Tell me about how you became a risk manager. Mostly by accident, like many other risk managers! Prior to working with the County of Fresno, I spent nearly ten years in the Army working in signals intelligence. Throughout my Army career, I had many ancillary safety-related duties, serving as the Safety Officer at both the Company and Battalion levels for several years. In my final position with the Army, I oversaw the Security and Intelligence section, responsible for physical, information, personal, and operational security, dealing with various risk-related functions in the military

Tell me about how you became a risk manager? While in college, I began working part-time for the City of Santa Clarita. After receiving my degree, I promoted within the organization, eventually landing in the City Clerk’s Office performing support for City Council meetings and public records requests. At the time, Risk Management was located in the same part of the building and our teams worked together on various matters. As I learned more about their work, I developed a passion for the Risk Management field (finally my natural ability to identify worst-case scenarios would pay off!) and took

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Tell me about how you became a risk manager? After two years, I dropped out of college. I could not figure out what I wanted to be if/when I grew up. In fact, the university invited me to pick a major or stay home. I elected to stay home. A few years later, a friend of mine earned his Masters Degree in Environmental and Occupational Health with an Industrial Hygiene emphasis. He told me about some of his work experiences and I was fascinated. I had not known there was such a degree or job. So, I went and earned myself a degree in Health Science with an Environmental and Occupational emphasis

Tell me about how you became a Risk Manager? I fell into the Risk Management/Workers’ Compensation field. My desired occupation growing up was to become a Judge. What are the rewards you experience professionally by being a PARMA member? There are so many rewards and benefits in being a member of PARMA. The networking, education, and resources provided by PARMA is worth it all. How has your professional knowledge expanded by interacting with other PARMA members? I have benefited greatly by networking with my fellow PARMA chapter members. I came to the City of Los Angeles from the private

Tell me about how you became involved with risk management. When I started at a municipality as a Human Resources Department of One, risk management became inherent to my job. Since the City of Artesia and the City of Commerce were both members of the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (CJPIA), I worked closely with the Authority’s Risk Managers to assess and manage risks that are unique to our organization and the community as well. Other than administration of workers’ comp and liability program, I learned a lot when I was facilitating contract analysis, assessing insurance

Tell me about how you became a risk manager? I was mentored by Barbara Goodwin, MBA, CPCU, ARM-E; Partner, Senior Vice President, Sales Executive, USI Insurance Services, starting in 2010, the year I joined PARMA. I was encouraged to pursue my ARM Professional Designation by my former boss Bill Stafford. I started on my Risk Management path by taking a 2-day Introduction to Risk Management seminar taught by Barbara Goodwin in August 2010. I then enrolled in the IEA’s 3-year ARM program and passed the exams for ARM 54, ARM 55 and ARM 56, receiving my certification in 2015. What are the rewards

PARMA 2023 Conference photos are now available on the PARMA Flickr account! View and download/share photos from the conference, click here to view.

Tell me about how you became involved with risk management? When I started at a municipality as a Human Resources Department of One, risk management became inherent to my job. Since the City of Artesia and the City of Commerce were both members of the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (CJPIA), I worked closely with the Authority’s Risk Managers to assess and manage risks that are unique to our organization and the community as well. Other than administration of workers’ comp and liability program, I learned a lot when I was facilitating contract analysis, assessing insurance

Since 2018, Susan Colley-Monk has been the Secretary/Treasurer of the Sacramento Chapter of PARMA. She is also an Analyst in Risk Management Services at California State University, Sacramento, and has worked in the department since January 2014. Remaining enthusiastic about her active role at Sacramento State requires balancing home life and work. Not only is Susan a dedicated member of the Risk Management team at Sacramento State, but she is also a happy and supportive wife, mother, and grandmother to seven grandchildren – six girls and one boy. She is excited to welcome another grandson to