Mentoring Up with Women in Risk

Since its founding, the Women in Risk Committee has hosted workshops and events to build a community that motivates, inspires, and empowers women to have meaningful careers in risk management. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved, during Women's History Month and beyond.

On March 22, the Women in Risk Committee will host its first Mentor Circle event, a chance for 100 financial professionals to foster new relationships and gain invaluable career advice. The Mentor Circle will commence with a talk from Elizabeth Tate, veteran banker and risk and chief audit executive, who will discuss how to best leverage a mentor/mentee relationship and why they are important to your career.

Attendees will then regroup in small breakout rooms, to meet women from across the risk spectrum at various stages of their careers. The circles will provide a chance to develop organic relationships, and to build on these conversations long after the event.

As the financial industry emerges from the pandemic into a new hybrid work model and a shaky economy, the need for professional mentors is as urgent as never before. As Women in Risk chair Elena Noverola notes, it has been 15 years since the last major financial crisis, and the risk professionals who helped lead banks out of that crisis are soon to leave the profession, taking with them invaluable knowledge and experience. "We have to provide that bridge between the professionals just coming in and those who helped us out of the last crisis," said Noverola.

There are four Mentor Circles planned for this year, with many more Women in Risk Committee activities in the works. Later this month, Terrie Spiro, co-founder of Bank on Women, will be addressing the Risk Management Association. And during the 2022 RMA Annual conference, we will host a women's networking event in person. These events build upon our successful Women in Risk Summit and Women in Model Risk panel at the end of 2021.

Developing mentors is never easy, and RMA is committed to fostering these powerful relationships across firms and disciplines. “I am still not comfortable at networking," admitted one CRO during the Women in Risk Summit panel on mentors. "But I realize the value in (mentoring) so I allow myself to be uncomfortable. A closed mouth does not get fed."