Senior risk manager
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Experienced risk management professional Zernan Abad has worked in city risk management for well over a decade, a career that has taken him across five different departments. In 2005, he took on the role of risk manager and created risk management best practices for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. He then moved on to the risk management and audit division of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation before taking on his current position as a senior risk manager in the city’s central risk management office, where he oversees its insurance compliance system, manages the city attorney’s Attorney Conflicts Panel Program, and provides assistance to the mayor’s office on citywide risk and liability issues.
According to Abad, the city’s main risk issue for 2017 is workforce health and safety, which involves leveraging technology by implementing a risk management information system that will properly monitor the city’s risk and liability profile.
“The risks to the City of LA have evolved tremendously over the past decade and in recent years,” he says. “Hazard risks are no longer the major focal point, and the city’s enterprise risk portfolio has become more diverse and complex.”
Among the latest exposures facing the city, Abad highlights risks like terrorism, cyber, aircraft (use of drones), special events (LA’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics), transportation (electric vehicle ridesharing), ADA, pension, technology and increased police litigation, as well as new political risks involving the potential for federal funding removal and major immigration travel and residential policy reform.
