JULIA GRAHAM, FCII, FBCI, MIRM, CHARTERED INSURER, has worked in the insurance industry in the UK for 30+ years in a variety of managerial roles, including marketing, underwriting and operations. In the early 1990s, she set up the first in-house Risk Management capability for the multi-national insurance company Royal Insurance. In 1996, following the Manchester bombing, she led the recovery team for the Royal Insurance business in Manchester, one of the most severely affected locations in Manchester and working environment for more than 600 employees.

Graham went on to become the Group Risk Manager for Royal & SunAlliance with global responsibility for operational and strategic risk. This role included the responsibility for establishing policy and good practice for business continuity management across the organization. In addition to the Manchester bomb recovery, which touched aspects of post-trauma, asset recovery and insurance claims management, Graham has practical experience of recovery situations including those touched by asset damage, SARS, employee death, kidnap for ransom, The World Trade Center and the bombings in London July 2005.

An enthusiast for the risk profession, Graham has experience in a number of industry governance roles as an officer of local and national Chartered Insurance Institute committees, the Council of AIRMIC (the UK association for insurance and risk managers), the Board of the BCI (Business Continuity Institute), the Board of the ifs (The Institute of Financial Services) and the UK Advisory Board for SunGard.

A resident of the UK, Graham has worked in all continents of the world and is a regular author of risk management articles. Her conference speaking engagements have included the US, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Continental Europe and Asia.

In 2004 Graham took a position with the global legal services organization DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary as Chief Risk Officer. One of the world's leading legal organizations, her role has covered all aspects of risk management, including operational risk and business continuity management. DLA Piper is a rapidly expanding organization and at the time of publication of this book, Graham's role embraced 23 countries and more than 50 cities.

Graham chaired the team assisting the British Standards Institution (BSI) in creating a British and International Standard for risk management. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, a Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute, a Member of the Institute of Risk Management and a Chartered Insurer.