UP CLOSE: Grace Crickette

Grace Crickette

SAN FRANCISCO-BASED SENIOR RISK ADVISER AND SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR FOR SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

Hanover Stone Partners

PREVIOUS POSITION: San Francisco-based chief risk and compliance officer for the American Automobile Association for Northern California, Utah and Nevada

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Hanover Stone Partners is a wonderful channel for me to be able to deliver enterprise risk management and related initiatives and ideas. I love to design new programs in schools that ... help them identify their risks.

CHALLENGES FACING INDUSTRY: The challenge facing the risk professional is staying ahead of the rapid change and understanding that change. I think risk professionals need to be focused on learning more about the emerging areas — obviously technology, for example — and learning how they can add value to the organization by being able to identify these risks before technology implementation. The world is moving very fast.

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: I think that risk professionals can play bigger roles in an organization by expanding their knowledge and honing their skills. For example, I am continuing my education and learning more about informational technology over the last six years.

FIRST INDUSTRY JOB: Legal specialist at an insurance defense firm that doesn't exist anymore. It was a long time ago.

ADVICE: It's not enough for risk professionals to just focus on insurance and operational risk. You need to expand.

OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY, A DREAM JOB: Other than being a world traveler, I am doing what I love.

HOBBIES: I play guitar, and I sing.

WHEN I RETIRE: I don't ever want to retire. But I would like to travel (semi-retired). I would like to continue to be a source of knowledge in management.

BEST CITY: San Francisco is the most picturesque. I think London is the most exciting from a work perspective. I think Rome is the best city to eat in.