Profile

Valley Metro

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Mel Thomson recently joined Valley Metro to establish the risk management program. This involves developing traditional risk as well as enterprise risk management. She is working closely the Board of Directors who comprise of nineteen cities to establish their risk appetite, tolerances, frameworks, and risk process to identify, assess, mitigate, and prioritize cross-cutting risks. In addition, she is linking strategic planning with the enterprise's portfolio view of risks and traditional risk's total cost of risk (TCOR) to provide better tools for risk informed decision-making. Staff and cross functional teams are engaged and collaborate in the process to mitigate threats and to capture opportunities for risk optimization. Mel began in the benefits consulting arena and later transitioned into property and casualty at the State of Arizona's Department of Administration in the Risk Management Division. She was the Risk Administrator for the City of Maricopa where she designed and implement a new risk division.

Currently, Mel serves at the City of Phoenix's Risk Management Division in the Finance Department. Mel is the Education Chair for Arizona Public Risk Management Association's Board (AZPRIMA). She also chairs the first State & Local Outreach Committee for the Association of Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM). Mel received the Volunteer of the Year in 2023 from AFERM and was the scholarship recipient of the Chief Risk Officer Program from AFERM through George Mason University. Mel received the City of Phoenix's Employee Excellence Award for Innovation introducing Enterprise Risk Management to city departments. Mel started the ERM Book Club through AFERM which stemmed from desire to share incredible ERM information with other risk professionals under a casual self-study environment reading the book, Enterprise Risk Management: Todays Leading Research for Tomorrow's Executive by John Frasier, Rob Quail, and Betty Simkins. Well over 150 readers have signed up from state, local, federal programs as well as guest authors occasionally attend the book club to contribute and share their insight about the chapter they wrote in the book with the readers. She has a Master's in Administration from Northern Arizona University, Associate in Risk Management (ARM), and is an Enterprise Risk Management Certified Professional (ERMCP). She serves on the Advisory Council for Northern Arizona University's Risk Management Insurance Certificate Program through the W.A. Franke College of Business. Mel is working on her Master's Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management and Governance from York University Schulich School of Business in Ontario, Canada. She is also working on her Certified Risk Management Professional (CRMP-FED) designation from RIMS.