The story of my path into Risk Management (RM) is one of unforeseen circumstances. RM was not my initial choice during my undergrad studies. I had a passion for Human Resources. My forte consisted of employee administration, training and development, and recruitment. Outside of my normal day to day assignments at work, I would spend my personal time mostly helping people prepare for gainful employment by critiquing their employment portfolios and assisting them with marketing themselves to potential employers. This is what I loved to do!
What inspired you to pursue a career in risk management?
After graduating college, I was fortunate to start my career working for a workers’ compensation disability management firm. I had a number of different roles in the organization, each of which exposed me to different parts of the California workers’ compensation system and state and federal leave laws. Many of the firm’s clients were public agencies, so I learned a lot about risk management in a public agency setting which led me to pursue and obtain an ARM designation. For the past five years, I have worked for the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority as a Regional Risk Manager.
What do you specialize in?
My background is in workers’ compensation and disability management, but I have really grown to become a risk management generalist. In my current job with the California JPIA, I routinely assist member agencies with a variety of matters including risk assessment, contractual risk transfer, health and safety, and employment practices.
It all started twenty-four years ago just after college when I was hired by a small third-party administrator in Philadelphia, Curley Adjustment Bureau, to handle entry level claims. After eighteen years, 27 state licenses and many complex cases later, I entered into my current position with the County of Ventura’s Risk Management Department.
CalPERS issued a memorandum to public agencies on 03/30/2017 detailing their policies with respect to Industrial Disability Retirements, and announcing audits that would soon take place. They have since conducted an unprecedented 60 audits of member public agencies. For some agencies the policy does not represent a change in their existing practices, but for many, the announced policies are significant and will dramatically impact how they handle future IDR Applications.
