The DRI Foundation’s Women in BCM Committee (WBCM) is proud to welcome two new additions, each with extensive resilience experience, to its Executive Committee leadership: Melody Wen, ABCP, and Aubrey Wade, CBCP. They will be leading WBCM’s Programs and Engagement efforts.
“The appointments of Melody and Aubrey will ensure that WBCM can continue to help women in our industry build professional relationships, exchange best practices, and share doors to new opportunities not just at the DRI annual conference but in between conferences as well,” said Mitzi Harlor, WBCM Committee Chair. “These women are the perfect blend of experience and innovation and have already meaningfully contributed to our committee’s core initiatives.”
Wen currently leads Global Security’s Crisis Management Program at a Fortune 100 aerospace manufacturer. She leads initiatives to safeguard the company’s global critical assets – people, sites, products, operations, and reputation. She started her career with an internship at FEMA and later the Port Authority of NY & NJ’s Aviation Security & Technology Department. As an Asian-American woman in the field, Wen is especially passionate about helping women break into the field, flourishing as a leader, and building bridges to help the next generation of resiliency professionals.
“I am excited to join the WBCM Committee as Programs and Engagement co-lead to continue cultivating a community of women leaders in the business continuity and resilience space,” said Wen. “When I started my journey, I had incredible mentors and peers who helped me navigate my first internships to managing people to leading programs. In this role, I look forward to giving back and create a community where women can network, inspire, and sponsor each other. To me, it’s come full circle from being a founding member of DRI’s Young Leaders in Resilience in 2016 and joining this committee seven years later to continue building bridges.”
Wade joined UKG as senior disaster recovery analyst in 2021, responsible for building the structure and informing the direction of the IT disaster recovery (DR) program, which involved merging the Ultimate Software and Kronos legacy DR programs. Her areas of focus include program development and standardization, IT risk management, expansion of exercises and testing, and metrics on program maturity. She supports and partners closely with other resiliency teams across the business to ensure the protection and availability of company data and infrastructure.
“Many enter this field as a department-of-one or developing new programs without colleagues to guide them through those initial years,” said Wade. “But even experts in the field encounter new challenges all the time as the threat landscape and risks evolve. Being part of the WCBM community provides a network of peers who deal with similar situations. These ladies serve as mentors and advisers as we are all on this journey and evolving together. I truly believe this group of practitioners advances our whole community: fostering ideas, best practices and support for the different challenges and scenarios we encounter in our work.”
WBCM provides female business continuity, crisis management, and disaster recovery professionals with learning and networking opportunities. It is led by an Executive Committee, made up of business continuity professionals representing a range of industries within the field.
The WBCM Scholarship provides business continuity training and certification for women looking to enter or advance their careers in the resilience industry. The WBCM LinkedIn group also provides a forum for professional women to connect with and support each other.
For more information or to join WBCM, click here.