James McAlister is the Director of Crisis Prepared Limited an organisational resilience consultancy. He is a former police officer with almost 40 years’ experience in Business Continuity, Crisis, Major Incident, Risk & Disaster Management, Counter Terrorism, Civil Protection, Security, Training and Exercising. He has advised, planned and led many operations, incidents and exercises throughout the UK and internationally including political party conferences, major sporting events, royal / ministerial visits, counter terrorism operations, public order events and environmental / man-made disasters. James was chosen by the UK Government to become a founding member of the European Union Civil Protection Programme and has deployed on international missions including as Deputy Team Leader to the Sichuan Earthquake in China and Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. He has a master’s degree and diplomas in Business Continuity Management & Education; is a qualified higher education teacher, assessor, coach and is a Business Continuity Institute Approved Instructor. James is an Honorary Fellow and former Chair of the Business Continuity Institute and a Fellow of the Institute for Civil Protection & Emergency Management.  

Why do you want to become a judge?

I have had a fascinating and rewarding career in organisational resilience achieving most of my professional goals. I stepped down as Chair of the BCI a few years ago and was looking to continue my long tradition of volunteering. The role of Head Judge was always a role that I really coveted as I felt it suited my inner desire to help recognise and promote others excellence in the industry. The Head Judge title carries a huge responsibility for the BCI and the wider profession; a role I take very seriously and am totally commit to. 

Your vision for the awards?

For many years the BCI Awards have been the most sought after awards in the organisational resilience industry. You only have to look back at the people and companies who have won awards to see how much they are internationally valued. However, the BCI is not an institute that rests on its laurels and as the profession constantly adapts to match its operating environment so must the awards. The review of the awards system took over nine months and involved a global volunteer committee who worked tirelessly to develop a fit for purpose awards programme. The innovative system comprises a tougher judge selection process including ongoing training, award criterion matched to the BCI’s Competency Framework, simplified assessment scoring matrix, commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and three new awards. I believe that the revitalised awards programme will take away the apprehension of applying for awards as the criterion is now much clearer and more focused.  

Your approach to judging?

As a qualified assessor and former police officer my approach to award applications is purely evidence based. My advice to future applicants would be to look at the criterion and then write about what they have done that matches that criterion, the evidence will then speak for itself. If however, an entrant provides a beautifully written but generic narrative that isn’t timebound or explained then that evidence will now be discounted or downgraded. The new awards system is simple, transparent and above all provides a fairer and more equal chance of success for all applicants globally.  

Your commitment to the industry?

I hope my commitment to the industry is as clear as the new awards system. I have been involved in business continuity or the wider organisational resilience disciplines for almost forty years. I have worked in the public and private sectors in global and micro businesses. Following my retirement from the police in 2014 I set up my own consultancy providing a range of resilience services. I am a strong advocate of the BCI and have been a volunteer on many initiatives over the last fifteen years. I don't see me slowing down or losing my enthusiasm for business continuity any time soon as the profession is growing and evolving at such an amazing rate it excites me more each day.  

Paul Breed is a senior crisis management leader with over 30 years’ emergency, crisis and organizational resilience experience at strategic, tactical and operational levels including collaboration and mutual aid activations to support major incidents at a local, regional and national level. 

Key strengths include the development, implementation and validation of emergency management and business continuity in line with ISO 22301, together with the development of integrated resilience strategies for large high risk, low frequency operations and projects, with both public and private sector organizations.  

A proven track record of performance management whilst leading a large geographically dispersed work force, adept in change and budget management. Complemented by Masters’ level academia and professional qualifications in Business Continuity, Emergency Management and Security. Experience of working in UK, Canada, and UAE.  

Since 2017, Paul has been a University lecturer, researcher, course designer and course leader for the delivery of the Diploma in Business Continuity and BCI Certificate CBCI online course, together with contributing to the BCI Good Practice Guidelines, 2018 edition, whilst also regularly presenting at the BCI World Conferences. 

His passion is to promote business continuity and resilience, to become mainstream within organizations irrespective of size, nature and complexities (public or private) so that they are best prepared to deal with disruptions through resilient individuals, organizations and communities. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

Having worked in a variety of high-profile roles in various global locations, this has provided exposure as a subject matter individual for resilience and business continuity by applying theory to an operational environment to meet strategic objectives.  

