Issue 125 – July 2022
PRO: FILES
California JPIA Celebrates the 15th Anniversary of Insurance Programs Manager Jim Thyden
“Jim has been a respected presence in the risk management field for three decades,” said Chief Executive Officer Jon Shull. “In addition to professional experience ranging from local government to a national multi-line insurance carrier, he has shared his passion for public entity risk management as a past president of the Public Agency Risk Managers Association and as a member of the Orange County chapter of the Risk Management Society.”
Thyden, who joined the California JPIA in 2007 from the City of Costa Mesa, manages the Authority’s property and commercial insurance programs and services, placement of excess and reinsurance, and evidence of coverage documents. His responsibilities involve collaborating with a team of brokers, carriers, third-party administrators, and California JPIA staff members to place insurance premiums of over $20 million for multiple insured programs. These programs include liability, workers’ compensation, property, pollution, and cyber coverages. Thyden also consults with the Authority’s more than 120 pool members on a broad spectrum of insurance and risk management issues.
“If a member has a claim or needs assistance with insurance programs such as property, cyber, pollution, or special events, I am here to help,” said Thyden.
Prior to his service as a risk management/human resources analyst for the City of Costa Mesa, Thyden was an account manager for Ward North America and a key account coordinator for Safeco Insurance. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in small business administration and management from California State University, San Bernardino. He is certified in Risk Management for Public Entities by the Public Agency Risk Managers Association (PARMA), an association dedicated to the professional development of California public agency risk managers and other municipal staff who support risk management in their organizations.
Thyden, president of PARMA from 2013-14, previously served the organization as an at-large director and vice president. This past spring, in a session at the PARMA Annual Conference in Anaheim, he and other industry experts presented “Evolution of Risk Management.” The session was a leadership-level discussion that reviewed how the last two years have proved challenging for public entity risk managers, including the pandemic, civil unrest, the continued impact of climate change, and social inflation.
Thyden has played an instrumental role in developing the California JPIA’s cyber liability program, which supports members facing cyber incidents. The program offers access to computer forensics firms, business interruption loss coverage, digital data recovery resources, and network extortion expenses.
“As the need to manage cyber risk has progressed, the Authority has increased its efforts to encourage members to prepare themselves,” he said. “For example, our website has a self-assessment tool that can help members identify and remediate deficiencies. We also offer a website through which members can monitor their cyber risk management as well as access training and templates.”
According to Thyden, the California JPIA’s approach to cyber risk is a key differentiator from other municipal insurance pools. “The Authority is a risk management-based organization. While many pools focus on providing coverage and paying for claims, the Authority offers training programs that educate our members about what is happening in the cyber world relative to public entities and provides actionable steps to prevent a cyber attack. We not only help members recover from losses but also help members prevent losses.”
As part of the Authority’s larger leadership team, Thyden demonstrates a member-driven focus on proactively reducing claims through education and relationship-building.
“The thing I like best about working at the Authority is that the work means something,” said Thyden. “That means a lot, knowing that your work is valued and will be shared with people whom it can help.”
Congratulations, Jim, on your 15th anniversary!
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