Stepping up: Canadian Nancy L. Chambers will become the new president of RIMS after her election this month. She'll need the skills of a diplomat to navigate all the constituencies that RIMS serves

Risk & Insurance, April 1, 2004 by Cyril Tuohy

Nancy L. Chambers, the senior apprentice in the ways of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc., is about to become the trade lobby's next president. For a woman who "kind of fell into" risk management nearly 20 years ago on the advice of an insurance broker, assuming the presidency of RIMS is a singular achievement, perhaps even the most important of her career. "I'm very honored and very privileged to serve," she says. "I'm going to give back to the organization what I've received." As president, Chambers will head a $10-million organization. "I'm certainly very thrilled with this opportunity," she says.

For a student of risk management with high honors in professional courses of study, hours of CRM classes and years of diligence in key positions on the RIMS' executive council, the election to the year-long position might be seen as a foregone conclusion. Running on an unopposed slate of directors for the 2004 cycle, Chambers is virtually assured the top spot on the 10-member council.

Few people expect any setbacks. After all, there's never been an electoral upset in the 54-year history of RIMS. And for the most part, Chambers" career has proceeded smoothly, as she has risen among the rank-and-file of the risk management profession. She joined the University of Guelph's finance department in 1986, and served as the institution's risk and insurance manager from 1991 to 1996. From 1996 to 1998, she became the risk manager for the City of Kitchener, a city of nearly 200,000 people. In 1998 she became the risk manager for the Waterloo Region Municipalities Insurance Pool, a self-insurance group. The region encompasses seven cities and townships in Ontario, with a total of 470,000 people.

But life for the 48-year-old native of Listowel, Ontario hasn't been without its setbacks.

Her most devastating moment came more than two years ago when she lost her husband, an engineer working for a plastic injection-molding company, to a heart attack. Her two daughters, a 26-year-old veterinary technician and a 22-year-old media buyer, also found themselves fatherless.

Chambers was a member of the RIMS executive council when her husband died. Though the event left the family shattered, it was also an event that galvanized the RIMS family to come to their aid. "RIMS was amazing during that time," she says. "The support of the people from all over the world was amazing." Sympathy and help poured in from all corners, including her late husband's Austrian employer. The owners of the company attended the memorial service, she says.

Nearly three years later, Chambers is ready to take the helm of RIMS, which will vote on her presidency at the organization's 42nd annual meeting, to be held later this month in San Diego.

Executive council member Michael Liebowitz says he expects Chambers to institute very few managerial changes from outgoing RIMS president Lance Ewing. "They are cut from the same cloth," says Liebowitz. "You're not going to see much variation in leadership."

The first order of business will be to keep the organization focused "on the basics," she says. That hasn't been easy, as RIMS has been asked by its chapters to act in the face of war, terrorism, natural disasters and the hard market. In response, RIMS has created a multitude of educational programs for its members. "I would like to see if we can build on this strong foundation set by RIMS leadership by implementing a knowledge-based governance strategy," says Chambers. "What I mean by that is to make sure our communications are open with our members, and to invite them to bring forward issues that are important to them. That's why we're here."

She ought to be ready--and had better be.

The End of Apprenticeship

Chambers, wire currently holds the title of first vice president, assumes the presidency as the organization's 54th president. Her apprenticeship on the executive council included two stints as treasurer, and one as vice president of conferences.

"The normal expectation is that the first vice president proceeds to president, but it's not a given," she says. Unless there's a revolt in the ranks and scores of delegates submit an alternative to head the organization, Chambers is considered a shoe-in.

"I'm fortunate RIMS has the process that they have serving on the executive council. It's good preparation for you," she says. "Being on the executive council and on the board as well is the best executive training I could get." And she's also fortunate to be presiding over an organization whose membership is at an all time high and whose surplus is also on the upswing after recent declines, says Chris Mandel, a former president of RIMS.

Chambers will be one of 10 members on the slate that make up the executive council.

Current and former council members say Chambers manages by consensus. The arche-type of the "overbearing superstar" is not what this leader-to-be is about, says Susan Meltzer, a former RIMS president, a fellow Canadian and the next president of the International Federation of Risk and Insurance Management Associations, an umbrella organization.