Collectively this broad exposure to academic, operational, professional and subject matter knowledge provides an opportunity to give back to the business continuity and resilience community. This experience provides a triangulation of knowledge and skills to meet the privileged requirements of a diverse and inclusive judging panel, that recognizes the hard work of those involved in promoting business continuity and resilience. 

Ian Clark has over 35 years’ experience as a Business Continuity Management practitioner with extensive practical experience of the necessary disciplines and roles essential in developing and delivering holistic Business Continuity Management solutions across multiple industry sectors encompassing diverse cultures. 

His global experience in providing consultancy services in many business sectors and at all levels within organisations ranging from multi-national businesses and governments to small or medium sized organisations.  Ian strongly advocates integrating Risk and BCM techniques throughout the organisational to develop a resilient and balanced continuity programme that is suited to the organisation’s needs and culture. 

Over his career he has served on the BCI Board firstly as Standards Director and latterly as the Chair of the Global Membership Council.  As a strong advocate of BCM as a profession he has presented all facets of a holistic approach to Business Continuity in many countries at national and international events.  He has also conducted numerous seminars and workshops tailored to local and cultural requirements.  

Admitted to Fellowship of the Business Continuity Institute in 1998, he has lived and worked in many countries in Africa, Middle East and in the Asia/Pacific regions.  He is the Principal of 4Thought Associates Ltd. and still actively participates in the development of international BCM and standards.  As part of his commitment to the profession and to the BCI in particular, he is part of the BCI’s global panel of assessors for the award of Fellowship grades. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

Being semi-retired I feel that this gives me an opportunity to assess and encourage the developments in the BCM industry and assess all candidates on their achievements.  Having worked globally I can utilise my experience and professional knowledge to assess each application on its’ merits and outcomes irrespective of where the application originates. 

Judging applications enables me to give back to a profession which has enabled me to experience all levels and sectors of business and industry. 

Frank (Kai Fat CHOW) has more than 20 years of working experience in the business continuity and cyber security industry across Asia-Pacific and leading a team of professionals in the delivery of business continuity services, cyber security risk management, and security operation center. He is an advocate of a number of international leading practices, such as implementing ISO 22301 business continuity management standard, ISO 27001 information security management, and ISO 20000 IT service management for various multinational companies. He was invited to serve on various advisory panels of local and global organizations, such as (ISC)2, DotAsia, Education Bureau (EDB), Employees Retraining Board (ERB), Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) and Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS). 

Frank has been honored with several regional and local recognized awards, including 

- BCI Asia Business Continuity Award (2011 & 2012); 

- (ISC)2 Honoree of Asia Pacific Information Security Leadership Award (2010 & 2014); 

Frank holds several global recognized business continuity and information security designations, including MBCI, CBCP, CGEIT, CRISC, CISM, CISA, CISSP, ISSAP, ISSMP, CSSLP, CCSP, C|CISO, CEH, CHFI, TOGAF, PMP etc. His white papers were published in the industrial booklet, local and international journals. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

Frank Chow expresses his desire to continue contributing to the success of the BCI Awards as a judge, demonstrating his commitment to fairness, impartiality, and thoroughness in the selection process. He believes that his skills and experience would make him an asset to the judging panel, particularly his strong communication and analytical skills. He emphasizes the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the selection process, and their commitment to promoting these values. He strives to ensure that all applicants are evaluated on the basis of merit and would provide feedback to help applicants improve his business continuity efforts. Overall, Frank Chow is enthusiastic about the opportunity to serve as a judge for the BCI Awards and contribute to its success. 

I started working in the resilience space in 1985 when I started working with Tandem (HP) NonStop systems supporting business critical systems. After many years as an analyst, programmer, instructor, performance specialist, systems manager and consultant I focused on business side of continuity and developed into a BCM specialist. Later I made the transition from Business and IT Continuity to Resilience and was the Global Resilience Officer for a large manufacturer. I’m currently Continuity Manager at a major bank.

I am also an enthusiastic and active volunteer for a number of organisations including: the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), International Standards Organization (ISO) and the Resilience Alliance. At the BCI I lead the Netherlands Chapter, am a former global board member, am an awards judge and have contributed to the BCI Good Practice Guide. At ISO I am involved in the development and reviews of standards related to BCM, Organizational Resilience and Crisis Management. At the resilience alliance I am involved in projects aimed at improving community resilience.

