Valerie Fox, 2024 Donald M. Stuart Award Winner

Nov 5, 2024

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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 Valerie Fox, the 2024 Donald M. Stuart Award Winner. Valerie and Justin discuss her receiving the Donald M. Stuart Award and what this recognition means to her. Valerie tells how her journey in risk management has evolved over her 42-year career. Valerie has held prominent roles across a diverse range of industries. She shares some highlights and challenges of her career. Valerie remarks on the education opportunities, taking on leadership roles, and networking, that ORIMS and RIMS provided for her that helped her develop and advance in her risk career. She shares details of a long-term international project that stretched her and that she is proud of. Valerie offers her expectations for the future of risk management and how today's students can prepare themselves to be tomorrow's risk leaders. Valerie hopes to continue her student outreach and offer them the knowledge to guide their paths.

Listen in for advice on resilience and lifelong learning to keep up with the evolving risk management industry.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS.

[:15] About this episode. From RIMS headquarters in New York, I am delighted to be joined by Valerie Fox, the 2024 Donald M. Stuart Award Winner and a RIMS-CRMP holder!

[:41] The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held with PARIMA virtually on November 14th and 15th. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Course will be hosted along with George Mason University from December 3rd through the 5th.

[:57] Links to these courses can be found on the Certifications page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes.

[1:04] RIMS Virtual Workshops! Elise Farnham of Illumine Consulting recently joined us here on RIMScast. On December 4th and 5th, she will host Applying and Integrating ERM. On December 17th and 18th, she will host Captives as an Alternate Risk Financing Technique.

[1:26] Those are just two of the workshops RIMS offers; we have lots more! Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops calendar, RIMS.org/virtualworkshops. We've got more important plugs coming during the break. Now, let's get on with the show!

[1:44] Interview! The RIMS Ontario Chapter (ORIMS) presented the Donald M. Stuart Award to our guest, Valerie Fox, at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver.

[1:57] Valerie is a CRM holder, a RIMS-CRMP holder, and the former Director of Risk Management and Health and Safety for NPL Canada. She has since retired.

[2:14] The Donald M. Stuart Award is widely recognized as Canada's highest honor within the risk management field and since 1979, has celebrated Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to the profession.

[2:28] Throughout her 42-year career, Valerie has held prominent leadership roles in risk management for a range of multinational corporations, including Walmart and Wendy's Restaurants of Canada.

[2:44] We'll talk a bit about her career, how she sees the risk profession evolving, and why she's so inspired by the next generation of risk management professionals. Donald M. Stuart Award Winner, Valerie Fox, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:33] Valerie notes that winning the Donald M. Stuart Award was a very special moment for her. She has a tremendous respect for the history of the Donald M. Stuart Award and the professional values it represents.

[4:04] When Valerie was VP of the Ontario RIMS Chapter Board in 2017, she was responsible for the oversight of this award. She enjoyed it so much that she continued to be the presenter of the award for the last seven years. This year, she stepped down from the ORIMS Board.

[4:25] When Valerie stepped down from the ORIMS board, her colleagues nominated her for the award. She couldn't be more humbled or appreciative of their recognition and support. To be recognized alongside the people she presented the award to over the years is very special.

[5:02] ORIMS accepts nominations from all over the country. It's an award for all of Canada and is overseen by the Ontario Chapter. The nomination process has two stages.

[5:21] If a nomination clears the first stage, a total nomination package is submitted with further documentation. The package goes to a panel of evaluators across the country, including risk managers, people on boards, and insurance companies and brokers.

[5:44] They evaluate the nominations. The person with the top collective score wins the award. They're looking at the nominees' history with their companies, volunteerism, and the tenets the award represents. It's the Canadian version of RIMS Risk Manager of the Year.

[6:36] Valerie's first role as a risk manager was Manager of Contracts and Insurance. She bought insurance, handled claims, and implemented some risk control of targeted risks.

[6:56] The job description of a risk manager has evolved immensely and varies greatly from entity to entity, depending on the company's maturity, operations, experiences, losses, and more.

[7:16] You could still be hired today as Manager of Contracts and Insurance but you could also be aspiring to be a Chief Risk Officer of a major, multi-national corporation with the responsibility to help them be more resilient and grow.

[7:41] Valerie saw the evolution in risk management start very slowly. It has continually ramped up and now is speeding forward.

