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ATLANTA — As RISKWORLD 2023 kicked off on Monday, RIMS 2023 President Jennifer Santiago took the main stage of the Thomas B. Murphy Ballroom in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congrees Center to welcome attendees and help them prepare for three days of risk management education, insight and networking. “You will leave here ready—ready to lead, to take action, ready for the next step in your career, and ready to help make the world a more sustainable and resilient place,” Santiago said.
Santiago introduced RIMS CEO Gary LaBranche, who made his RISKWORLD debut after having joined the Society in June 2022. LaBranche quickly established a presence as the new face of RIMS, having appeared at RIMS global, regional and chapter events regularly as well as those hosted by other organizations in the past year. He unveiled a video detailing RIMS’ new 10-year strategic plan and mission statement, which he said, “makes the case that risk management professionals play an indispensable role in making organizations more resilient, in driving strategy and decision-making and generating better outcomes.”
“For this plan to work, it’s going to require contributions from everyone in the risk management community,” LaBranche said. “From C-Suite executives and senior risk leaders to rising risk professionals and those in adjacent fields like HR and IT. Just as important, it will require the perspective and contributions from professionals from all walks of life and from different cultures.”
Santiago and LaBranche also had major news regarding the future of the RIMS-CRMP (Certified Risk Management Professional), announcing a strategic partnership with the Pan-Asia Risk and Insurance Management Association (PARIMA). The goal of the collaboration is to establish a global standard of knowledge and professionalism for risk professionals. Central to this endeavor, PARIMA will market, promote and deliver the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Workshop to Pan-Asia’s risk community while RIMS will deliver course materials, case studies, instructors, and manage administrative and certification duties.The expansion, they said, is “critical to the profession’s future.”
Santiago and LaBranche were joined onstage by Franck Baron, a co-founder and chairman of PARIMA and RIMS-CRMP Commission Chair Ward Ching to officially sign a memorandum of understanding and commemorate the historic collaboration.
“Setting a global baseline for risk management skills and knowledge is a critical first step to advancing the profession,” LaBranche said. “As a unified force, RIMS and PARIMA are ready to deliver greater opportunities for risk professionals in the Pan-Asia region to earn the RIMS-CRMP, strengthen risk programs, drive organizational resiliency and advance professionally.”
LaBranche closed the general session by beaming up a clip from the original “Star Trek” television series, in which Captain Kirk realizes that he and his crew were in the business of risk. He noted the similarities between the Starship Enterprise and RIMS.
“RIMS has been that vessel for exploration and discovery for the risk management community for 73 years,” he said. “For generations, RIMS has been a source of guidance, education, connections and opportunity. But times change, new challenges emerge, and new journeys call us forth. Soon after I started my voyage with RIMS, the Board of Directors and the management team engaged in a comprehensive analysis and assessment process to plan for the future of RIMS. The result is a new strategic plan that charts a course for where RIMS aims to go in the future. There’s no better place to share that vision than here at RISKWORLD.”