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

Since joining the Global Membership Committee (GMC) in 2015 I have been a judge for almost all of the regional and global awards. I have very much enjoyed the process of being a judge. It is always exciting to read about the great work that people are doing in our profession and to help see that the outstanding contributions are recognised.

While serving as BCI board member I had the privilege of presenting various awards. Talking to (past) recipients reinforced how much impact winning an award can have on their careers and lives. It is an honour to be part of this process.

Charlotte has been a business resilience professional for over 15 years. In this time, she has led regional and global business continuity and resilience programmes in different sectors, including media, financial services, health care and retail.

In 2022, she joined the Tesco group as Head of Business Resilience to design and drive a new strategy.

Previously, Charlotte worked at Bupa where she led the global business continuity programme and oversaw the group’s transition to end-to-end operational resilience.

Charlotte has been a member of the BCI since 2010 and she’s been following the BCI Women in Resilience group for the last few years. Through her career, she has mentored colleagues from diverse academic and professional backgrounds to embrace careers in business continuity. She’s passionate about bringing great talent into the industry.

Charlotte studied politics and European studies at university in Paris and London and has a master’s in public affairs. More recently, having recognised the link between personal and business resilience, Charlotte trained as a Mental Health First Aider and completed a Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems.

Charlotte lives in London with her husband. In her spare time, she enjoys taking trips across the Channel to visit her relatives in France.

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge?

As a passionate, proud and longstanding member of the institute, I wanted to become a BCI awards judge to serve the global business continuity community and support The BCI

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing business continuity and resilience mature as a recognised, professional, risk management discipline, thanks to The BCI’s influence. I see The BCI Awards as a brilliant way to showcase our community’s talent, rising stars,

achievements, and innovations across the world. I am looking forward to playing a small part in that.

Rob is a seasoned leader and has been involved in business continuity and operational risk management for nearly 25 years at several multinationals. As Global Head of Business Continuity & Resilience at Royal Philips, he leads the execution of multiple global business continuity management (BCM) initiatives that cover every aspect of the BCMS and resilience lifecycle, which is certified according to the ISO22301 standard and connects the different disciplines. Together with his global BCM team, Rob monitors operational threats and risks and ensures the continuity of all Philips businesses.  

Rob holds the BCI Fellowship (FBCI) and was rewarded by the BCI with the Global, European Continuity and Resilience professional and Collaboration in Resilience awards from 2018 to 2021 and was included in the BCI Hall of Fame. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

After winning BCI awards several times, I think it's time to give something back to the BCI Community. My participation on the panel is based on my four key principles and standards: Quality, Integrity, Team-Up, and Inspire. Finally, I want to share my experiences based on my previous participation in the recent BCI awards nominations and my current role at ASML as Global Business Continuity Manager (per 1 May 2023) and at Royal Philips as Global Head of Business Continuity & Resilience. 

Sarah is an industry speaker and podcaster, and has supported organisations deliver business continuity and resilience programmes for 9 years. Sarah's experience ranges from challenger banks, to law firms, to global asset management organisations, and she is passionate about making the topic of resilience accessible to both stakeholders and the next generation of resilience professionals 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

I wanted the privilege to be able to support and celebrate the successes our industry has contributed to broader organisational success, and to be able to endorse the achievements of our colleagues and peers through reading about their accomplishments. I believe in the value of output and achievement in their own merit, and believe that diversity is something to be appreciated and celebrated, particularly in an industry which is still seeking to enhance its overall approach to inclusion and diversity.  

I initially started in the sector developing operational BC and Incident Response plans and testing these via exercising as part of a role around eight years ago.  This led me to moving internally into a well organised and dedicated BC team at DWP. Initially focussing on incident, crisis management and emergency response, I soon expanded to supporting the development of an auditing/assurance process and then travelled around the UK assuring site BCP’s and supported site SRO’s with advice and guidance.  

As part of my career development, I supported the Analysis & Design team helping business areas undertake BIA’s and led the development of an IM Training & Learning Hub as well as supported/coached the wider team on Incident & Crisis Management which I absolutely loved. 

