at the right time.

[26:23] You can't have it write all your letters because it doesn't sound like you.

[26:37] Justin says an issue that's top of mind for him is PFAS, forever chemicals, because we need water to live. The second our water supply is bad, we've got much bigger problems.

[26:52] Joel says Marsh did a presentation at an IRMI conference talking about how widespread the PFAS problem is. It should be on everybody's risk radar. Joel has put more filters in all of his houses.

[27:21] Justin says Third-Party Litigation Funding is an emerging risk for RIMS. Joel has also done several podcasts on that. Liberty Mutual likes to call it Legal System Abuse. They had a great podcast on it with The Edge of Risk.

[28:04] Joel says the concerning aspects are inflated awards and nuclear verdicts. ISO has introduced a new endorsement on disclosing third-party litigation funding. We've always needed tort reform. Joel thought that as an Enterprise Risk Manager, 20 years ago.

[28:39] Joel says if you look at how all the other countries do it, the United States has a problem. It's really important to solve it. Insurance is a fundamental backstop and assistance to business. If the problem continues, insurers may start declining. How do you find solutions?

[29:10] Joel thinks one of the solutions is to determine the appropriate amount of an award. Does $200 million make up for something where $2 million would suffice? [29:33] Justin says that he and Joel met up at the keynote with Adam Grant. They both enjoyed the keynote. Adam Grant spoke of unpleasant truths we may not want to hear. There's a difference between being loyal and being honest.

[30:26] Joel doesn't have a problem delivering the unpleasant truths, but it has not always been great for his career. Joel says that in a lot of big corporate organizations, people want their allies with them. A new Chief Officer comes in and brings loyal friends with him.

[30:54] Four or five years of being coddled later, the officer is gone. Joel worked for CNA for four different CEOs. Joel learned that integrity matters. He says if you communicate out of frustration or anger, it comes across wrong.

[31:35] Joel says what he loved about Adam Grant's message is that people need to deliver the truth in a way that is kind and fair, and not fake. The people who tell you what you want to hear and that you're the greatest ever are the people you need to "get rid of."

[32:08] Joel tells people that the knife gets sharper against the steel. Joel wants somebody who's sharpening the skill. He has to work harder for it. That's who he likes to surround himself with. Joel has his "board of governors" he goes to for help as a sounding board.

[32:58] Leaders who surround themselves with yes-people are not going to last long. Justin asks about the compliment sandwich. Joel likes it if it doesn't come off as fake. Ask AI what's a fair way to deliver this, a compassionate way to give feedback. AI can give unbiased feedback.

[33:45] Justin shares an experience where he successfully used AI to shorten and change the tone of an angry email message before he sent it. He was very pleased with the result, and the response was "OK." Joel admits he has delivered a lot of career-shortening emails.

[34:44] AI should be thought of as a sounding board. Justin thinks the students coming into the profession probably already do so. Joel says certain types he has worked with don't handle negative feedback well from their peers. AI might be the best way for them to respond.

[35:25] Joel has been to about 10 RISKWORLDs. He says the vibe this year is awesome. He feels there's a lot more opportunity for small connections. He loves the smaller talks. The conversation pods are great. There's always lots to learn, interesting people, and friends.

[36:07] I love what you do at IRMI. Thank you for joining our show, RIMScast! I think very highly of your show. We've had a lot of the same guests. You're wonderful, and I appreciate all of your support!

[36:35] Thanks again to all of our guests here on this special episode of RIMScast, produced live on-site at RISKWORLD 2026. We look forward to seeing you all in New Orleans next year for RISKWORLD 2027!

[36:47] Be sure to check out last week's episode of RIMScast, featuring Risk Manager of the Year, Jeff Bray of Prologis.

[36:53] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[37:22] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[37:40] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[37:58] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[38:14] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[38:28] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[38:40] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RISKWORLD Playlists: 🎧: Apple Music: https://lnkd.in/eXdYHHs3 | Spotify: https://lnkd.in/evweeT8u

RIMScast on YouTube!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | www.rimscanadaconference.ca | Submit Your Session by May 18!

2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference | July 28‒Aug. 1 | Register Now

RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2026 | Aug. 10‒12 in San Antonio | Register Now!

ChicagoLand Risk Forum | Sept. 24, 2026

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management Magazine | Contribute

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Stories

RIMScast Canada — Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Risk Management Magazine coverage: RIMS Honors Industry Leaders at RISKWORLD 2026

Irmi.com

Riskfetti.com

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep | May 13‒14

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep | June 9‒10 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

"Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility" | May 14 | Presented by Origami Risk

"Is Your Fire Protection Strategy Outdated? Emerging Risks Are Changing the Rules" | May 21 | Presented by Global Risk Consultants

"From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction" | May 28 | Presented by Zurich

RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes:

"RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Jeff Bray" (2026)

"Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation, with Kiersten Cash" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

"Navigating Marine Risks in 2026 with Joshua Gold" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

"RIMS Rising Risk Professional 2026 Tyler Vaughan"

"Board Reporting and ERM in 2026 with Trisha Sqrow and Suzanne Christensen" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"AI-Scale, Risk Ready: Engineering Controls for the New Data Center Boom" (New!) | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

Sponsor RIMScast: Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Join the Conversation!

Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About our guests: Segment 1:

Angel Guerra Chagolla, VP, Arrowhead Evaluation Services, Inc.

Sandy Avina, Claims Services Manager, California Schools JPA

Co-authors of Riskfetti

Segment 2:

Joel Appelbaum, EVP, Chief Content Officer, International Risk Management Institute, Inc (IRMI)

Host of The Edge of Risk

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews the RIMS 2026 Risk Manager of the Year, Jeff Bray, about his award and his career at AMB, which merged with Prologis early in his career. Justin and Jeff discuss how risk management earns a strategic seat at the table, how Jeff revived the ERM Program at Prologis, tying it to the business model, and how cross-functional risk management works at Prologis today. Jeff speaks of resilience in the face of polycrisis and climate risk, and working on what he has control over while being aware of the rest. Jeff shares his excitement for developing the next generation of risk professionals and about the amazing opportunity the risk profession holds for them today.

Listen for insight on ERM, resilience, and building relationships.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] We hope you are listening to this episode of RIMScast while at RISKWORLD 2026, and we are gently reminding you to download the RIMS Events App to navigate the show successfully!

[:29] About this episode of RIMScast. This is our annual Risk Manager of the Year episode. We are delighted to be joined by this year's honoree, Jeff Bray of Prologis. If you are listening to this on its release day of May 4th, you might see him onstage at RISKWORLD. But first…

[:59] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Course will be on May 13th and 14th. The popular CBCP and RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Bootcamp will be held from May 18th through the 21st. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be held on June 9th and 10th.

[1:19] Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:22] Webinars. On May 14th, Origami Risk will return with a new session, "Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility."

[1:34] On May 21st, GRC returns to present "Is Your Fire Protection Strategy Outdated? Emerging Risks Are Changing the Rules."

[1:43] On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:58] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[2:16] RISKWORLD 2026 is underway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! If you are here or on your way, be sure to download the RIMS Events App. It is free and publicly available. This will help you set your agenda and provide ample navigation through the Philadelphia Convention Center.

[2:36] RIMS has also released its RISKWORLD Playlist, available through Apple Music and Spotify. Whether you want to get in the zone before RISKWORLD or relive the energy after it, these official RISKWORLD Playlists are available to keep the energy going.

[2:53] Links are in this episode's show notes.

[2:57] On with the Show! This is our special Risk Manager of the Year episode of RIMScast! This year's honoree is Jeff Bray.

[3:08] Jeff is the Senior Vice President and Head of Global Risk Management at Prologis, a global leader in logistics real estate, with 1.3 billion square feet across 20 countries on four continents, and more than 6,500 customers focused on moving goods around the globe.

[3:24] That is a lot of responsibility for one person, but don't worry, he's got a mighty team who shoulder it with him.

[3:31] We're going to learn all about his work, the leaps and bounds he's made over the last 20 years, his involvement with the Spencer Educational Foundation, and what it takes to succeed in an increasingly uncertain world. We're going to have a lot of fun! Let's get to it!

[3:46] Interview! RIMS 2026 Risk Manager of the Year, Jeff Bray, welcome to RIMScast!

[4:07] Justin and Jeff met recently for his profile in RIMS Risk Management Magazine.

[4:14] This episode is released on Day 1 of RISKWORLD. When people are listening to this, they might be seeing Jeff onstage accepting his award. Jeff says, first and foremost, he is looking forward to RISKWORLD; the award is a nice cherry on top.

[4:37] Jeff is 20 years into his career, and he has only missed a few RISKWORLDs.

[4:45] Jeff joined AMB Property Corporation in 2005, not knowing anything about risk management and knowing only environmental insurance, a few weeks before Hurricane Katrina. It was trial by fire. Then, Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma hit. It was a transformational year.

[5:34] There were two years in a row of serious hurricanes affecting the property insurance market. The challenges AMB had experienced transformed the way the insurance and risk management program has been run ever since.

[6:02] AMB merged with Prologis a few years later, following a great financial crisis that occurred in June 2011.

[6:32] Jeff says Prologis is an owner of logistics real estate. They don't operate any of the buildings. Jeff's purview is the 1.3 billion square feet of real estate in 20 countries, with around 60,000 assets.

[6:47] Prologis has a couple of billion dollars a year of development activity. They have a renewable energy business and a digital infrastructure.

[7:32] Jeff says it's critical to see properties first-hand. Warehouses are different in different countries, and seeing them helps solve problems when they arrive. Early on, he attended a captive owners conference in Bermuda, and meeting many peers accelerated his learning.

[9:03] Through serving the business, Jeff built trust with senior leaders and the board. Jeff started by figuring out what people wanted or needed and helped them achieve it. He built strong relationships with every group; he's in lockstep with legal, finance, and business teams.

[10:33] Jeff's risk team has seven members. He also has two members of the corporate security team. He has worked hard to grow the team as needed. He sees an opportunity with technology to scale the team's capabilities to focus on critical tasks. He's grateful for the team's efforts.

[11:49] Risk management is centralized at Prologis. They operate as a consistent global program. Jeff is in San Francisco, with team members in the Bay Area, Denver, and one in Dallas.

[12:45] Jeff says he takes advantage of every crisis and pays close attention to every near-miss. It's a reminder that this is why what we do is important. Sometimes it's all hands on deck. What can we do differently next time?

