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NEW YORK (April 27, 2015) — RIMS, the risk management society™, bestowed its inaugural RIMS Rising Star Award to three Rising Risk Professionals that have demonstrated exceptional initiative, volunteerism, professional development, achievement and leadership potential. Anna Bendgen, Andrew Bent, and Yelena Urcia were presented with this honor at RIMS 2015 Annual Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans.

 

“With so many universities now offering curriculums to prepare students for careers in risk management, new risk practitioners are stepping into this field and delivering superior risk management perspective right away,” said RIMS President Rick Roberts. “Already in their short careers our first Rising Star Award recipients have accomplished so much and it is encouraging to see that the future of risk management is in the highly capable hands of talented, smart and creative professionals.”

 

About the 2015 RIMS Rising Star Award winners:

 

A former Risk Management and Insurance student at The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Anna got her professional start in risk management when she received a grant from Spencer Educational Foundation to intern at Sedgwick. Her enthusiastic initiative to streamline processes was quickly noticed and Anna made a seamless transition from intern to Risk Management Specialist in 2014. At Sedgwick, Anna has already overseen a major rewrite and overhaul of the organization’s business continuity plan, facilitated tabletop exercises, redesigned Sedgwick’s IRM portal and created IRM newsletters to provide colleagues with timely and relevant safety information. Outside of work, Anna has co-presented at the Gamma Iota Sigma conference and is actively involved in RIMS Memphis Chapter, serving on its scholarship review committee and coordinating scholarship recognition receptions.

 

After working in the military and law enforcement fields, Andrew transitioned into risk management as Senior Advisor, EH&S Risk at Suncor Energy Inc. He holds several designations including ARM, ARM-P, ARM-E, CCSA and CRMA. Andrew led the ERM program for the Edmonton Police Service, Canada’s 5th largest police force, and built and implemented an ERM program for Suncor Energy Inc. Andrew has used his experience and expertise to make significant contributions to RIMS strategic risk management initiatives including developing a training proposal, webinars and authoring strategic risk management guides and a textbook chapter. Andrew volunteers extensively with the RIMS Southern Alberta Chapter where he has held numerous leadership positions. He is currently the chapter president and vice chair of RIMS Strategic Risk Management Development Council.

 

A former Anita Benedetti Student Involvement Program (ABSIP) scholar and president of Gamma Iota Sigma, Yelena received her bachelors and masters degrees in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. As a student, Yelena quickly became involved in RIMS Atlanta Chapter. Since graduating and being promoted to Senior Global Insurance Analyst at The AES Corporation, Yelena has created an internship program at the organization and selected and mentored ABSIP students for the RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition. At her local chapter, Yelena started a career outreach committee that launched RIMS Potomac Chapter’s first mentorship program, created student and young professional scholarships to attend the RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition and hosted meetings focused on initiatives to engage Generation Y professionals.

 

RIMS Rising Star Award honorees are selected by the RIMS Member & Chapter Services Committee.  The Society has redefined its Rising Risk Professional group – the member group eligible for the award – to include members age 35 or under and/or who have worked within the risk management profession for seven years or less.

 

To learn more about more about RIMS Rising Risk Professionals programming, visit https://www.rims.org/membership/RRP/Pages/RRP.aspx.

Launched in 1963, RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition attracts some 10,000 risk and insurance professionals at all experience levels, business executives with risk management interests, brokers, insurers and service providers for the ultimate educational and networking experience. The four-day event offers more than 120 educational sessions, keynote presentations, special events and an expansive Exhibit Hall with more than 400 exhibitors. Following New Orleans, the event will be hosted in San Diego in 2016. For more information, visit www.RIMS.org/RIMS15.