Compliance Team Welcomes New Sr. Director
If you were an attendee at BBNC’s 2017 Compliance Conference, chances are you met a new corporate employee: Renee Wardlaw, JD and MBA. Renee joined BBNC’s Compliance team the week before the event, and hit the ground running as the Senior Director of Corporate Compliance for the organization almost immediately.
For employees who didn’t attend, don’t worry – you’ll see her often as she settles into her new role and begins work with the BBNC family of Companies to further our compliance goals and objectives.
In late January and early February, Renee will travel to subsidiaries around the country to meet teams, become familiarized with their priorities and challenges, and understand each companies’ unique needs and operating framework. This interaction is an important part of her role, and she is excited to begin supporting and enhancing BBNC’s culture of integrity.
“BBNC is committed to a strong corporate culture throughout its nearly 90 subsidiaries,” says Renee. “My role was specifically designed to infuse BBNC’s corporate culture into all subsidiaries and employees.”
Renee holds a Juris Doctor (JD) and MBA from American University in Washington, D.C. She says that her legal and business education afford a unique viewpoint of not only how to achieve compliance, but also why achieving a proper program can have challenges. “I fully appreciate the intersection between business and law. I worked as an attorney in private practice and the government for over six years before joining BBNC,” she shared. “I helped clients make the right decision about their actions and interactions on a regular basis. This background has shaped not only my understanding of the laws, regulations, and rules that govern corporate culture, but also the importance of why someone should follow them.”
An important part of achieving a high level of corporate compliance is setting and enacting strategy shaped by corporate objectives, which is a group effort in partnership with each subsidiary. The Compliance team is a small, but critical, group led by Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Sara Peterson, and with day-to-day activities and subsidiary needs overseen by Renee, the team also comprises Tami Babcock, Compliance Specialist; Nellie Philips, Records Supervisor; and Records and Information Technicians Lisa Andres, Rebecca Mujica-Matus and Brandon Jenson.
These highly specialized employees are focused on the future, says Renee. Their short- term goal is continuing to spread BBNC’s corporate culture to every area of operations. Long-term efforts include expansion of the existing compliance framework to offer more training opportunities and chances to interface with employees. “This level of effort involves constant communication between BBNC and its subsidiaries,” she adds, which will be one of the most important aspects of her job.
This daily interaction is one of the highlights for Renee though. “My role allows me to work directly with the subsidiaries to address every-day issues as they arise,” she says. “All solutions are aligned with the overall BBNC culture of integrity. As issues are presented, the compliance team responds, and treats each seriously and swiftly.”
More About Renee
From: New York, although her family is from Jamaica.
Education: BA, Stony Brook University, New York; JD and MBA, American University, Washington, D.C.
Family: Married to husband Allen Wardlaw since 2011.
Hobbies: Reading, volunteering, poker
Favorite quote: “If you’re going to play the game properly, you’d better know every rule”
– Representative Barbara Jordan
Highlight of time with BBNC to date: “The Compliance Conference in Nashville occurred about a week into my employment with BBNC. I was amazed at the hard work that went into the event. I was also impressed that every BBNC employee was happy to be there and committed to making their department or subsidiary better. It was inspiring!”