[13:35] One big near-miss was a fire that arose from customer operations in a building, which didn't amount to much because the sprinklers operated properly. Jeff participates in Prologis's global safety board. They pay close attention to anything like a contractor injury.

[14:06] June is National Safety Month. The Head of Safety of Prologis's Development Team plans Safety Month activities. Every project and team member will be involved. It sends a good message. They make it very clear to every contractor they hire that safety is paramount.

[14:49] Justin says the leader of the ASSP will soon be a guest on RIMScast. Safety should be observed every month. Jeff says in the past, safety was something they focused more on when something happened, but now it's ingrained in the way they operate. It's not treated separately.

[15:44] Jeff reestablished Prologis's ERM program. His ERM Committee is a sounding board with seven or eight global leads. The members are the Head of Internal Audit, the Head of Info Security, and others, who work closely across the risk register to ask, "What are we missing?"

[17:14] The challenge in reactivating the ERM committee was getting the relevance right. For the first meeting or so, they brainstormed. Now it's operating at the right frequency with the right dynamic input. It will continue to evolve in every meeting.

[17:55] They meet annually with the Audit Committee, and some years they meet with the Board of Directors. It evolves from the day-to-day Risk Register, working with the business teams. The Audit Committee and the Board are very invested in what the ERM Committee does.

[18:34] ERM at Prologis is tied to what's relevant to the CFO, the Chief Legal Officer, and other stakeholders. With the CFO, it's tied to earnings per share and net operating income impact. Jeff is always looking at what the business is looking to accomplish and how ERM can support it.

[19:17] A Quick Break! The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[19:40] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, to be held from August 10th through 12th at the Grand Hyatt on the San Antonio River Walk. Advance rates are available through June 5th.

[19:55] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[20:08] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[20:26] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. That is when the 50th Annual RIMS Canada Conference will be held in Quebec City. Booth sales are already open. The call for educational sessions is open through May 8th. Early-bird registration will open in June.

[20:44] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[20:59] Check RIMS.org for an announcement about the RIMS ERM Conference 2026. It will be up soon!

[21:07] Let's Return to Our Interview with RIMS 2026 Risk Manager of the Year, Jeff Bray!

[21:24] Justin asks what Jeff loves about RISKWORLD. Jeff loves the people, the interactions in the hallways, even when racing from session to session, and meeting to meeting. There's no better place to meet people and build meaningful relationships over the years.

[21:45] Jeff says there's no better place to get apprised of what's coming up in the risk industry and reconnect with our most important relationships.

[22:17] Jeff says RISKWORLD is a connection point where a group of risk professionals from around the country can get together.

[22:31] Jeff's team members, the Head of Risk and the Head of Claims, have attended RISKWORLD for the last few years.

[23:07] Justin asks about cross-functional risk management. Jeff says that he can't imagine a problem crossing their desk that Risk Management can solve solely by themselves, figure out, and move on. Generally, they will engage Legal, HR, and the Business Teams.

[23:28] Jeff says that's hugely important to be able to solve problems effectively, and in a way that enables the business.

[23:55] Jeff thinks the perspective on risk has changed over time. The needs have changed over time. At the beginning of his time at AMB and Prologis, there was a focus on insurance because they were expanding to new countries and standing up a global program.

[24:17] Within 90 days, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma hit, and Jeff was learning about disaster recovery and response. He saw the teams in action and how it can be a competitive advantage if they can get their properties up and running quicker than someone else.

[24:37] That's absolutely a competitive advantage to Prologis, and that's been in their DNA ever since.

[24:53] Justin asks about Jeff's dashboard. It's a Claims dashboard, created by the Claims team, so Jeff can look at the Claims activity every day.

[25:16] Jeff says Prologis retains a bunch of risk itself. It's Prologis's money. It concerns not only Jeff, but also the Finance Team and others. None of them likes surprises. Jeff manages it like a business, managing actual claims against the forecast.

[25:53] Jeff says it's been phenomenal. He's asking for more dashboards!

[26:08] Jeff discusses the impacts of technological innovation on his role. One of the biggest pieces was onboarding Archipelago, a tool to intake Statement of Value information and other property characteristics and deliver it to an insurance company in a reliable and verifiable way.

[26:33] Jeff says during that period, they went through $40 to $50 billion of acquisitions, so Archipelago was a game-changer in a way that insurance companies couldn't believe.

[26:48] Prologis would bring on a portfolio in September and was ready for its December renewals with the full Schedule of Values. Jeff says it was about, "What questions am I asking myself, and how do we solve for that?"

[27:03] Jeff was looking beyond the Cap Modeling results to what other information he could get out of the data, from the newness of the assets, different specifications, and different protections in place, and quantifying that in a way that was meaningful for the insurers.

[27:25] When Prologis onboarded Archipelago, there weren't any other systems available to do what was needed. They were developing something that hadn't been in place yet. Prologis was part of the development team.

[27:43] Jeff says the Claims dashboard is driven by Origami, which has been an important partner of Prologis.

[27:55] Prologis has always been focused on the combination of good data and leveraging technologies to interpret that data. That's been very important to Prologis.

[28:15] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[28:42] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[28:57] General Grant applications will open on May 1st, 2026, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[20:08] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[29:17] Let's Conclude Our Interview with RIMS 2026 Risk Manager of the Year, Jeff Bray!

[29:43] Jeff says the younger risk professionals are absolutely more well-versed in technology. The challenge is not to let technology become more important than understanding the basics of the business.

[30:00] Jeff says you still need to understand what that policy says and what the submission process looks like, so you can get the right outcomes out of the technology. Most of the folks Jeff works with are younger than he is.

[30:21] Jeff says what they're doing with AI, dashboards, and other insights is super impressive. They balance that with learning the fundamentals.

[30:47] In a new risk professional, Jeff looks first for curiosity and questions. When Jeff hit stagnant parts of his career, he had stopped asking questions, so today, he asks a lot of questions. Curiosity is key to investigating what's happening in the company to solve problems.

[31:18] Jeff says connecting the dots is something he still works on today. We live in a complex world. There's generally not one threat or risk that operates in a silo. Risks are connected. Someone who can understand how different risks might be interconnected will be critical.

[31:43] Jeff says that being hungry, learning, and striving to do more than the person who started next to you is more important than ever.

[32:06] Jeff says polycrisis is an interesting term, and he fully believes in it. He spends a fair amount of time thinking about what he has control over and what he doesn't have control over. Jeff says Prologis doesn't let the polycrisis drive its strategy on a day-to-day basis.

[32:45] Jeff says awareness is key, and knowing how you can respond as an organization.

[33:02] On mitigation and navigation, Jeff says, it's like being on defense versus offense. Risk mitigation works if it's a very simple solution. Putting a floodwall in a building to prevent flooding is a great mitigation.

[33:15] Most risks are not that simple, and they require navigation. They require keeping options open and multiple solutions. Navigation lends itself to how risks evolve and how we respond to those risks.

[33:40] Jeff says Prologis is an owner of 1.3 billion square feet of real estate, with two to three percent of the world's GDP flowing through its buildings. Supply chain resilience is key. Prologis focuses on climate risk, but Jeff wants to look at it from more of a resilience perspective.

[34:04] Jeff's perspective is about what Prologis should be worrying about, and how that affects how they build a building and how they operate an asset. Climate risk is front-of-mind to this day for many of Prologis's investors.

[34:17] Investors want to know what Porlogis is doing about things and how they are looking at exposures. So Prologis has always tried to be on the front end of that discussion with investors. The decisions Prologis makes just need to make good business sense.

[34:41] As long as Prologis can communicate, this is a concern, and this is how it translates into a business impact or impacts performance. That remains key, and we are in an environment that is evolving in frequency and severity. It's something Prologis pays close attention to.

[35:16] Solar panels are part of Prologis's sustainability goals. Thicker rooftops are needed. Solar panels affect how air conditioning is used and the temperature levels within a building. It affects how Prologis might construct the building to have a better working environment.

[35:51] Jeff says it all ties together, which comes back to a more resilient and better-performing portfolio.

[36:00] Justin asks about earthquake resilience for new construction. Prologis has a lot of property on the California coast and has been focused on earthquake risk for the life of the company, doing voluntary retro-fittings and seismic upgrades.

[36:33] That's not to get reduced insurance premiums but to take steps to reduce interruptions that may occur for Prologis's customers' activities when an earthquake does arise. It's about taking Prologis's objectives and aligning them with the business, not to save premiums.

[37:16] Jeff is very excited by the level of abilities he sees in college students. He was recently at Old Dominion for Risk Manager on Campus. This industry has an amazing amount of opportunity. Risk is at the crossroads of finance, operations, legal issues, and HR.

[38:27] Jeff's words to students and aspiring risk professionals: "There's an incredible amount of opportunity. What risk strategy means today is very different than what it meant 15 years ago. It's a hidden gem of an industry, still today."

[38:44] Justin congratulates Jeff on being named RIMS Risk Manager of the Year 2026. Nobody accomplishes anything by themselves. Is there anyone you want to thank? Jeff says thanking a whole host of folks might take its own podcast.

[38:59] Jeff thanks his team across Risk, Resilience, and Claims, and the deep bench of external risk advisors, from broker placement to consulting, technology partnerships, and the insurers. He couldn't do this without all of those team members. He's very grateful for it all.

[39:49] Justin says, I look forward to meeting you and seeing you up onstage and cheering you on. I hope we can continue to stay in touch because you've got so much knowledge to share with the global risk community, here through RIMScast. Thank you so much for your time!

[40:16] Special thanks again to Jeff Bray, the 2026 RIMS Risk Leader of the Year. We are delighted for him and congratulate him once again. Be sure to check out last week's episode, featuring RIMS Rising Risk Professional, Tyler Vaughan.

[40:32] In May, we intend to have Honor Roll Awardee, Emily Buckley, back on RIMScast. Check RIMS Risk Management Magazine for the Awards Digital Edition, which also features profiles on the Chapters of the Year and other special awards. More winners will be on RIMScast in 2026.

[40:55] I hope everyone who's listening in Philadelphia at RISKWORLD is having a blast! Next week's episode will feature interviews recorded live while in Philadelphia. Let's relive the magic!