This invaluable experience gave me the confidence to apply for a promotion with the Department of Health and Social Care where I’ve undertaken a few roles including the Business Continuity Lead gaining a wealth of experience eg supporting development of a new BC & Resilience Policy, leading/supporting business areas develop and refine BCP’s, project managing and delivering a range of BCAW activities as well as conducting deep dives, presenting to Boards, developing and refining Strategic Plans etc. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

Firstly, I’m thrilled and excited to have been chosen as a BCI Awards Judge.  I chose to apply and undertake this rewarding and fulfilling opportunity for a number of reasons: 

• To give back to the industry that has provided me with purpose and direction in my career. 

• To recognise and celebrate the accomplishments of fellow Business Continuity colleagues. 

• To reward outstanding achievements, providing a sense of validation and motivation for the winners and the wider BC community. 

• Develop my personal and professional skills toward my goals and achievements in this industry and in life. 

I have extensive experience and skills as a MBCI since 2008 (and previously as an AFBCI). I have been a Business Continuity professional since 2001, and currently am the Director of Business Continuity and Emergency Management in one of the largest Commonwealth government departments in Australia. In this role I provide specialist advice and lead the team responsible for the department’s business continuity and resilience. My particular interest is in exercise management and enterprise risk. In previous roles as the Director of Enterprise Risk and the Chief Risk Officer, I led my department’s enterprise risk management team and provided specialist risk advice and support to the department’s Governance Boards.  

In my career, I have worked across all aspects of business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management. I have played a key role in Whole of Government emergency responses across various jurisdictions. I have developed, implemented, exercised and continually improved my department’s business continuity strategies and have led incident management teams in responding to various internal and external incidents. I am also a member of the 2023 Leadership Committee of the BCI Australasian Chapter. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

I have been a BCI Awards Judge since late 2021 and look forward to continuing in this role. I am deeply committed to advancing business continuity, and “giving back” to the professional community. I believe that the work of the BCI is critical in promoting best practices and being in the Awards panel will enable me to support this. I have enjoyed reading the depth and variety of work that other BC professionals are undertaking across the world. I have found being a BCI Judge exciting and fulfilling, and hope to advance the continuity and resilience profession. 

Alice is a recognized business resilience expert who contributes as a resilience thought leader, mentor, and evangelist. Alice’s professional experience spans over 20 years in business continuity and disaster recovery in the information solutions industry and over 40 years in IT.  

She leads the global technical resilience (ITDR) governance program for the LexisNexis Legal business of RELX and leads the LexisNexis Infrastructure & Technology Operations business continuity and disaster recovery program. Alice chairs the RELX Technical Resilience Working Group setting and guiding TR requirements and best practices for RELX businesses.  

Alice serves as the BCI USA Chapter past president and as the treasurer and past president, Continuity Professionals of Ohio, a regional non-profit professional association. She is an active member of the ISO TSC292 US TAG WG2 and WG9. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

I am honoured to serve as a BCI awards judge. I learn much from judging the submissions of fellow professionals and organizations. I enjoy learning about their challenges and innovative strategies to overcome them.  

I take this role very seriously. Each submission is held to the same high standard. The BCI awards are earned and thereby are prestigious by design. I take care to give each submission its due respect and to evaluate each submission equally in relation to the others for each award category. 

Vignesh Karthic serves as the APAC Regional Head for Business Continuity and Senior Vice President in Global Business Continuity and Recovery Services group within Corporate Risk Management based in Bangalore, India. In his current role, Vignesh is responsible for providing business continuity, disaster recovery and incident management expertise to all the business units and locations within the Asia Pacific region. He manages a team that provides risk oversight to the governance of business continuity planning as well as implementation, documentation, and testing of all plans throughout the region so that practices are in line with local regulations. Vignesh has held a variety of consulting, audit, risk management and technical leadership positions in his earlier career assignments. Prior to joining Northern Trust, Vignesh held the various management and client servicing roles in Fidelity Investments, Deloitte and Sify Technologies, where he had leadership responsibilities for the development and implementation of various risk management initiatives. Vignesh had led cross cultural project teams for large implementations of Business Continuity projects for the multi-national clients across the South East Asian region, North America and Asia Pacific regions in the Banking, Financial Services, Insurance & Software Services sector. He has presented in various international conferences and forums on the Business Continuity and Risk Domain. His articles had featured in the Continuity Central, Continuity Journal of the Business Continuity Institute and other media. Vignesh is a Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute, U.K; a Certified Business Continuity Professional from Disaster Recovery Institute , U.S.A. ; and a Certified Fraud Examiner from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, U.S.A.

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge?

