Conferences

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Terri Greenberg Securian Financial When did you know you wanted this job? I took an indirect route to my Business Resilience career, after realizing that my experience as a business and technology leader, and skills in business relationship management, project management, and process improvement were a good match. I have worked in a continuity role now for 12 years and a decade in resilience leadership. How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now? I have worked in non-profits, for-profits, healthcare, and insurance for most of my career. These industries are regulated, but each environment is different and challenging. What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? My most significant lesson learned throughout my career in resilience has been the importance of monitoring the false feeling that we are in control and becoming complacent. What research did you do to prepare for this role? In my first role, it was all on the job training. I quickly learned that you have to be able to acknowledge that disasters and crisis can and do occur. It took time to develop the ability to envision potential scenarios and systemic impacts. What was your first “win” that made you confident that you were doing the right thing? The diligence and planning for Y2K was my first introduction to preparing for a what if… scenario. How do you avoid being complacent ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Andrea Houtkin Houtkin Consulting, Inc. When did you know you wanted this job? After the first disaster that I experienced at work, feet on the ground. How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now?  They didn’t.  I had a masters in medieval and renaissance music.  On my first technical job that I took to fund a film music career became an epiphany and I was hooked on technology What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? I make mistakes every day – no matter how much experience I have because every situation has its own nuance that must be taken into consideration when creating safety, security, and disaster recovery processes and procedures. What research did you do to prepare for this role? None.  There wasn’t an industry at that time.  We created/performed process based on the company we were working in. What was your first “win” that made you confident that you were doing the right thing? Assurance the safety of 5 Colleagues stuck in a building for 5 days in London after an IRA bomb blew off the glass in the front of the building; When I started creating and performing data center to data center switch/failover testing – practicing to the point where there were no major issues and hitting our RTO and RPO.  Thats when I realized I had a nack for this ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Kevin Finch Sayers When did you know you wanted this job? I actually sort of “backed into” business continuity thanks to a management shakeup where I was working, but I found that the work really matched my natural style of problem solving. How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now? I decided to move into program management after just a few years in Business Continuity, and thought that going back to graduate school would be a good step in that direction.  That education has served me very well, both as a program leader and as a consultant. What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? I remember very early on in my career noticing that two implementation projects I was working on for two disparate groups had parallel efforts and goals. So, I arranged a large meeting with all of the stakeholders for both projects to try and see how we could streamline things.  Unfortunately, I didn’t really have a solid agenda together for the meeting, and it very nearly ended up being a big waste of time.  I learned then to never plan a meeting without an agenda. What research did you do to prepare for this role? I’ve done a lot of reading of other people’s work.  In addition to getting certified, I’ve also spent a lot of time looking at sample ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Blaise D’Ambrosio Federated Hermes When did you know you wanted this job? As early as I can remember, I was always developing contingencies in life… the proverbial, “Plan B”; however, it wasn’t until 1998, as my 2-year assignment in APAC upgrading an FX settlement system was ending, that I realized the work I enjoyed the most and which best fit my skillset were the projects in business continuity.  With Y2K firmly in the world’s sights and knowing industry’s mantra is always, “More, more. Faster, faster.”, I sensed that the need for continuity professionals would grow and I made the career move to a full time continuity professional. What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? I abruptly left one organization for the first offer I received because I was upset they had let my boss go.  It took me only one month to realize I’d gone from the frying pan into the fire.  In retrospect, I should have been more analytical and patient in my job search. How do you avoid being complacent in your role? This is difficult, especially if you stay at one firm in the same role for many years as I did.  It helps to have a boss who “gets you” and knows how to present you with the right challenges.  It also helps to hire staff with the potential to do your job and ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Ray Bonilla Meta When did you know you wanted this job? I participated in a half-marathon run in San Francisco where I engaged with people from all over the world.  Seeing this level of diversity, hearing the languages, and being surrounded by such an international group of people reminded me of why I acquired a master’s degree in international business. This experience motivated me to pursue a global role where I can regularly interact with people from all around the globe. So, I made the leap into a global technology company leading a global business continuity program. How do you avoid being complacent in your role? As a life-long learner,  I am passionate about continuous advancement.  Learning fast, focusing on personal and professional development, and staying curious are ways that I avoid being complacent in my role.  I am constantly engaged in reading, taking courses, listening to podcasts, participating in community forums, and attending industry events. We all have so much to learn as we advance resilience within our organizations and across our communities. The more I learn, the more excited I become about applying those learnings. What is the best career advice you’ve ever received? The best career advice I’ve ever received is always keep learning, generously listen, and believe in yourself.  