[41:08] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[41:37] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[41:55] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[42:13] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[42:29] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[42:43] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[42:55] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

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"Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation, with Kiersten Cash" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

"Navigating Marine Risks in 2026 with Joshua Gold" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

"RIMS Rising Risk Professional 2026 Tyler Vaughan"

"Board Reporting and ERM in 2026 with Trisha Sqrow and Suzanne Christensen" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

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About our guests: Jeff Bray, SVP of Global Risk Management at Prologis

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional, Tyler Vaughan. Tyler explains the pizza-and-bonus-points incentive that got him to attend the risk management and insurance informational session in college, which launched his risk management career. Tyler shares what it was like beginning in the industry as COVID was shutting down offices. He encourages students not to seek a remote position, but a hybrid or office position, at least for the first couple of years of their careers, to grow knowledge and build a network. Tyler shares his feelings about winning the RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional Award and his hopes for the future of the risk industry. Listen for insight on building a risk management career, mentoring, and networking.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] Public registration is open for RISKWORLD 2026, which will be held from May 3rd through 6th in Philadelphia. Visit RIMS.org/RISKWORLD to register.

[:27] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest today is the RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional, Tyler Vaughan. I'm looking forward to discussing with him about how he is setting a high bar for the next generation of risk professionals. But first…

[:58] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Course will be on May 13th and 14th. The popular CBCP and RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Bootcamp will be held from May 18th through the 21st. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be held on June 9th and 10th.

[1:18] Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:21] Webinars. On May 14th, Origami Risk will return with a new session, "Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility."

[1:32] On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:47] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[2:05] This is a last call for registration for RISKWORLD 2026, from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia! Our opening keynote is thought leader Adam Grant. Our closing keynote is NFL Hall-of-Famer and Emmy-award-winning broadcaster, Michael Strahan.

[2:22] Visit RIMS.org/RISKWORLD to register. Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate with 10,000 of your risk management peers.

[2:32] RIMS has also released its RISKWORLD Playlist, available through Apple Music and Spotify. Whether you want to get in the zone before RISKWORLD or relive the energy after it, these official RISKWORLD Playlists are available to keep the energy going.

[2:48] Links are in this episode's show notes.

[2:52] On with the Show! Our guest today is the Global Risk Manager for Cook Group in Indiana. He is the RIMS Rising Risk Professional for 2026. We will be seeing him onstage receiving his award at RISKWORLD. It's Tyler Vaughan.

[3:11] Tyler has already made an impact on the risk profession and RIMS. We're going to learn about what it took to lead the Northeast Ohio Chapter to greatness, mentors who have lifted him, and how his RIMS participation has made him a more confident risk leader. Let's get to it!

[3:31] Interview! 2026 RIMS Rising Risk Professional Tyler Vaughan, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:48] Tyler says he appreciates being named the RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional. It's humbling and a bit surreal.

[3:64] Tyer looks back to when he joined the industry in 2018 as an intern. He joined the Northeast Ohio RIMS Chapter. He didn't think risk management was a profession where you expect public recognition; most of it happens behind the scenes.

[4:12] Tyler says in risk management, success often looks like nothing bad happened. Within different corporations, you're protecting against bad things happening. To have RIMS recognize Tyler as the RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional means a lot to him. He's very thankful for it.

[4:37] Justin says there are several professions where the idea is that no news is good news. If you don't get any feedback, that means you're doing everything fine. Justin says an award like this, and all the RIMS awards, are nice and well-deserved.

[5:19] Tyler tells how he became involved in risk management. He was studying corporate financial management at the University of Akron College of Business. The professor of a challenging course held an informational session on risk management and insurance.

[5:58] Tyler wasn't interested until the professor announced pizza and bonus points. Tyler couldn't turn that down. The professor, Dr. Jill Bisco, comes from the industry. She had been on the carrier side for many years. She was one of Tyler's first mentors. He still talks to her.

[6:17] At that informational session, Tyler learned of how much opportunity the risk management and insurance industry has. He signed up for more information that day.

[6:26] Dr. Bisco talked about Gamma Iota Sigma, the collegiate actuarial science risk management business fraternity. Tyler signed up to be an officer.

[6:39] Tyler went through the chartering ceremony the next semester, and then the University of Akron officially adopted a risk management insurance program, and Tyler was one of the first students to sign up for that path.

[6:50] Pizza and bonus points are still relevant to college students. Tyler says, take advantage of those opportunities. You never know what might come from it. Tyler later organized sessions with food. He used Chick-fil-A when pizza didn't bring a good crowd.

[7:24] The Risk Management and Insurance Program at the University of Akron had an event called Risky Business, where they brought in different industry professionals.

[7:33] One of those industry professionals was Kristen Peed. Tyler was looking for an internship. Kristen was looking for her umbrella after the event, and Tyler took it to her and asked her name. Tyler says pizza, bonus points, and an umbrella got him where he is today.

[8:08] Kristen had just come off the board of the Northeast Ohio Chapter. Justin says Kristen was on the RIMS board for years and is the RIMS Immediate Past President.

[8:36] Kristen taught Tyler that risk management is about people. She balances technical expertise with emotional intelligence. Tyler learned from her that the best professionals are the ones who can translate complexity into clarity and build trust across the organization.

[8:56] Tyler says, across the industry, it's all about relationships. Kristen taught him that early on. Kristen has had many interns, and they share a community, and she connects with each of them, so they have a network within a network.

[9:13] Kristen taught Tyler that we're only as successful as those that we bring up in the industry as well. It's full-circle for Tyler, now being seven years out of college, and giving back to whom he gives now. Any time someone reaches out to Kristen, Kristen loops Tyler in. They talk weekly.

[9:44] Throughout the steps Tyler has taken in his career, Kristen has been there. It means something to find that mentor with whom you really connect, whether it be through RIMS Mentor Match or local university mentors.

[9:59] You may go through some that aren't an exact fit, and that's OK. Mentorship can't be forced. Look for that person that you want to learn from, build from, and find success from.

[10:25] Tyler says he is far more comfortable in public speaking now because of his experiences with Kristen and his experiences in risk management than when he joined the profession. Tyler avoided taking a public speaking class that was offered in high school. He was not extroverted.

[10:56] Tyler was somewhat shy going into college. In going to the risk management and insurance pizza and bonus points session, he was nervous to meet people. But it was the push to get out of his comfort zone.

[11:14] Dr. Jill Bisco, Kristen Peed, and other mentors taught Tyler that pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is where you grow as a professional and personally. Tyler has made not only industry connections but also some of his best friends by putting himself out there.

[11:38] Public speaking still makes Tyler a little nervous. He says it's cool to look back and see how much he has grown as a professional by putting himself out there.

[12:24] Tyler went to the University of Akron and then started on the carrier/underwriting side as an underwriter. He went through a graduate development program at Westfield Insurance, close to home.

[12:43] Tyler learned small business underwriting at Westfield and moved to Zurich for middle market underwriting. From there, a mentor of his from Akron University, Kirk Gross of Safelite, came to Tyler with an entry-level opportunity as a Business Continuity Analyst.

[13:14] From there, Tyler has grown to where he is today. After Safelite, Tyler was with Avery Dennison as an Insurance Risk Analyst. Now he is with Cook Group, which owns Cook Medical, in Indianapolis.

[13:31] Tyler's focus has been depth and versatility. He wants to continue to strengthen his technical foundation. He's gaining exposure across many areas, being a risk manager at a large company in the medical space.

[13:47] This exposure includes operational risk, governance, and resilience. It's about emerging risks and how much they've changed recently. In the long term, Tyler hopes to play a role in shaping how organizations integrate risk into strategic-level decision-making.

[14:02] Tyler would love to lead a team, continue to mentor the younger professionals, and continue doing what he can for the profession, whether it's leadership or workforce development, and change what the future of this industry looks like.

[14:23] Tyler has been sitting on the RIMS Rising Risk Professional Advisory Group for five years. He notes that it has changed a lot. It's an ever-evolving landscape that Tyler wants to contribute to, long-term.

[14:43] Tyler says risk management and insurance has been a conservative-minded industry. He would like to see it having an inclusive mindset, moving forward, working in different types of teams, and taking on different types of risks.

[14:55] Tyler says risk management is not just buying insurance, it's protecting against the unknown geopolitical environment, the macroeconomic environment, and cyber. When Tyler joined this industry seven years ago, it was totally different. It takes a proactive mindset.

[16:22] A Quick Break! The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[15:45] The 11th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will return to the Old Post Office on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, in Chicago. Visit ChicagolandRiskForum.org for more information.

[15:59] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[16:16] Save the dates October 18th through the 21st. That is when the 50th Annual RIMS Canada Conference will be held in Quebec City. Booth sales are already open. The call for educational session proposals is open through May 8th. Early-bird registration will open in June.

[16:35] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[16:51] Let's Return to Our Interview with RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional Tyler Vaughan!

[17:21] Tyler mentions some unknowns regarding the Middle East: supply chain risk, physical personnel risk, and cyber. Cyber was a new risk when Tyler joined the industry.

[17:41] Tyler did a course in college on the TJ Maxx data breach of the late 2000s. He thought that every company is protected against this now; we aren't going to see a data breach again. Everyone can see that's not the case. The unknowns of cyber keep Tyler interested.

[18:40] Unknowns can slow things down. Geopolitical conflict potentially affects every business unit within the corporation: HR, Marketing, the supply chain, and procurement. For your company's success, you protect against disruption with insurance and strategic conversations.

[19:24] Tyler entered the risk profession just as COVID was hitting. He says he joined Westfield and had training in a classroom before getting a desk. Then they were told that they were going to work from home for a couple of weeks. He never went back to the office at Westfield.

[20:43] Tyler says working from home took self-motivation. In the first couple of months. Tyler didn't have the collaboration of meeting with underwriters, management, and leadership at the company that he needed to learn the profession.

[21:16] Thinking back to his college time, Tyler says that for students, it must have been very different to excel in a remote environment.

[21:56] Students often ask Tyler if he knows of any fully remote opportunities. Tyler was fully remote at Safelite. He needed personal interactions. He suggests a hybrid approach. In the early stages of a career, for learning, be in the office for a couple of years before going fully remote.

[23:27] A hybrid approach is Tyler's favorite. Be strategic about the times when everyone is in the office versus remote. That's how Tyler looks at the future environment.

[23:57] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[24:23] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[24:38] General Grant applications will open on May 1st, 2026, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[24:50] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[24:58] Let's Conclude Our Interview with RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional Tyler Vaughan!