I strongly believe that my credentials as a Fellow of the BCI, decades of experience and expertise gained in the financial services industry, consulting and audit background and an earnest desire to recognise the diverse and inclusive talent to build this profession to even greater heights.

I believe in acting with integrity without any bias and to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in a professional manner and evaluate all applications as per the guidelines set by the BCI. I shall strive to uphold the values of the BCI and help assess the deserving candidates for the awards so that it can inspire other emerging professionals to further contribute to this profession.

As a senior management executive within my organisation having Asia-Pacific regional leadership responsibilities involving more than 9 countries where my organisation has a business presence (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea) I do appreciate the different nuances within the region from a cultural and work perspective and can add value to the overall discussions.

Ammar is an accomplished and experienced professional in the field of business continuity and resilience, with a career spanning over 23 years. He is a leading expert in the industry, and has earned numerous certifications and accreditations in the areas of resilience, business continuity, crisis management, supply chain risk, and climate change risk. As a member of the BCI (MBCI), Ammar is deeply committed to advancing the field of business continuity and resilience through his work. 

Ammar's unique life journey has played a significant role in shaping his approach to resilience. Having lived in three richly diverse  countries, and cultures, he has gained a deep appreciation for the value and power of diversity. This perspective informs his work, enabling him to build and scale successful and award-winning BCM programs across the globe. His programs have been awarded and recognized by prestigious institutions such as Forbes, BCI, and CIR, among others. 

In addition to his work in the industry, Ammar is a committed thought leader. He is a board member on MIT's Crisis Course Resilience advisory board. Through his work, Ammar is dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to build resilience and thrive in the face of adversity. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

As an experienced BCM professional who has received support from the BCI & the Industry throughout my career growth, I am motivated to give back by becoming a BCI Awards Judge. With a strong track record of winning BCI Awards, I am committed to promoting excellence and, evaluating nominees from a global perspective, taking into account unique cultural, and social factors, I aim to recognize and celebrate those who are making a positive impact in the BCM Industry.  As an award judge, I would be honored to play a role in recognizing excellence in the Business Continuity & Resilience industry. 

The early years of my professional journey consisted of software development, database management, and system management in logistics, energy, and financial sectors. While not a business continuity professional, the continuity of operations was always one of the main considerations.

I joined Finnish National Emergency Supply Agency in 2005 to be responsible for constructing datacentres for national preparedness purposes. During this period, I worked closely with several critical infrastructure operators to assist them in their business continuity challenges from the datacentre perspective.

Since 2018 I have been working as a consultant in KPMG Finland’s business continuity services practice, passed my CBCI certification in 2020 and became an MBCI shortly afterwards. With an excellent, diverse team I help a wide variety of clients to improve their capability to remain operational through systematic use of the business continuity lifecycle. I have added to our exercise toolkit by introducing a new type of an exercise based on the pre-mortem technique.

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge?

The request for new awards judges was an opportunity for me to contribute to the pool of BCI community’s knowledge by recognising and promoting the innovations that have the potential to inspire current and future members, support professionals in their business continuity activities, and even shape the business continuity industry in the spirit of continuous improvement. From personal development perspective I felt that an awards judge would be a privileged position where I could promote great achievements of this awesome community and learn about new and innovative business continuity and resilience solutions in the process.

Melanie Lucht is the Associate Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management and Chief Risk Officer at Carnegie Mellon University. In this role, Melanie oversees the following organizations: Environmental Health & Safety, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Emergency Preparedness and Risk Operations (which includes the Enterprise Risk Management Program). A risk management executive with nearly 25 years of experience, Melanie is a Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP), a member of the Business Continuity Institute (MBCI), a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), a Certified Continuity Manager (CCM) and holds the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation. She serves on the Fusion Risk Management Executive Peer Exchange and the Disaster Recovery Journal (DRJ) Editorial Advisory Board, as a coach and guest lecturer for the Carnegie Mellon University Chief Risk Officer Executive Education Program through the Heinz College, and as a board member for the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

I wanted to become an awards judge of the BCI as I have found the experience of being a judge highly insightful, educational, and motivating. Often, we resiliency professionals get caught up within our own industry or organization focusing solely on the resiliency needs of that space. However, there is a much larger landscape that has either demonstrated, exercised, or learned from new ideas, approaches or events that help to further this profession. Being a judge gives one a global vision of what is happening within this field, recognize those that are excelling and reward them for their achievements.  

