Tag: Rebecca Walker

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Great Women in Compliance

Great Women in Compliance: The Trailblazer

In this episode of Great Women in Compliance, Lisa welcomes Rebecca Walker, principal at Kaplan & Walker and a trailblazer for compliance professionals, especially women. Rebecca received the SCCE’s 2026 Distinguished Lifetime Compliance Professional Award.

Rebecca reflects on the profession and how it has evolved over the years, and Lisa takes the opportunity to discuss two important challenges for compliance professionals that Rebecca has focused on lately—managing conflicts of interest and working with different types of boards.

Rebecca and Lisa discuss why organizations need to move beyond simply collecting disclosures to understanding and assessing actual risks, why employees should feel comfortable disclosing potential conflicts, and how behavioral ethics and unconscious bias can affect decision-making, particularly when personal relationships are involved.

Lisa and Rebecca also explore how compliance professionals can better engage the C-suite and boards, using three models of boards and executives—one that’s engaged, one that is inaccessible, and one that is engaged but not curious. She offers advice on turning compliance data into meaningful insights, finding internal champions, and communicating in ways that connect compliance priorities to business objectives.

Listen now to hear from one of the true women leaders who have built this field.

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Great Women in Compliance

Rebecca Walker on Developing and Using Risk Assessments-A Holistic Approach

Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, co-hosted by Lisa Fine and Mary Shirley.

One of the key components of a compliance program is a risk assessment.  However, how to develop the right one for your organization is an art, not a science, as is how to best use the findings and report the results.  In this episode, Rebecca Walker, one of the founders of Kaplan & Walker LLP, takes a deep dive into the subject.

Rebecca has been in the compliance field for over 20 years, and has always been an advocate for a holistic and well-rounded view of compliance.  She speaks regularly on many topics, and here, Lisa and Rebecca talk about various aspects of risk assessments including how to tailor your risk assessment to your organization, or if you know there is a risk, do you need to then do an assessment.  They also touch on the distinction between risk assessments and program assessments.

Rebecca also talks about the beginning of her career in a large law firm, and the challenges of starting her own firm, both in general and as a woman.  She recounts a story about her 1st day that illustrates both the fear and excitement of starting out.

The Great Women in Compliance podcast is excited to look at topics like this one, and we are always open to suggestions for guests.

The Great Women in Compliance Podcast is on the Compliance Podcast Network with a selection of other Compliance related offerings.  If you are enjoying this episode, please rate it on your preferred podcast player to help other likeminded Ethics and Compliance professionals find it.  If you have a moment to leave a review at the same time, Mary and Lisa would be so grateful.

You can also find the GWIC podcast on Corporate Compliance Insights where Lisa and Mary have a landing page with additional information about them and the story of the podcast.  Corporate Compliance Insights is a much-appreciated sponsor and supporter of GWIC, including affiliate organization CCI Press publishing the related book; “Sending the Elevator Back Down, What We’ve Learned from Great Women in Compliance” (CCI Press, 2020). If you enjoyed the book, the GWIC team would be very grateful if you would consider rating it on Goodreads and Amazon and leaving a short review.

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