[25:15] Tyler says he's excited to receive his award, but there's a lot of pressure to be on stage in front of the global risk community at RISKWORLD. What if he tripped? He was emailing Joshua Salter of RIMS. Joshua assured him they would walk him through it, don't even think about it.

[25:35] Tyler says it's so cool to have that network behind him and the support he has had through his career thus far. He thinks receiving that award will be very full-circle. He can't wait to see future professionals win the award. He recalls his friend Megan Smalter winning it last year.

[26:08] Tyler says it's different seeing your friends succeed. You find real value in that. He hopes his friends who attend RISKWORLD will apply next year.

[27:26] Tyler says in-office exposure is important for preserving the risk knowledge from some of the seasoned professionals, so their techniques and wisdom are not lost when they retire. Take advantage of one-on-ones with other experienced professionals besides your direct leader.

[27:46] Learn through documentation, informal mentoring, and collaborative problem-solving. Individuals who have been there longer than you are there to help you learn. They want to see you succeed.

[27:58] Tyler suggests being proactive about how you reach out to individuals and to keep this knowledge in notes. Tyler started writing on a notepad. Now he uses a shared drive. If you move to a new opportunity, transfer your notes from your work computer to the people you leave.

[28:37] Be strategic and meet as many professionals as you can. Introduce yourself. Tyler recently told students at a Spencer event to have their elevator speech ready. Know whom you want to talk to and take advantage of that.

[29:08] Tyler is a judge on the Spencer Risk Challenge. There are very talented students coming from around the world to present. It's very interesting to hear the different ways they think about the case study. Tyler loves engaging with the students.

[29:39] Tyler says that last year's team from South Africa came to support the South African team in the Top Eight this year. It's awesome that RIMS partners with Spencer on the Challenge.

[30:07] Justin notes that Megan Miller of Spencer Educational Foundation has been on RIMScast speaking of the Spencer events lined up for RISKWORLD.

[30:43] Tyler says to young risk professionals, don't be discouraged if you don't have it all figured out at first, whether it's the job or your path in the industry. There's no one correct way to go about this industry on the carrier side, risk management, or broker side.

[31:08] It's what you make it. The opportunities are here, so you do not have to settle. If you're not in the right fit, you can explore your opportunities. If you need more knowledge, don't be afraid to ask questions. It means something to know that you're utilizing your resources to learn.

[31:45] Invest in relationships. Your network is your net worth. It takes time and effort to build your brand and who knows you. Tyler says it's worth it in the long run, and you make some of your best friends.

[32:19] Justin reminds us that Michael Strahan is the closing keynote at RISKWORLD. Tyler hopes to meet him backstage. Adam Grant is the opening keynote. Lots of other highly-regarded people will also present at RISKWORLD.

[33:08] Tyler says the opening session is always a grand time where you will see everyone who will be attending.

[33:15] Recently, Tyler worked with the Rising Risk Professional Advisory Group to create the Rising Risk Professional/Student Track. That will be uploaded to the RISKWORLD site and app. The group was strategic about the best sessions to suggest to students. Tyler will attend.

[33:59] Tyler says the Student Networking Luncheon has grown since he attended as a student. That is an event for all the students to attend. Probably upwards of 120 people will attend.

[34:22] It's a roundtable session where industry professionals will move from table to table to tell you their story in this industry and answer questions. If you're not able to attend some of the other sessions on the student track, attend this luncheon.

[34:42] Justin says we've got links to that with the information in this episode's show notes.

[34:55] Tyler, thank you so much for joining us! It's obviously a well-deserved award for you this year. I look forward to meeting you in person, in Philadelphia, and seeing you continue to do great things for the risk community!

[35:14] Special thanks again to RIMS 2026 Rising Risk Professional Award Winner Tyler Vaughan for joining us here on RIMScast. We will eventually update this episode's show notes with a link to the Awards Edition of RIMS Risk Management Magazine.

[35:31] Be sure to tune in next week, when we are joined by the RIMS 2026 Risk Manager of the Year. I don't know if I'm allowed to say who it is yet, but if you know, then you know. Subscribe to RIMScast through your favorite podcasting app so you don't miss one single episode!

[35:52] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[36:21] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[36:38] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[36:56] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[37:13] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[37:26] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[37:39] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RISKWORLD 2026 Registration — Open for exhibitors, members, and non-members! LAST CALL!

RIMS on YouTube!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference | July 28‒Aug. 1 | Register Now

ChicagoLand Risk Forum | Sept. 24, 2026

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | www.rimscanadaconference.ca | Submit Your Session by May 8!

RIMS Risk Management Magazine | Contribute

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RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

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RISKWORLD Playlists: 🎧: Apple Music: https://lnkd.in/eXdYHHs3Spotify: https://lnkd.in/evweeT8u

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep | May 13‒14

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep | June 9‒10 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

"Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility" | May 14 | Presented by Origami Risk

"From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction" | May 28 | Presented by Zurich RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes:

"Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation, with Kiersten Cash (RISKWORLD Presenter)"

"Navigating Marine Risks in 2026 with Joshua Gold" (RISKWORLD Presenter)

"Investing In Yourself with RIMS 2026 President Manny Padilla"

"RIMS 2025 Rising Star Megan Smalter: Giving Yourself Grace"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"AI-Scale, Risk Ready: Engineering Controls for the New Data Center Boom" (New!) | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

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"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

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RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

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About our guests: Tyler Vaughan, AINS, CRIS, ABCP

Global Risk Manager, Corporate Risk & Insurance, Cook Group Incorporated

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Nick Quigley, Risk Manager at the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centers (SARC). This is Nick's second career, after starting in the Canadian Military. Nick explains how he joined the military before graduating from high school, the training and education he received, and his field of operational risk and training safety. He says he loved his work, but in 2019, he was medically retired with PTSD. Retirement got old fast, and when he got the opportunity to help a company recover from the problems of the COVID shutdown, he stepped up. From there, he joined SARC, where he works today. Nick speaks of the recycling mission of SARC, and how he has increased his education while there, receiving the RIMS-CRMP recently, and continues his studies. He recounts some of the activities of the Saskatchewan RIMS Chapter (SKRIMS), where he serves on the board. He shares how he manages his PTSD and why he advocates for removing the stigma around mental health. Listen for insight on living with PTSD while managing risk at a major non-profit organization.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] Public registration is open for RISKWORLD 2026, which will be held from May 3rd through 6th in Philadelphia. Visit RIMS.org/RISKWORLD to register.

[:27] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is Nicholas Quigley, RIMS-CRMP. He is the Risk Specialist for the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centers, or SARC.

[:52] We will discuss recycling, energy efficiency, how his military career led him to risk management, and mental health awareness. But first…

[1:01] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be on May 13th and 14th. The very popular CBCP and RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Bootcamp will be held from May 18th through the 21st. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be held on June 9th and 10th.

[1:21] Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[1:23] Webinars. On May 14th, Origami Risk will return with a new session, "Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility."

[1:35] On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:50] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[2:10] On with the Show! Our guest today is Nick Quigley, the Risk Specialist for the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centers (SARC). He is an educator, a veteran, and a member of the Saskatchewan RIMS Chapter (SKRIMS). Justin met Nick at a SKRIMS event.

[2:34] Nick will discuss the work he does for SARC, which handles recycling and energy efficiency, his involvement with SKRIMS, his certifications, including the RIMS-CRMP, and what it's like to be an educator.

[2:48] For Mental Health Awareness Month in May, and in Canada, Mental Health Week from May 4th through 10th, Nick will tell us how PTSD impacts his life and his career as a risk professional, how he handles these challenges, and offer words of comfort. Let's get to it!

[3:18] Interview! Nick Quigley, welcome back to RIMScast!

[3:32] Nick is wearing a shirt that reads: Risk Manager: I solve problems you don't know you have. Nick has worn that shirt to board meetings, senior management meetings, presentations, and to his class when he was teaching.

[4:22] Justin mentions a great presentation Nick led last year. After the presentation, Justin wanted Nick to be on RIMScast. Nick also has a RIMS CRMP Story.

[4:57] Before Nick was out of high school, he saw an ad for the summer: Do you want to make $6,000 this summer, and do you like being outdoors? Nick grew up in a small community on Prince Edward Island, and he loves the outdoors.

[5:34] He filled out paperwork, not noticing the top of the form, Government of Canada, Department of National Defense. When he showed up at the recruiting center for testing, he saw what he had done.

[6:06] Nick followed through, did his basic recruit training and his trades training, and became qualified as a signals operator. His job was radios, satellites, and IT. He enjoyed it. But he got an opportunity early on to focus on operational risk and training safety.

[6:35] It was not a traditional 9-to-5. Every day there was something different. That's what kept it exciting. Nick retired in 2019. Then came COVID. People who knew Nick's background asked him to come work with them. He went back to work and found out he enjoyed it again.

[7:16] Nick found a second life, working full-time again, in risk management. Nick's background was in operations and crisis and emergency management. He has a degree in emergency management.

[8:17] Nick says retirement was fun, at first. All his friends had to go to work, while he did what he wanted. It was also lonely, because all his friends were at work. It got old, really fast.

[9:19] Nick says when he retired, he did some little projects and woodworking, but that got old, too. Doing it all day felt like work, not a hobby or a passion. It got lonely and boring, and he needed a change.

[9:51] Nick got recruited into risk management from somebody who knew his military background and offered him a chance to assist them during COVID. He got his ISO 31000 while he was there. Shortly after, he went to a large, non-profit charity where he is the risk manager.

[10:38] The charity manages all the recycling across the Province of Saskatchewan. Nick got his RIMS-CRMP within a couple of months of starting this position. He has been a lifelong learner. Education can lead to a better outcome when it comes to real-world applicability.

[11:14] Nick says education gives you a baseline understanding of what you need to know. Experience allows you to modify what you have learned to fit the situation.

[11:44] People tell Nick he has more letters after his name than in his name. He believes education is important. Now he is working toward becoming a Chief Internal Auditor from the IIA.

[12:21] Nick explains how SARC operates across Saskatchewan. They collect aluminum cans and other materials from customers and return the deposit fees to the customers. They sort and process the materials and ship them to downstream market partners for recycling.

[13:49] SARC has several streams: aluminum, plastics, glass, flexible packaging, and styrofoam.

[14:00] Yesterday, April 20th, was Earth Day. SARC takes that seriously. SARC's mission is to have a large recycling presence and to be the best at what they do.