I have been a BCM professional for over 33 years and remain passionate about the practices as they have matured in an always changing risk landscape.  I became a member and Fellow of the BCI in 1996, championing the progression of thinking from recovery to continuity and the emerging alignment with operational risk management. I worked for many years in financial services, as well as across multiple sectors, both in program leadership roles and as a consultant. In recent years I have been contributing to the BCI regularly by participating in numerous initiatives and by holding several group leader roles. I have been privileged to receive 2 BCI awards myself. 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

As a strong believer in the awards program, I have been judging for about 10 years, across all regions. With some important changes in the program coming into effect this year, I wanted to continue my contributions to the effort. The excellence of many in our profession goes unrecognized for years and the BCI Awards present a vital opportunity to address this.     

My experience to business continuity and resilience commenced post putting in a glorious coloured service with the armed forces and transitioning to the corporate world in 2006. Having worked at the hospitality sector, airports, telecom, consulting and with an IT/ ITeS and handling Corporate Security, business continuity, resilience and crisis management have become ingrained in my DNA. Within all these sectors that I have worked in, I have been instrumental right from developing teams, doing adequate groundwork, inculcating a spirit of learning and development, improving the capacity utilisation, and protecting the bottom lines of the organisations by putting in place appropriate business continuity and resilience strategies. In fact, I was one of the few Lead Implementors and Lead Auditors for ISO 22301 when it was first introduced in 2012. This speaks of my passion  towards business continuity and resilience and my eagerness to assist organisations keep up with challenges. A short stint in consulting assisted me offering business continuity and resilience services to varied industries and newly incubated start-ups. Further, reinforced by an association with BCI and becoming a qualified MBCI, I could manage me to assist my current organisation shaping up and develop robust business continuity and resilience practices.  

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

The first reason for becoming an awards judge is the global scale of BCI, or the International aspect of awards judging. It is something that intrigues me and motivates to be part of the judging committee. The second important reason; judging multiple categories, professionals, and organisations - the opportunity to evaluate their initiatives that they present so proudly. There is immense knowledge I acquire in the process, too, applaud great initiatives and carry back best practices to the market. It is also a medium to being curious and exercising your logical methodology, gathering, and evaluating results with un-biased transparency.  

Todd Ray is President of RMANAGING Consulting LLC and a Business Resilience and Continuity professional with over 25 years of strategic and operational experience in Enterprise Risk Management, Crisis Management, Disaster Recovery, and Emergency Response. 

Todd specializes in creating and managing complete Business Continuity Management Systems and I.T. Service Continuity Programs for highly regulated industries such as Pharmaceutical and Financial Services. In addition, he is an active member of InfraGard and a Certified Critical Infrastructure Liaison Office for the U.S. Government. 

Todd has held positions of escalating responsibility working for various international organizations, and served as a Non-Commission Officer in the U.S. Air Force. He oversaw U.S. and Air Force Space Command C3 (Command, Control & Communications) teams 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge?

As a judge, it is crucial to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly and impartially, without bias toward their background, ethnicity, gender, or other personal characteristics.  

One of the essential aspects of being a judge is having an inclusive mindset and recognizing the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the awards selection process.  

Embracing Diversity and inclusion means that the panel will be able to consider a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds, leading to a more well-rounded and representative selection process. 

Nathan Schoenkin is a current FINRA employee with over 10 years of emergency management, Business Continuity Planning, resilience, engineering, crisis management, and critical infrastructure providing a broad range of support to public and private entities, such as the  Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), General Services Administration (GSA), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Tiffany & Co., and Booz Allen Hamilton. Holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, Master of Engineering Management with a focus in Crisis, Emergency and Risk Management from the George Washington University, and a Certificate in Cyber Security Policy from the University of Maryland University College.  

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

I am very interested in being an awards judge due to my interest in recognizing innovation and excellence in the business continuity field. In my previous position I spent time drafting awards packages for my agencies awards programs to recognize the individuals or teams for going above and beyond the call of duty. It was very meaningful to me to be able to recognize individuals for their contributions to the resilience field. I am excited to work with the other BCI judges to further shape the awards process and program to advance diversity and inclusion among selected awardees. 

My career in business continuity began unexpectedly when as part of a broad-based organisational re-alignment I was gifted the responsibility for the largely neglected business continuity policy. 