[7:50] Over her career, Valerie had to be willing to delve into new challenges and be prepared to learn and develop new skills and new mitigation strategies and develop broad-based business knowledge. Without that knowledge, it's difficult to assess potential impacts.

[8:33] Different industries have different areas of risk focus. Valerie started in the airline industry. A major focus was having a major accident response plan ready. There were challenges of jurisdictional insurance requirements and risk exposures around the world.

[9:11] Valerie spent five years in the public sector as a risk manager for a municipality. The focus of public entities is protecting people in public spaces, maintaining critical services, and managing reputation. It includes presenting the right answers.

[9:51] Valerie worked in the retail industry in domestic and international markets. On her first day at Walmart Canada, she realized how unprepared she was to deal with health and safety and worker's compensation management responsibilities. Those had been under HR in Canada.

[10:13] Working for American companies, she had to get up to speed quickly on those areas of risk. Valerie trained herself on the job. She met with anyone she knew in the industry who was involved in health and safety. She met with people from the boards.

[10:42] Valerie spent a lot of time in the stores with the associates to see what their concerns were. She spent time with operations leaders, seeing the processes first-hand to understand the risks and put together programs that fit the culture and the environment of the companies.

[11:26] Valerie says retailers today need to do a deep-dive business impact analysis, map out dependencies and processes, and have alternative options to avoid business interruption. As a risk manager, you have to understand that to help businesses come up with the right solutions.

[11:55] Valerie reviews a case of having to train people quickly after a buyout.

[12:52] Valerie talks about working with a new inexperienced team that she had to take under her wing and teach risk management quickly. In large corporations, you also build company-wide teams and external teams that help you.

[13:17] Valerie taught CRM courses at the University of Toronto. Later, she had the pleasure of hiring one of her most enthusiastic students for a risk management position. He now works for another company she is close to and he is doing super well.

[13:48] Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! On November 14th, Marsh will present "Risk Perception and Management: Insights for a Changing Landscape".

[13:58] On November 21st, HUB International returns with the fourth installment of their Ready for Tomorrow series, "From AI to the SEC: The Future of D&O Litigation and Regulatory Exposures".

[14:13] On November 25th, Resolver returns to discuss "The Future of Risk & Compliance: 5 Key Insights for the Modern Leader".

[14:22] On December 5th, we have "Predictive Strategies to Detect Electrical and Machinery Failures", presented by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD company.

[14:33] On Thursday, December 12th, OneTrust returns to deliver "Staying Vigilant: 7 Practical Tips for Ongoing Third-Party Risk Monitoring"

[14:42] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members.

[15:01] RIMS is now accepting nominations for all awards other than Risk Manager of the Year 2025. The submission deadline is Monday, January 6th, 2025. To receive a RIMS award, all winners must be active members and in good standing.

[15:18] The awards are the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chapter Leadership Award, the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award, the Volunteer of the Year "Heart of RIMS" Award, the Richard W. Bland Memorial Award, the Chapter of the Year Award, the Rising Risk Professional Award, the Risk Management Hall of Fame, and the Cristy Award.

[15:56] You can find more information about the awards through the About Us page of RIMS.org or the link in this episode's show notes. I also have a link in the show notes to the nominations page for the Donald M. Stuart Award. Check it out!

[16:13] Back to My Interview with 2024 Donald M. Stuart Award Winner, Valerie Fox!

[16:33] Valerie was ORIMS President in 2018 and 2019. She also had a couple of terms as Vice President, two terms as Secretary, and more. She is an active ORIMS member and a Director at Large. She intends to continue volunteering, especially with student outreach.

[17:28] Justin remembers the wonderful people he worked with when he co-hosted the ORIMS luncheon last year.

[17:57] Valerie describes how being involved in RIMS and ORIMS, whether volunteering or participating in regular events, gives you so much to learn both in formal training and networking that greatly helps your career.

[18:29] Volunteering on the board gives you leadership development opportunities. Those who step up to do this work are go-getters and prominent professionals who know their jobs. Their ages are from quite young to quite senior. It's a diverse group of leaders.

[18:58] You learn a lot about non-profit work and compliance. On the board, Valerie learned a tremendous amount that she has applied elsewhere in her career. You can improve your comfort with public speaking.

[20:00] Justin suggests trying stand-up comedy or an improv class three times to develop a foundation of confidence to speak publicly.