[14:52] Nick is fascinated by innovations coming out now in how we leverage technology. Nick read an article about Finland using their data centers underground to heat houses and businesses.

[15:38] Nick is always looking for ways to make things more efficient or streamline processes to make them better. If we can do that by reusing materials instead of taking them out of the earth, why not?

[16:02] Nick is the Risk Group at SARC. He is a department of one. He gets to dictate his priorities, with guidance from senior management and the strategic initiatives. He can look at things across the organization. Nick has the trust of senior management.

[17:03] Nick makes sure senior management is apprised of situations that will negatively affect them, their mission, vision, values, or the strategic priorities. They rely on his expertise when things pop up.

[17:32] Nick says when he started, one of the interesting things he got to do was to follow the recyclable material from start to finish. What does it go through at SARC, and where does it go downstream? He spent a lot of time building out those processes to make them efficient.

[18:10] Nick worked with Operations and Processing to see how they are doing it and look at it from the perspective of reducing risk, unneeded redundancies, and bottlenecks.

[18:45] SARC and SARCAN, the recycling system, have been around since 1989. They had processes. It's a large, fairly mature organization, with about 1,000 employees in 76 locations across the province, serving 1.1 million people.

[19:15] Nick's role was to validate the processes. Are they efficient? Can we do better? What can we change? How does the customer experience get better? We want people to bring back their recyclables. If it's a barrier, they're not going to bring them back, and it's wasted material.

[19:31] Saskatchewan has a collection rate that's higher than that of other provinces. Some provinces don't have a system. Others rely on a curbside collection system.

[20:16] The provinces share knowledge. They have a collective, and the senior management confers with them and shares knowledge about what works and what doesn't. SARC is a non-profit charity, and some of the other systems have a for-profit system.

[20:49] SARC owns and operates the collection depot and the recycling system. They don't have the intricacies and risks of working with external businesses in the process. They own the process. They don't have the risks that come with third-party management.

[21:36] A Quick Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. RISKWORLD attracts more than 10,000 risk professionals from across the globe. It's time to Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate with them.

[21:56] Public registration is open, and booth sales are still available. Links are in this episode's show notes, and be sure to check out RIMS.org for more information.

[22:06] We will kick off Day 1 with a conversation with Adam Grant. He is an organizational psychologist, best-selling author, and a leading management thinker.

[22:13] The excitement continues with the announcement of the closing keynote. NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl Champion, Emmy-winning broadcaster, and entrepreneur Michael Strahan will be on the main stage on May 6th. Justin is super stoked!

[22:29] If you're still on the fence, this is the time to smash that Register button and hear from one of the all-time greats.

[22:36] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[22:53] Save the dates, October 18th through the 21st. That is when the 50th Annual RIMS Canada Conference will be held in Quebec City. Booth sales are already open. The call for educational session proposals will open soon, and early-bird registration will open in June.

[23:13] Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information. Also, remember to check out RIMS.org/Canada for our spinoff show, RIMScast Canada, hosted by National Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni.

[23:29] Let's Return to Our Interview with Nicholas Quigley!

[23:34] Nick was interviewed for a RIMS-CRMP Story. Nick loves having RIMS-CRMP after his name. Few people in Saskatchewan carry it. Some people don't know what it is.

[24:10] Nick sits on the Saskatchewan RIMS Chapter board, and he also acts as an advocacy officer. He promotes understanding of the designation. Canada has a CRM designation, but the RIMS-CRMP designation is also available and just as important.

[24:59] Justin says there are 13 RIMS-CRMP certification holders in Saskatchewan and 172 in Canada. He hopes to raise those numbers.

[25:12] In Nick's RIMS-CRMP Story, he talked about his military experience and some of the mental health challenges he experienced with it. Regarding Mental Health Week, May 4th‒10th, and Mental Health Awareness Month, in May, Justin asks what Nick wants to share.

[25:52] Nick has been a proponent and advocate of reducing stigma around mental health. He lives with PTSD. It's not going to go away, but he can function with it. There are good days and bad days. Everybody has a bad day.

[26:35] When Nick has a bad day, he restricts his movement and interaction. He needs a day to reset. That's what it is now. When he was first diagnosed, it was a lot different. There were a lot more bad days than good days. It could extend for a week or two at a time.

[27:01] Nick says, now, a bad day comes about once every three months. It's just something that he lives with. Nick knows the triggers, and he can sense when it's coming. When he knows that it's coming, he informs his boss, and he takes a sick day.

[27:27] Nick says that in his role, he advocates for the disability sector. It's one of the values at SARC, as well. The culture is open to that; there is no stigma in his office. It's not the norm across the corporate culture of any industry, and Nick has found it to be a challenge.

[28:00] When Nick retired in 2019, he was medically retired because of his diagnosis. If he hadn't been diagnosed, he'd probably still be in the Army. He loved his job and what he did there. He was not ready to retire, but he had to retire.

[28:21] With retirement, there came a lot of acceptance and grief. When veterans retire, it's like losing a family. You spend more time with the people you work with all day than with your family. You get posted overseas for extended periods.

[28:42] Those are the work buddies you know and live with. Then all of a sudden, you have to retire. It's a hard adjustment, especially when it comes to mental health.

[29:00] Nick says the best thing you can do when you have PTSD is to hang out with people and create normalcy. When you get retired, that gets taken away from you. It takes a lot of time to come to terms with that. Some veterans need a lot of assistance with that transition. It's hard.

[29:55] Nick says PTSD can hit military, police, fire, and paramedics. It doesn't discriminate. It can happen in a corporate environment. It's traumatic, whether it's vicarious trauma or trauma that you experienced.

[30:13] If you have repeated exposure, without processing and dealing with that trauma, if you continually suppress it, eventually it becomes PTSD.

[30:56] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period is now open, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[31:17] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[31:32] General Grant applications will open on May 1st, 2026, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[31:44] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[31:53] Let's Conclude Our Interview with Nick Quigley!

[32:17] It took Nick a long time to come to terms with being open about PTSD. There's a lot of stigma still around it.

[32:40] When Nick was ready to go back to the workforce after retirement, it was a challenge to find work, simply because risk managers may have to deal with a crisis. They have a lot of stress put on them.

[32:59] People see PTSD in movies, and they think it means you're low-functioning, that you can't handle any stress, and that it's exacerbated to the point where it's unmanageable. Those are not the people who just live with it day-to-day.

[33:25] There may be an unconscious bias that people with PTSD may not be suited to this role. It's not true. Military veterans are probably the people you want in high-stress jobs. A military member's worst day at work is worse than anything the corporate world can throw at them.

[33:56] Military service comes with a lot of risk and a lot of high-pressure scenarios. Nick says there's nothing in the corporate environment that shakes him. You can tell, in a room in crisis, who the military veterans are. They're the ones sitting, talking to each other, not freaking out.

[34:50] Nick advocates for mental health all the time. Nick has a service dog that goes with him everywhere. Often, people stop him with questions. He tells them that, as a veteran with PTSD, his dog helps him function.

[35:37] Nick is open and honest about PTSD. He says if we can be open and honest about it, it lowers the stigma around it and normalizes it. People don't expect such openness, but Nick doesn't care to hide it.

[36:48] Justin shares a link for CMHA.ca and their Mental Health Week page and resources.

[37:06] Justin notes that SKRIMS is one of the top chapters of RIMS. SKRIMS Annual Golf Day will be on Wednesday, August 19th, at the beautiful Harbor Golf Club in Elbow, Saskatchewan. Check out the Saskatchewan.RIMS.org page for more information.

[37:35] Nick says being at SKRIMS is awesome. He has sat on many boards, and it is difficult to find a group of volunteers so passionate and so willing to do anything and everything to give back to the membership. The SKRIMS board asks how to give back more.

[38:08] Nick says last Fall, SKRIMS did a volunteer day at Habitat for Humanity. On April 24th, they're volunteering at a food bank. They'll have contingents at both Saskatoon and Regina at the same time.

[38:50] SARC is supportive of Nick's involvement with SKRIMS. They help where they can. Where they can't, the SKRIMS board works around it. That's a benefit of having such an active board. If Nick doesn't have capacity with his workload, another person on the board steps up to assist.

[39:28] Justin mentions some of the board, including President Katherine Dawal, Chelsea Wilson, and Chelsea Andrusiak, and other SKRIMS members; a great group of folks who are making a difference.

[40:13] Nick says SKRIMS has pushed educational institutions to offer risk management courses. There's one in development with a Master's Certificate. A board member, Jim MacKenzie, taught the first Uncertainty Management course at the University of Regina.

[40:33] Nick is just finishing the Risk Management course at the University of Saskatchewan. Nick is a sessional lecturer. This is the first University class he has taught. He loved the class and his students, with their engagement and curiosity.

[41:02] With Nick's students being business and finance majors, all risk applies to them because risk is not siloed; it's overreaching. Now they have foundational risk management knowledge as a base, so they are better equipped when they enter the business sector.

[41:56] Nick says he asked his class to estimate when the first episode of Gilligan's Island was aired on TV. They all said it was in the '80s or '90s, not 1964. He definitely dated himself with them. A lot of the references fell short because they weren't born until 2001.

[43:02] Nick's last words on the risk profession, "It is an interesting field. It's never the same. The thing I love most about it is that I can work anywhere. I can work for any company. I am not stuck in one vertical market. If a company needs to manage risk, you can provide value.

[43:21] "That's one of the most interesting things; I can learn about vertical markets and sectors, but I can still apply my risk knowledge to assist them. I don't need to be a subject matter expert in their field. I just need to assist them and prompt them to look at it the right way.

[43:40] "That's more valuable than anything. In some careers, you go down the path. If you're a plumber, you're a plumber. You can't be an electrician tomorrow, right?"

[44:13] Nick, it's been a real pleasure to see you again, and I hope to see you at the RIMS Canada Conference, October 18th through the 21st, in Quebec.

[44:26] Special thanks again to Nick Quigley for joining us here on RIMScast. We appreciate his candidness, and we have links to more resources about mental health and risk management.

[44:36] I have a link to his RIMS-CRMP Story in this episode's show notes, along with a link to his chapter's site, the Saskatchewan Chapter of RIMS. They're fantastic; some of my favorite people!

[44:51] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[45:19] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[45:37] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[45:55] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[46:12] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[46:25] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[46:37] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RISKWORLD 2026 Registration — Open for exhibitors, members, and non-members!

