Grace Crickette is the University of California’s Chief Risk Officer. Major initiatives for the Risk Services department include reducing the cost of risk, implementing system and local safety programs, improving claims management systems, developing risk financing strategies, and implementing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Emergency Management and Business Continuity Planning throughout the University.
Grace joined the University in December of 2004 after thirteen years as a Vice President and Officer in audit, insurance, safety and human resources capacities for the equipment and construction industry. Grace graduated with distinction from the University of Redlands with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and holds a variety of professional designations in the areas of claims, safety, audit and human resources, including Associate in Risk Management and Senior Professional in Human Resources.
In 2008, Grace received the Risk Innovator Award for innovation and excellence in risk management in Higher Education. She received recognition as Information Security Executive (ISE) of the Year West Award 2011 and National Award 2011 for Higher Education/Non Profit Sector for innovative problem solving related to a collaborative partnership with the University's Chief Information Officer and other Information Technology (IT) professionals, insurance brokers, and underwriters for securing previously unavailable and much needed cyber coverage and at the same time developing a program that will drive improvement and best practices into the future. Grace was chosen in 2011 as one of Business Insurance's Women to Watch, an annual feature spotlighting 25 women who are doing outstanding work in commercial insurance, reinsurance, risk management, employee benefits and related fields, such as law and consulting. Grace was also selected by Business Insurance magazine for their 2011 Risk Management Honor Roll. Also in 2011, UC was recognized as being one of the top five organizations for ERM in APQC’s benchmarking study. In June 2012, Treasury and Risk magazine named Grace as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Finance”.
Grace has consulted with numerous public and private entities on the implementation of ERM, including Harvard University and SingHealth, Singapore’s largest health care group. She is a member of a variety of National Committees and Boards, including the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) ERM Committee, Kuali Ready Board, CISO Governing Board, and Bay Area Cross-Sector Partners in Preparedness (BACSPP) Board.