[20:24] Valerie was on the RIMS Risk Leaders Series. See the link in the show notes. She gave an expansive view of her career and the challenges she overcame using risk management.

[19:16] The career accomplishment Valerie is most proud of is with Walmart International. Valerie had to get the risk management process promptly into place and hire a team when Walmart came into Canada in 1994. It was very successful.

[21:47] Therefore, Valerie was asked to take a three-year expatriate assignment to work with Walmart's international division as an internal consultant in seven countries where Walmart had recently opened operations.

[22:02] She visited each country to work with their leadership teams on insurance brokerage, services, claims, health and safety, food safety, construction, benefits, and whatever they needed. It was tough. It was two-and-a-half years of being far out of her comfort zone.

[22:34] At the end of that assignment, she felt like she had made a difference and she had grown as a risk manager and as a person. It was an invaluable experience she is very proud of.

[23:01] It was a new way of doing things for Walmart, too. Valerie was a test case. There were some glitches through which Walmart learned and improved its support system for expatriates working around the world. It was an evolution both for Walmart and Valerie.

[23:32] Valerie has assisted with RIMS-CRMP workshops in Canada.

[24:00] Valerie believes the risk leaders of tomorrow in Canada should take the CRM program and work toward their CRMP certification. There is also a variety of technical training that can help them throughout their careers.

[24:18] RIMS has helped Valerie to stay current through seminars and articles. It's extremely important that people have a solid business base. Get out from behind the desk and understand the business and how business is done.

[24:47] Going forward, the emerging trend for employers is going to be to look at some of these qualifications as a minimum requirement. Gaining that base knowledge is important.

[25:00] Valerie says risk leaders need to focus on the soft skills of team management, social intelligence, communication, and identifying and supporting mental health. Risk management is a people business. Know how to communicate with people and read their reactions.

[25:34] Working from home during the pandemic has depleted some opportunities to gain that experience. Future risk leaders need to ensure they have those skills today.

[25:59] Valerie is encouraged by the college and university students she has been meeting over the last couple of years of outreach. The students are bright, curious, motivated, and hungry to get out there and make their mark.

[26:24] They're comfortable with technology and passionate about the world events that are shaping risks these days. They are the future. She hopes that she can continue to share some tidbits or tribal knowledge that they might find helpful.

[26:44] Valerie has concerns about the talent gap as lots of people retire. We need to fill that gap fast. The students she has been seeing indicate to her that the future is bright.

[27:01] Justin had the pleasure of attending the McGannon Foundation's closing ceremony for their students. The students are extremely impressive. He feels that we will be seeing them up on stage receiving awards in the not-too-distant future.

[27:20] Val, it has been such a pleasure to see you again. I want to congratulate you again on winning the Donald M. Stuart Award in 2024. I look forward to seeing you at more RIMS events. Thank you so much for all you do for ORIMS and RIMS!

[27:42] Special thanks again to Valerie Fox for joining us here on RIMScast! It's always a pleasure to speak with her. There is a link to her RIMS Risk Leaders Series interview in this episode's show notes. There is a link to her CRMP Story also in this episode's show notes.

[28:02] For more coverage of the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 Awards, check out the October 15th episode of RIMScast, when we were live from Vancouver with Maryam Salmasi. She was the Fred H. Bossons Award Winner for 2024. A link is in this episode's show notes.

[28:20] More RIMS Plugs! The RIMS App is available to RIMS members exclusively. Go to the App Store and download the RIMS App with all sorts of RIMS resources and coverage. It's different from the RIMS Events App. Everyone loves the RIMS App!

[28:53] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in our show notes. 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 pd@rims.org for more information.

[29:36] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information.

[29:53] 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.

[30:09] 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.

[30:23] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org.

[30:30] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!

Mentioned in this Episode:

RIMS DEI Council

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App

Hear Valerie on the RIMS Risk Leaders Series

RIMS Press Release: RIMS Ontario Chapter Honours Valerie Fox with the 2024 Donald M. Stuart Award

RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring Valerie Fox!

Nominations open for RIMS 2025 Awards! (Through January 6, 2025)

Nominations for the Donald M. Stuart Award

RIMS Webinars:

"Risk Perception and Management: Insights for a Changing Landscape" | Sponsored by Marsh | Nov. 14, 2024