Since then, I have gained over 9 years’ experience and knowledge in leading the uplift and establishment of business continuity and resilience programs across complex organisations. Over that period, my passion for business continuity and resilience has quickly developed and grown stronger.  

Working across local government and higher education, I’ve been involved in the full range of business continuity and resilience functions, including development and implementation of policy & strategy, training, and awareness programs, facilitating innumerable business impact analysis workshops, planning, and executing test exercises and direct involvement in live business interruptions.  

Along the way, I feel I’ve gained a great deal of knowledge and experience and managed to achieve the MBCI and look forward to contributing to the broader business continuity and resilience industry during my time as an award judge.   

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge?

I consider joining the awards program as a judge, an opportunity to take on a more active and prominent role within the Business Continuity Institute and the business continuity and resilience industry more broadly. Particularly, this provides opportunity to contribute to and provide support in guiding the future direction and initiatives of the award program.  

I feel the skills I’ve developed from local government and higher education place me in a great position to become an asset to the business continuity institute as an awards judge and the industry more broadly.   

My involvement with Business Continuity and Business Resilience discipline goes back to 1999, when the Bank I was working assigned me to the Y2K compliance project. It was only then, I first came to know the terms such as ‘Business Impact Analysis’, ‘Prioritised Business Processes’ etc. I realised then, that business continuity as a management discipline would have a great demand, due to the volatility and uncertainty of the world. Later I became the head of business continuity in another bank, where I had the opportunity to implement the discipline from scratch and finally to receive the ISO accreditation.  

During my stay with KPMG New Zealand, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to apply my Business Continuity knowledge and the experience in various type of industries. I have received the BCI awards several times, once as the Business Continuity Manager of the year – BCI Asia Awards and Business Continuity Contributor of the Year -BCI APAC awards.  

Apart from my professional activity in Business Continuity, I initiated the BCI Forum of the UAE, with Lyndon Bird (BCI Technical Director) as the Chief Guest, I was also the BCI Auckland Forum chair before becoming a board member of BCI Australasia Chapter till 2018.  

I have contributed to many professional journals promoting Business Continuity. Similarly,  to other business disciplines where I hold a long standing recognition. Also, I am a regular speaker including being a keynote speaker at various professional or industry forums.  

Due to my professional competence in Information security, data privacy and risk management, in addition to Business Continuity Management, I have gained recognition and acceptance in the business community for the holistic approach to organisational resilience. Currently I am in the final stages of my book, “Weathering the storm – 8 easy steps to survive & thrive for the small business owner” 

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge?

• There are several reasons why I wanted to become a BCI Award judge’ They are; 
• It gives me a sense of satisfaction that my knowledge and expertise in Business Continuity has been recognised by my peers and the profession. 
• I will have to opportunity interact and network with other judges and share mutual thoughts, ideas and experiences, which I consider is priceless. 
• Being a judge is a critical and important professional role. I will be reviewing members submissions carefully and, in that process, there are opportunities to broaden my knowledge. 
• Being a BCI Award judge will enhance my overall profile and public recognition, as a mature recognised business continuity professional. From the view of my clients, it will be a positive factor.  
• Finally, it is great opportunity for me to serve the BCI as a volunteer again, this time as an awards judge! 

Tonya T. York, MBCI, MBCP is the Global Business Resilience Program Manager at Anaplan, a cloud based collaborative planning software company. She has been a leader in the business continuity industry for over 25 years, and in 2014 won the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) Lifetime Achievement Award and DRII 2012 Team of the Year, selected by her industry peers. During her career, Tonya held various consulting and executive roles, helping Fortune 500 customers address their continuity needs, at Comdisco, Veritas, Symantec, Caspian Group, Evault, Seagate, and BSI. Tonya has also held executive roles where she built continuity and resilience programs from the ground up at US Bank, Charles Schwab, McKesson, Lam Research, and Anaplan. Tonya is a founding member, former President, and current Membership Director of the Business Recovery Managers Association (BRMA) in the San Francisco Bay Area, is regularly featured as a speaker at industry conferences, and is the author of several articles published in trade publications. Tonya is married with one daughter, one dog, one cat and one horse.  

Why did you want to become a BCI Awards Judge? 

My reason for wanting to become a BCI Awards Judge was to give back to the industry, be “in-service”