Spend time helping others believe and achieve things they didn’t think were possible! Help yourself by gaining ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Howard Mannella Alternative Resiliency Services When did you know you wanted this job? I was unemployed on 9/11, and got the inspiration to reach out to BC/DR companies since I figured they’d be getting busier. I knew that I made the right call by the enthusiasm of their replies. How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now? My early career choices of Financial Services and Consulting made BC/DR consulting for Financial Services firms a natural fit. Seeing how portable Resiliency is from one vertical to another led me into Resiliency for SaaS, which is my main focus now (but it’s still portable!) What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? Not putting the business at center stage. When I ran the shop at Expedia, I constituted a Steering Committee with the usual suspects: CIO, CFO, CAO, Facilities, Legal… the back office. I should have had the business-side – where we made the money – represented. After that, every Steering Committee or Governance org I’ve established has included “Voice of the Business” and/or “Voice of the Customer” Some were calling my not Yes-sing my management at Expedia when they wanted to gut the program a career mistake. I disagree. What research did you do to prepare for this role? On 9/12, I looked at who was operating in this space. I then looked at the ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Mark Armour Brink’s Inc. What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? I’ve made too many mistakes to count but three, in particular, come to mind: I once escalated an issue without informing the individual that reported it that I was doing so. I learned to always be transparent and over-communicate. More than once I’ve tried to manage the response to a large event by myself or exclude people who I felt might slow the process down. While bringing everyone to the table may seem burdensome, it almost always yields better results. Sometimes slowing things down is exactly what is needed. In the past I’ve been too protective of my program and how it is run. Over time, I’ve learned that trust and empowerment of my team and counterparts results in less work for me, greater levels of buy-in and accountability while delivering better results. What was your first “win” that made you confident that you were doing the right thing? I can’t say I’ve ever been fully confident that I’m doing the right thing. I’m constantly experimenting and re-assessing what I do. That said, one of my proudest moments came when an executive informed a rather persistent colleague of mine that we would not, under any circumstance, perform a BIA. What is the biggest risk that you’ve taken? As with the other questions, I could give multiple answers here as ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Marcus Vaughan iluminr When did you know you wanted this job? My big career lightbulb to expand my career from Risk Management into Resilience, came from my first-hand experience in the 2011 Brisbane Floods. Working in both the community and with organizations to clean up and subsequently recover lit a fire for preparedness and resilience. What is the biggest risk that you’ve taken? There is no shortage of risk in co-founding a resilience focused technology business. Moving out of the very stable world of consulting into technology has been by far the greatest risk I’ve ever taken, but is also providing the most rewards with regards to professional and personal growth. What did you do at work yesterday?  I was on a 5am flight to Sydney. Started my first conference call before reaching the office. Had the pleasure of working with three major organizations in the US, South Africa and New Zealand on their microsimulation programs. Got to reunite in person with team members who work and operate in a different state. What is the best career advice you’ve ever received? Be conscious of your weaknesses, but lean into your strengths. What impresses you the most when you are considering hiring someone? Their attitude and passion to grow. How do you, your team or company define success? Our success is largely tied to our client’s success. Supporting resilience practitioners in ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Mark Carroll Income Research+Management How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now? Earliest positions were in IT from the programmer ranks up to global systems director role for Fortune 100.  In a number of system roles I had responsibility for Disaster Recovery which was my first foray into Sungard and Business Continuity.  I moved away from core IT into a global IT Audit function which started a natural progression to risk and recovery roles within Gillette, Fidelity and Income Research + Management. What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? I had the opportunity to launch an internal sales function for the firm I worked for.  I developed a business plan, gained approval and started this effort within the firm.  What I did not do was speak to folks who were in telesales to get their perspective.  They had great insight that I could have used but were excluded from the decision-making process.  The effort failed miserably as it probably should not have been started in the first place. What is the biggest risk that you’ve taken? Firm I worked for had an Export Shipping function of 2 people.  The manager gave notice and left and the number 2 person was going out on maternity leave, but leaving permanently.  My boss, the head of Sales Operations, had a serious problem.  Export shipments had outright stopped.  In ... Read more

Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event. Tonya York Business Recovery Managers Association How did your career choices lead to where I am now? Looking back on my career, it seems to me that everything, good or bad, lead me to this moment in time. I ended up being a continuity professional because while I passed the written exam and a good portion of the obstacle course, I couldn’t get over the 5-foot wall required by the Portland Police Department to become a Police Officer. During college I had been led to believe that the most amazing job opportunities would await upon graduation. As it turned out, I ended up opening new accounts at a bank. I was very frustrated and decided to try out for the police department. Since that didn’t work out, I saw a job posting for a Contingency Planning Analyst. I applied and got the job, and the rest they say is history. What career mistake has given you the best lesson? The biggest mistake I have made in my career isn’t really a mistake as opposed to a time when I didn’t act. When faced with challenges, I tend to persevere, believe that I am completely responsible my circumstance, and I must manage my way out of a situation. When in fact, I could have taken a more assertive position, spoke truth to power, and I would have had a completely different ... Read more