Reserve your booth at RISKWORLD 2026!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Canada Conference — Oct. 18‒21, 2026 | Quebec City | RIMSCanadaConference.caCall For Education Submissions Open Through May 8

RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Stories, Featuring This Week's Guest, Nick Quigley

RIMScast Canada — Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

Mental Health Week Canada — May 4‒10, 2026

SKRIMS Home Page

SARCSARCAN.ca

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep | May 13‒14

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep | June 9‒10 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

"Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility" | May 14 | Presented by Origami Risk

"From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction" | May 28 | Presented by Zurich

RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes:

"World Water Day and the Circular Water Economy with Ralph Exton of WEF"

"Mental Health Awareness Month 2023"

"Mental Health in the Workplace with Darcy Gruttadaro"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"Facing Into Risk: Navigating the New Risk Landscape" (New!) | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

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RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

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About our guests: C. Nicholas Quigley, CD, BESMS, RIMS-CRMP

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews SERMC members Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow about the new RIMS Executive Report they co-authored with Joe Pugh, also of the SERMC, "Board Risk Reporting: How to Deliver Insights that Matter." Suzanne and Trisha share tips for preparing to report to your board, how frequent reporting should be, and the difference between the board's oversight and the executive team's management. Trisha also shares descriptions of her two upcoming RISKWORLD presentations on May 6th.

Listen for insight on providing the board with the information they need to support the organization's objectives and strategies.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] Public registration is open for RISKWORLD 2026, which will be held from May 3rd through 6th in Philadelphia. Visit RIMS.org/RISKWORLD to register.

[:27] About this episode of RIMScast. Our topic is board reporting and ERM, and our guests are Trisha Sqrow and Suzanne Christensen of the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council. They've co-authored a new Executive Report. We're going to talk all about it. But first…

[:58] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be on April 21st and 22nd, and then again on June 9th and 10th. Registration links are in this episode's notes.

[1:14] Webinars. On April 16th, Zurich and World Travel Protection will present "Navigating the New Global Risk Landscape: Lessons for Business Travelers in Unstable Times".

[1:24] On May 14th, Origami Risk will return with a new session, "Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/webinars and through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:39] Folks, for more RIMS content, head over to YouTube and subscribe to @RIMSOfficialChannel. There you will find video podcasts, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS.

[1:55] Head over to RMMagazine.com for the Q1 Edition of the Azbee-Award-winning publication, RIMS Risk Management Magazine.

[2:06] On with the Show! Our guests are Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow. As members of the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council, they co-authored the new RIMS Executive Report, "Board Risk Reporting: How to Deliver Insights that Matter."

[2:24] Co-authored by Joe Pugh of the AARP, a RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council member, the report provides practical insights and guidance to risk practitioners who report to their organization's board of directors or overarching governance committees.

[2:38] The report provides guidance on aligning this reporting with the board's role and expectations, the steps that should be taken to sustain the alignment, and how to ensure reporting provides the board with the appropriate level of detail.

[2:52] The link to the report is available in this episode's show notes. You can also visit the Risk Knowledge section of RIMS.org. If you like what you read and you like what you hear today, be sure to hear Patricia and Joe at RISKWORLD on May 6th at 11:30 a.m. in Room 119-AB.

[3:11] They will extend the dialog with the session "From Risk Aware to Risk Savvy: Elevating Board-Level Risk Reporting and Engagement." It will undoubtedly be a fantastic session!

[3:21] Let's talk about board reporting right now!

[3:23] Interview! Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow, welcome back to RIMScast!

[3:31] Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow have been carrying the torch for the Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council at RIMS for years. Now, they are rejoining us on RIMScast. It's a delight to welcome them both back.

[3:57] The new RIMS Executive Report, "Board Risk Reporting: How to Deliver Insights that Matter," was co-authored by Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow, with Joe Pugh, who is also on the Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council.

[4:15] This paper is available for a limited time exclusively to RIMS members. It will then be open to the public. There's a lot of great information in it, and it gets right to the point.

[4:40] Research shows that while many risk professionals believe their reporting supports board decision-making, most boards are still asking for more information and deeper analysis.

[4:47] Trisha says, boards are becoming more interested in understanding the risk profile of the organization, what's being done, and how leadership is managing risk, because we are in a complex time. There are so many risks that are not internal.

[5:33] The board is asking: How do we look at this, how can we manage what we can, and prepare for and respond to those things that we can't manage, but that could come and hit us? [5:47] Boards are more interested. They have regulatory concerns and requirements, potential liability, and things of that nature.

[6:07] Suzanne agrees with Trisha about the complexity in our post-COVID world with the interconnectedness of risks and the unexpected. Regarding the pace of change, Suzanne says hang onto your seats right now, particularly with AI!

[6:30] Boards serve a lot of constituents and stakeholders, and they're feeling pressure. They're looking for more insightful analysis. The report gets into how to figure out what is insightful to a board. Justin notes that each board will have a different definition of insightful.

[6:58] One board can change over time as different board members bring different dynamics and expectations to the board. The paper has a point about keeping pace with the board.

[7:18] The paper makes the point that effective board reporting is not about what risk teams want to say but about what boards need to hear.

[7:43] Suzanne breaks down the difference between the need that the board knows and understands, and articulates, and the things they should also know, to be good board members. That takes exploration. There are things the board might not know to ask.

[8:10] Risk professionals have knowledge and context. They need to lean in and say, "You're asking for this, and that's super important, but in addition, here are some other things to be aware of." You need to start with a mutual understanding. There's a process to go through.

[8:31] Trisha says the risk practitioner has the largest view of the risk profile of the organization. The board is thinking more of strategic goals and objectives, but they do want to know about the risk. Board risk reporting is a matter of working to connect strategy with risk management.

[9:07] The risk practitioner can develop a culture of discussion and openness to discuss risks, mitigations, and possible blind spots.

[9:26] Suzanne says one of the primary roles of the board is to make sure the firm has the right strategy and they're executing it appropriately. The biggest risk to the board is becoming irrelevant to constituents and clients. Not all key risks to the organization are equal to the board.

[9:59] The board spends more time on the strategic risks. When reporting, you can't forget the operating risks. You can summarize them as "Here are some things to look at that we've got covered. So, let's spend more time over here."

[10:46] If you don't first build alignment with executive management before engaging with the board, Suzanne says you'll end up with a modern-day Babylon. You won't end up with support from the key risk owners on the strategic side. The owners of the risk are the decision-makers.

[11:02] The decision-makers are management and executive management. It has to be their story, and they have to buy in. Risk practitioners are the facilitators to create that alignment so those conversations can be robust, open, and transparent.

[11:44] Trisha says the executive leadership team (ELT) is the liaison and connection to the board. Most risk practitioners may not be in all of the board meetings or interacting with the board regularly. The executive leaders probably are.

[12:05] The ELT can bridge the gap. They have the relationships and know the personalities of the board members. They understand how the board likes to receive information and can help the risk practitioner develop reports in that way. They can open the line of communication more.

[12:28] Trisha says that in her previous work for DFW Airport and others, they did this through the structure of the Enterprise Risk Management program, having a risk council report periodically to the ELT, so they have the information and can go forth with it.

[13:17] Suzanne says the best practice is to spend some prep time to get some baseline knowledge and level-setting across, so when you go into those meetings, the conversations will be richer. You're not educating. You're getting right to what you want to focus on in your report.

[13:58] There are different methods for doing that, depending on the organization, with its aptitude and appetite. You can do it in a pre-conversation setting, starting with the ELT, so that they're part of that conversation, helping to drive it. That is ideal.

[14:21] A Quick Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. RISKWORLD attracts more than 10,000 risk professionals from across the globe. It's time to Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate with them.

[14:41] Public registration is open, and booth sales are still available. Links are in this episode's show notes, and be sure to check out RIMS.org for more information.

[14:50] We will kick off Day 1 with a conversation with Adam Grant. He is an organizational psychologist, best-selling author, and a leading influential management thinker.

[14:59] The excitement continues with the announcement of the closing keynote speaker. NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl Champion, Emmy-winning broadcaster, and entrepreneur Michael Strahan will be on the main stage on May 6th. Justin is super stoked!

[15:15] If you're still on the fence, this is the time to smash that Register button and hear from one of the all-time greats.

[15:23] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[15:42] Let's Return to Our Interview with Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow!

[16:10] Suzanne says you want to exude confidence when you initiate a risk dialogue with executive leaders and the board, but you don't want to look so buttoned-up that when something does go bump, they look at you and say they thought you had that covered.

[16:42] Trisha says it's very important to build those relationships as you can, so you have direct knowledge of the primary stakeholders you are working with, and so you can communicate better with them and provide good, insightful tidbits of knowledge.

[17:10] Boards are to maintain oversight and not get down into the management level.

[17:22] Suzanne says good reputational risk management establishes credibility up front, without appearing confident that you can prevent every risk from happening. Something big could happen. You need a good business crisis plan. The board could be involved in a crisis.

[18:26] Boards need to be risk savvy, not just risk-aware. The educational part is helping the board understand the organization and the key risks to it. Then they need to be actively engaged so they're asking better questions and leveraging that knowledge to make better decisions.

[18:44] That's the evolution you're working on. It's ideal to do some of the educational work up front so you don't have to do it in real-time. It helps to get quickly to the risk-savvy, better decision-making piece.

[19:12] Trisha explains the difference between being risk-informed and risk savvy. When you learn risk at the basic level, you know the nuts and bolts. Becoming risk savvy is understanding how it all integrates together. How do we start seeing what risks are interconnected?

[19:40] Trisha asks how we see how the external factors that we face in the world could impact our strategic goals and initiatives. You need to mitigate risks, plan, and prepare for them, and think through your overarching organizational resiliency.

[20:07] The risk practitioner doesn't just present a list of risks and mitigation plans. They say, here's what we're seeing and how this could impact that. Here are the systemic issues, and talk about what we are doing from that larger perspective.

[20:32] Suzanne thinks it's important not to be backward-looking but to have foresight and look around the corner at what's ahead and ask how we can be more nimble as we charge forward. How can we adapt better to the new environment and manage risks in real-time?

[20:53] That all helps to build foresight and the ability to think about what could go awry, or what new opportunity we need to take to achieve our goals. These are important points to being risk savvy.

[21:29] Suzanne says in some organizations, board reporting is not happening. There is zero cadence. Some organizations report almost quarterly. In those cases, is the board providing oversight or management?

