Jennifer Santiago (pictured above) took workplace as president of worldwide danger administration society RIMS initially of this 12 months. Santiago holds RIMS-CRMP, ARM and MBA designations, and is the director of danger administration and security at Wakefern Food Corp., the most important retailer-owned cooperative within the US. She has been a member of RIMS for 15 years and has been a part of its board of administrators since 2014.
Corporate Risk and Insurance spoke with Santiago about her profession in danger administration, in addition to what she is wanting ahead to as president of RIMS throughout a pivotal time for the business.
Corporate Risk and Insurance: Please inform us about your profession in danger administration. How did you get into this discipline?
Jennifer Santiago: It was positively fortuitous. I acquired an internship within the medical discipline as a medical legal responsibility consultant in medical malpractice – which is a captivating space. That led to my position at NYU Medical Center in danger administration and insurance coverage. It was an entry-level job, however I used to be promoted to director after a few years. The director position was expansive, and it required me to handle a crew, report back to the CFO and work with my first captive insurance coverage firm. There, I acquired great publicity and expertise in healthcare danger administration and the seed was planted for an thrilling profession.
CRI: What made you keep in danger administration?
JS: I continued to broaden my data and develop professionally by alternatives in a number of totally different organizations of various sizes and monetary constructions spanning healthcare, pharmaceutical, greater training, manufacturing and companies. These embrace well-known organizations resembling Novartis Pharmaceutical, Ingersoll Rand and Penn State University and, most not too long ago, at an US$18 billion cooperative known as Wakefern Food Corp. The range of operations and enterprise mannequin has stored issues attention-grabbing for me. Here, I’m in a position to apply my danger administration management, abilities and expertise to assist organizations and groups assess danger and uncertainty, plan, put together and develop organizational resilience based mostly on good move making.
I discover no day is identical; I’m all the time studying, rising and pushing the boundaries and boundaries, and it has made for a really rewarding profession.
CRI: Tell us about some main challenges and studying alternatives you’ve encountered throughout your profession?
JS: I believe, as you progress alongside and up in your profession, there may be many challenges which will rattle and derail your path and check your private fortitude and resilience. I’ve chosen to take some pretty huge dangers with my profession and drive that change when I discovered the trail turning into too slender or issues not consistent with my values. RIMS and the RIMS group have all the time been my guiding mild.
I’ve discovered that each one my challenges and alternatives have given me an opportunity to get to know myself higher, which is essential for a frontrunner. It has allowed me to grow to be a greater, simpler chief for my groups and organizations. It is truthful to say I’ve not met a problem or alternative that I didn’t like and, as I mentor younger professionals and I study from them, I hope to instil a few of that private fortitude and resilience to assist them reply and thrive in these difficult, unsure instances.
CRI: What does turning into president of RIMS imply to you? What are you wanting ahead to tackling throughout your time period?
JS: We are getting into this all-new post-pandemic world, and it’s proving to be one of the pivotal instances for danger administration in latest historical past.
Risk professionals must mud off their strategic plans, re-examine key priorities and reassess processes and our organizations must do the identical to remodel methods and evolve processes that, in the end, strengthen organizational resiliency.
The street to constructing a resilient group isn’t a straightforward one to search out or observe. That’s the place I strongly imagine RIMS can step in to assist. As president, I wish to be certain that RIMS continues to empower the danger group to be catalysts for change, that it focuses its vitality on offering danger leaders with the instruments and assist to innovate inside their organizations and strengthen their applications. Most importantly, RIMS should proceed to be a platform for the alternate of concepts and highly effective conversations that join and encourage danger professionals from all industries, profession ranges, skilled experiences and backgrounds.
It is a superb honor and privilege to serve RIMS and the danger administration career on this capability. It is an unimaginable alternative to proceed to assist elevate the career and convey it to new heights.
CRI: What is your forecast for the danger administration career within the close to future?
JS: Risk administration is prime to creating resilient organizations and the “Road to Resiliency” begins with the danger skilled. Leaders all over the world have acknowledged the significance of sturdy danger administration capabilities of their organizations – the pandemic clearly highlighted this. As such, they want educated, expert danger administration professionals to not solely assist them reply in a disaster, however to construct within the capabilities, plans and assets to make sure organizational resilience.
The international pandemic has pushed boardroom doorways open for danger administration professionals. Leadership sought danger administration’s assist, particularly when it got here to emergency and disaster administration, enterprise continuity, danger financing and adapting operational methods. It’s as much as us and our organizations to maintain this door open and transfer extra danger administration professionals into C-suite roles and in seats on for-profit, not-for-profit and personal firm boards.
Needless to say, my prediction is robust for the expansion of the danger administration career into the longer term.