UP CLOSE: Grace Crickette
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EMERYVILLE, CALIF.-BASED CHIEF RISK OFFICER
American Automobile Association for Northern California, Nevada and Utah
PREVIOUS POSITION: Oakland, Calif.-based chief risk officer for the University of California.
GOALS FOR NEW POSITION: My concrete goals are to basically implement an enterprise risk management program and take all the components that already exist ... and strengthen all the components (of risk management). I have an opportunity to shape it.
CHALLENGES FACING INDUSTRY: The weakness is everybody is interested in risk management so you hear a lot of dialogue: “Who's in charge, whose role is it?” My thought is enterprise risk management is everybody's job. Everyone around here is a risk manager.
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: The strength is people are interested in enterprise risk management. That's the upside.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE: I think that the thing that I would change is the idea of what you need to know and the skill set you need to have to be an effective risk manager. I think you have to have a good financial background, understand information technology, and ... understand project management.
FIRST INDUSTRY JOB: Risk management analyst with US Rentals, which eventually merged with United Rentals Inc.
WHAT SURPRISED ME: Risk management as a career is a hidden gem. I've learned that risk management is what you make of it.
HOBBIES: Music is my hobby, and second to that is cooking. I sing and I play guitar.
CAN'T-MISS TELEVISION SHOW: “Doc Martin.”
FAVORITE BOOK: “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu.
BEST CITY: The best city for food is San Francisco. The best city for romance is Paris. The best city for fun is Rome. And the best city for business is London.
ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Sitting in the sun in the Taylor Family Vineyard in Sonoma. It's my husband's family vineyard.