[22:06] Consider how much information and what you are reporting; insights beat volume. What are the insights you need the board to know? Determine the level of information the executive team, the audit compliance committee, and the full board need. It's organization-specific.

[22:47] Trisha addresses information overload. If you can get some pre-read out there, so that you can then have a conversation, that's ideal. Think about what decisions they need to make to know what information they will need to have in hand to make those decisions.

[23:14] The decisions that are being made are different, depending on the group you are reporting to. Strategic decisions are going to need this information; operational decisions will need this other information.

[23:39] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period opened on April 1st, 2026, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[24:00] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[24:15] General Grant applications will open on May 1st, 2026, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[24:27] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[24:36] Let's Conclude Our Interview with Suzanne Christensen and Trisha Sqrow!

[25:21] Justin asks about rightsizing, in terms of reporting. Suzanne says there is a set of goals or objectives behind right-sizing. When you get to the objectives, you can think about how you rightsize for those objectives. What do they need to know to make those decisions?

[25:59] Trisha agrees. It goes back to understanding the audience and what they like to see, and saying, here are things that we need decisions on, or we need your thought process on.

[26:21] Trisha has two sessions on Wednesday, May 6th, at RISKWORLD. The first one is with Katrina Gilbert from the DFW Chapter, "Kickoff to Resilience: A Case Study in Risk Management Strategies for Major Event Planning," from 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

[26:49] Fifteen minutes later, Trisha will present "From Risk Aware to Risk Savvy: Elevating Board Level Risk Reporting and Engagement," with co-author Joe Pugh from AARP.

[27:12] Trisha says there's a responsibility on the board to know that the program is operating as it should, it's bubbling up information that should be bubbled up, they're getting exception reporting, and they have confidence that it's coming their way; it's not haphazard.

[27:44] There is a little bit of time that has to be spent talking about the program and how the board can have confidence in it. It doesn't have to be a long story. It's "Here's what we're focused on. Here's how we know we're good. We've done a benchmark. We know we keep it current."

[24:12] Suzanne says you want to enable informed oversight. You want to think through what they would need so that they can provide oversight to you.

[28:18] You need forward thinking, looking at not only what's happening now, but also at what the potential emerging risks are. What are we watching for? How are we preparing for those things? Work to engage the board as you go forward.

[28:33] Trisha says to get feedback on an ongoing basis. It's helpful to do annual surveys, but it's also asking in real-time, "Does this make sense; are you getting what you need?"

[28:49] You can tell, based on the engagement, the level of discussion, and their questions. They should be asking insightful questions. That allows you to tell a deeper story because they're obviously interested in it. It's not a one-and-done.

[29:30] Trisha says it's an honor to be able to speak at RISKWORLD or any RIMS event. She thanks the RIMS team, the SERMC, and others across the committees that selected the sessions. She is really excited to have the opportunity to do both sessions.

[29:51] The "Large Event Planning" session will focus on what the DFW Airport has done to prepare for the FIFA World Cup, considering what it looks like to apply enterprise risk management to something of this magnitude and scale.

[30:11] Katrina will do a case study, and Trisha will talk about higher-level issues.

[30:17] The "Board Reporting" session will showcase the executive report just published that she co-authored. Trisha's excited. She understands her commute is just next door, which helps a lot since they are just 15 minutes apart.

[30:43] Justin says we appreciate both of you for all the contributions you've made to RIMS through the years. I look forward to seeing you at RISKWORLD. Thank you for being such wonderful champions of the Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council here at RIMS!

[31:04] Special thanks again to Trisha Sqrow and Suzanne Christensen for joining us on RIMScast. Check out the new RIMS Executive Report, "Board Risk Reporting: How to Deliver Insights that Matter." The link is in this episode's show notes and at RIMS.org/risk-knowledge.

[31:24] The dialogue about board reporting and this executive report will be extended at RISKWORLD on May 6th. Trisha and her other co-author, Joe Pugh of AARP, will lead the session "From Risk Aware to Risk Savvy: Elevating Board-Level Risk Reporting and Engagement."

[31:42] That session will be held in Room 119-AB. Prior to that session, Trisha will be co-presenting the session "Kickoff to Reslience: A Case Study in Risk Management Strategies for Major Event Planning," in Room 118-BC with her former DFW colleague, Katrina Gilbert.

[32:04] If you haven't done so already, be sure to register for RISKWORLD at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD.

[32:10] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[32:39] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[32:57] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[33:15] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[33:31] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[33:45] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[33:57] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support!

Links:

RISKWORLD 2026 Registration — Open for exhibitors, members, and non-members!

Reserve your booth at RISKWORLD 2026!

Board Risk Reporting: How to Deliver Insights That Matter: Press Release | Download Paper

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute

RIMS Now

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council

RIMS-CRMP Story, featuring John Button

RIMScast Canada — Episodes Now Live

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops:

RIMS-CRMP Exam PrepApril 21‒22, 2026 | June 9‒10 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

"Navigating the New Global Risk Landscape: Lessons for Business Travelers in Unstable Times" | April 16 | Presented by Zurich and World Travel Protection

"Future-Proofing Your Risk Program: Keeping Pace with Scale, Complexity, and Visibility" | May 14 | Presented by Origami Risk

RIMS.org/Webinars

Related RIMScast Episodes:

"James Lam on ERM, Strategy, and the Modern CRO"

"Risk Quantification Through Value-Based Frameworks" (2024)

"The Value of Risk Management: Inside the RIMS 2025 Compensation Survey"

"The Future of Strategic Risk Management"

"Presilience and Cognitive Biases with Dr. Gav Schneider and Shreen Williams"

"RIMS ERM Global Award of Distinction 2025 Winner Sadig Hajiyev — Recorded live from the RIMS ERM Conference in Seattle!"

"Risk Rotation with Lori Flaherty and Bill Coller of Paychex"

"Energizing ERM with Kellee Ann Richards-St. Clair"

"Talking ERM: From Geopolitical Whiplash to Leadership Buy-In"

"Tom Brandt on Growing Your Career and Organization with ERM"

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

"Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!)

"The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant

"Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent

"Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant

"The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL

"Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company

"Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich

"Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich

"What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor

"How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog

"Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Manny Padilla!

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

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About our guests: Suzanne Christensen, RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council

Trisha Sqrow, RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council

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Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Kiersten Cash regarding the May 6th RISKWORLD session that she is co-presenting with Frank Wickersham, a Workers' Comp defense attorney, "Reefer Madness: Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation Insurance, Legal, and Regulatory." Kiersten shares the biggest misconception risk professionals have about medical marijuana in Workers' Comp. She discusses the conversation around cannabis and workplace injury. Justin and Kiersten talk about the growing patchwork of state laws on cannabis and what risk managers should be paying close attention to right now. Kiersten explains the concerns about Workers' Comp paying for medical marijuana. She gives a preview of what to expect in her RISKWORLD session.

Listen for insights about the problems of marijuana as a treatment option in Workers' Comp.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] Public registration is open for RISKWORLD 2026, which will be held from May 3rd through 6th in Philadelphia. Visit RIMS.org/RISKWORLD to register.

[:27] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is Kiersten Cash. She is the Senior Manager for Workers' Compensation and General Liability at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She's going to talk to us all about medical marijuana and Workers' Compensation Claims. But first…

[:58] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be on April 21st and 22nd, and then again on June 9th and 10th. Registration links are in this episode's notes.

[1:14] On April 15th, we have a virtual workshop covering "Emerging Risks", led by Joseph Mayo. Register today and strengthen your risk knowledge. RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops.

[1:29] Webinars. On April 16th, Zurich and World Travel Protection will present "Navigating the New Global Risk Landscape: Lessons for Business Travelers in Unstable Times". Register for webinars at RIMS.org/webinars and through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:47] Folks, for more RIMS content, head over to YouTube and subscribe to @RIMSOfficialChannel. There you will find video podcasts, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS.

[2:02] Head over to RMMagazine.com for the Q1 Edition of the Azbee-Award-winning publication, RIMS Risk Management Magazine.

[2:15] On with the Show! Our guest today is the Senior Manager for Workers' Compensation and General Liability at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Kiersten J. Cash. She's here to discuss what's going on with medical marijuana and Workers' Compensation claims.

[2:31] This will serve as a bit of a preview of her session at RISKWORLD on May 6th at 10:15 a.m. in Room 120-BC, "Reefer Madness: Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation."

[2:43] We will discuss whether cannabis is still an effective treatment for chronic pain due to workplace injury and what could happen if the U.S. Government were to change its schedule from number 1 to number 3.

[2:54] We're going to learn about Kiersten's fascinating work and her career. Let's get to it!

[3:00] Interview! Kiersten Cash, MBA, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:23] Kiersten is with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP. Kiersten Cash has a session at RISKWORLD, "Reefer Madness."

[4:27] Kiersten has been in the world of Workers' Comp for a little over 20 years. She started as an adjuster. She adjusted national market claims and middle market claims for 10 years. Then she went to the broker side.

[4:46] She managed the claim program for the broker's largest client at the time, along with 23 other claim programs, covering all lines of insurance. Next, Kiersten worked for Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, a residential treatment facility.

[5:06] Then Kiersten moved to CHOP, where she manages all of Workers' Comp, General Liability, and Auto for the health system.

[5:22] Kiersten says Workers' Comp is one of those industries where you kind of fall into it. In the final year of her graduate program, she needed a job. She met someone who worked at Liberty Mutual, who said they were hiring claims adjusters. She took the job.

[5:44] Kiersten says she tried to get out of this industry on numerous occasions, but the industry apparently loves her too much. She's glad she stayed because she really likes where she has ultimately landed, CHOP.

[6:52] Kiersten is a member of the Delaware Valley Chapter of RIMS, the oldest RIMS chapter. RIMS is 76 years old. The chapter is 75 years old. Chapter President Tom Armstrong was on RIMScast recently, excited about all the cool things the host chapter is doing for RISKWORLD.

[7:44] Justin asks what Kiersten feels is the biggest misconception risk professionals have about medical marijuana and Workers' Compensation. She thinks the biggest misconception is that there is a difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana.

[8:18] Kiersten says, as an employer, we do not want a trace in our employees' system while working, whether prescribed by a doctor or not. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal use does not excuse an employee from being impaired at work.

[8:36] Kiersten thinks that, down the pike, this will cause a major conflict as this continues to be a topic of conversation. Kiersten hopes to dispel that misconception in this episode of RIMScast and in her presentation at RISKWORLD.

[9:12] Kiersten says she has not had to have this conversation at CHOP from a Workers' Comp perspective, as they have not seen an influx of chronic pain or severe injuries in her tenure. That's good from the employer's perspective, as injuries are under control.

[9:38] Kiersten says that when we get into back surgeries, shoulder surgeries, or other major surgeries, she definitely sees this conversation becoming an issue.

[9:53] Kiersten says she is very good at interacting with the medical providers involved in her program. If medical marijuana were to become a treatment option, Kiersten would need to sit down with the pain management specialist or physician to talk about it, so it is monitored.

[10:29] The goal is not to put an employee on medical marijuana and keep renewing the card so they're just out there, collecting marijuana. There has to be a treatment plan with a target date.

[10:53] The goal of Workers' Compensation is always either to get the employee back to work or to their baseline, so they can function in society as a human being.

[11:06] Kiersten has not had to deal with prescription opioid claims, thankfully. In her adjuster days, she has seen situations where opioids have been out of control. There were times when she would propose detox programs for employees who were addicted to opioids.

[11:32] It would start with something like a back surgery. The employee was still in pain, and instead of addressing the cause of the pain, they would get opioids and end up getting addicted to them to the point that weaning off the opioids was not an option.

[11:55] Talking about medicinal marijuana, could marijuana have the same effect? That's one thing we are not sure of right now.

[12:25] Justin notes that opioid addiction often leads to huge nuclear verdicts and settlements, some of which are still being litigated.

[12:47] Kiersten brings up the socioeconomic factor of the claim. You can't say, this person had back surgery; this is going to be a situation where they're going to be addicted to medical marijuana, or they're going to be addicted to opioids.

[13:08] In her 20 years in the industry, Kiersten has seen that the motivation and the socioeconomic status of the employee, and their need to get back to normal, will always play a factor in whether this becomes an issue or is just something they have to do after surgery.

[13:48] Kiersten has worked with plenty of employees who have had surgery, used opioids for three to five days, and asked what they can have instead, because they don't like this medication. That's something to take into account when having this conversation.

[14:17] Kiersten talks about reimbursement costs and how long the payment would be required for medicinal marijuana, if approved. Is the medical marijuana prescribed for the work accident or for a pre-existing chronic condition that they claim was aggravated by the injury?

[15:11] A Quick Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. RISKWORLD attracts more than 10,000 risk professionals from across the globe. It's time to Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate with them.

[15:27] Booth sales are open now. General registration and speaker registration are also open right now. Marketplace and hospitality badges are now available. Links are in this episode's show notes, and be sure to check out RIMS.org for more information.

[15:45] Our guest today, Kiersten Cash, will be a session speaker at RISKWORLD. We are excited for her and also for our just-announced closing keynote, NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl Champion, Emmy-winning broadcaster, and entrepreneur, Michael Strahan.

[16:09] Michael Strahan will be on the main stage on May 6th. Justin is super stoked! If you're still on the fence, this is a fine time to smash that Register button and hear from one of the all-time greats.

[16:21] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held from October 4th through the 7th in Seattle, Washington. Registration is open, and you can also submit a session. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and the link in this episode's show notes for more information.

[16:41] Let's Return to Our Interview with Kiersten Cash of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia!

[16:49] On May 6th, Kiersten Cash will deliver the session at 10:15 a.m. in 120-BC, "Reefer Madness: Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation." Kiersten will co-present with Frank Wickersham, a Workers' Comp defense attorney with Marshall Dennehy.

[17:17] Kiersten says that after the presentation, she and Frank will leave time for Q&A. Kiersten says that audience participation makes her feel like she did her job.

[18:07] Kiersten asks, why should the employer ever have to pay for marijuana. If an employer starts paying for medicinal marijuana for employee A, B, and C, they'll tell their friends they got a medical card after a work injury, CHOP is paying for it, and this is all you have to do to get it.

[19:13] That can become a big issue. Kiersten thinks the biggest thing is for the employer to control what they will pay for, if they have to pay for anything, and to keep it contained, so people who are not hurt but want free medicinal marijuana do not become an issue for Workers' Comp.

[20:14] In Pennsylvania, there is a mental-mental claim. People can initiate a mental-mental claim, for example, if they get into a dispute with a co-worker and don't feel comfortable coming to work because they don't want to work with said co-worker.

[20:31] Mental-mental claims are very hard to prove. In Pennsylvania, nine times out of 10, they are denied. The burden of proof is on the employee to show that their mental issue is from a condition that arose out of something that happened at work.

[21:08] Different states may have different laws that affect Workers' Comp. Kiersten always pays attention to what is going on in the Tri-State Area and the Mid-Atlantic Region. If something passes in one state, it might be about to pass in the next state.

[21:50] Justin asks about Cannabis potentially shifting from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. Kiersten has not heard of that happening in Pennsylvania. Schedule III classifies a drug as having a medicinal benefit, as long as it's prescribed by a physician.

[22:32] If the treating physician for the work injury prescribes a Schedule III medicine, the employer could be responsible for ongoing payment indefinitely.

[22:48] Schedule I drugs are not classified as having a medicinal benefit and are considered highly addictive, similar to heroin and LSD.

[23:03] Another Quick Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's Risk Manager on Campus application period opened on April 1st, 2026, and it will close on June 30th. Grant awardees, colleges, and universities are typically notified in September.

[23:24] The Course Development Grant application deadline for Interval Number 2 will be on June 15th, 2026. Award notifications will be sent out in late July.

[23:39] General Grant applications will open on May 1st, 2026, and the application deadline is July 30th. Internship Grant applications open on August 15th and close on October 15th.

[23:51] Links to each of these grants are in this episode's show notes. Visit SpencerEd.org for more information.

[24:00] Let's Conclude Our Interview with Kiersten Cash of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia!

[24:12] Kiersten is a department of two: herself and her Workers' Comp Specialist. They run the program together.

[24:39] Kiersten mainly talks to managers, as she does a lot of accident investigation. Kiersten utilizes Teams a lot to establish relationships with the managers. They have a lot of videoconference calls.

[24:55] They send a lot of emails back and forth, but her initial contact with everybody is through Teams, so they know who Kiersten is and what she looks like. She sets up tours and in-person meetings with staff, so they're comfortable with her, and she builds rapport.

[25:20] If something is going on, Kiersten will go into the office and attend whatever meeting she needs to attend. The biggest way Kiersten gets to know a department is by setting up a meeting to do either shadowing or a tour of the department.

[25:37] CHOP is a large organization. Once Kiersten visits a department, and everybody knows her, they're more comfortable with her when it comes to somebody getting injured.

[25:57] Kiersten establishes herself as a contact so that for anything about Workers' Comp, they know to reach out to her.

[26:26] Kiersten also has vendors that help CHOP navigate claims. She builds and maintains vendor relationships as part of her job. She goes to vendor locations, tours their facilities, and meets the staff.

[26:57] Kiersten meets her nurses in person. Kiersten has met in person every nurse who works on her program. She has spoken to them, and they understand how the program is run.

[27:09] Kiersten has a very good relationship with all of the outside vendors who manage her program, so that everybody is on the same page and everybody knows what the common goal is for each claim.

[27:47] Kiersten's advice for the next generation of risk professionals is that Workers' Comp is absolutely the best line of insurance to learn with and hit the ground running in the industry.

[28:03] With Workers' Compensation, you learn about legal, medical, how to pay somebody's wage benefits when they're out of work, what's related to work, and what's not related to work.

[28:22] You learn how to decipher a claim. You learn how to investigate properly, to understand what you should be paying for, and what you should not be paying for. Workers' Comp is very complex. Trust the process.

[28:48] Being a claims adjuster is hard work, but it is only the first step to getting into a much bigger world of risk management. Kiersten says if she had not adjusted claims for 10 years, she would not be able to do the job that she has now.

[19:07] Understand that there is a reason for everything that happens in your career, and that you're not stuck. If a door closes in your face, understand that just because that door closes, it doesn't mean another door will not open.

[29:37] Michael Strahan is the RISKWORLD closing keynote on May 6th. Kiersten will be there. Is she stoked to see Michael Strahan? Kiersten's an Eagles fan, but back in the Strahan days, she would only watch the New York Giants just for him. It's exciting that he's there!

[30:20] Justin says it has been such a delight to finally meet you and to have you on our show. Everyone out there, please remember to go to Room 120-BC for "Reefer Madness: Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation," at 10:15 a.m. on May 6th.

[30:53] Special thanks again to Kiersten Cash of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Check out her session, "Reefer Madness: Still in the Weeds with Medical Marijuana and Workers' Compensation," at RISKWORLD on May 6th at 10:15 a.m. in Room 120-BC.

[31:18] Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD today.

[31:22] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[31:50] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [email protected] for more information.

[32:08] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [email protected] for more information.

[32:26] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[32:42] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[38:56] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at [email protected].

[33:09] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continuous support!

Links:

RISKWORLD 2026 Registration — Open for exhibitors, members, and non-members!

Reserve your booth at RISKWORLD 2026!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Scholarships and Grants | Open Calls and Timelines.

RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | July‒Sept. 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam

RIMS Western Regional Conference — Oct. 4‒7, 2026 | Seattle, WA | Register Today and Submit an Educational Session!

RIMS Risk Management Magazine | Contribute

Cannabis coverage in Risk Management Magazine

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RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) | Insights Video Series Featuring Joe Milan!

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RIMS-CRMP Exam PrepApril 21‒22, 2026 | June 9‒10 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

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Upcoming RIMS Webinars:

"Navigating the New Global Risk Landscape: Lessons for Business Travelers in Unstable Times" | April 16 | Presented by Zurich and World Travel Protection

RIMS.org/Webinars

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"Canna-Business Risks with Nikolas Komyati"

"Opioid Awareness and Workers Comp Risks with Raji Chadarevian of the NCCI"

"Bridging The Workers' Comp Talent Gap with Nikki Jackson"

"Tom Armstrong on Leading Risk at Comcast and RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter" (2026)

"Navigating Marine Risks in 2026 with Joshua Gold"

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RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

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Sponsor RIMScast: Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Have a question or suggestion? Email: [email protected].

Join the Conversation!

Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About our guest: Kiersten J. Cash, MBA

Senior Manager, Workers Compensation & General Liability Insurance Administration, Office of The General Counsel

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Roberts Center for Pediatric Research

Production and engineering provided by Podfly.