First Interstate officials are excited to announce that Lola Garcia was recently hired as Director of Enterprise Risk Management.
In this role, Garcia will lead the Bank’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, overseeing the identification, evaluation, and mitigation of risks across the enterprise, ensuring compliance, and promoting a culture of informed risk-taking and accountability.
With more than 20 years’ experience in the financial industry, Garcia has worked with several large financial institutions, including Charles Schwab, US Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and Great-West Life & Annuity. In her most recent role with Schwab, Garcia spearheaded many transformative firm-wide initiatives, including the integration of Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade; the development, rollout, and management of Schwab’s first centralized corporate-wide process mapping program; and the streamlining and standardizing of risk management practices, expectations, and requirements for first line of defense stakeholders.
“Lola stood out among candidates as an experienced, thoughtful, and motivating leader,” said Chief Risk Officer Karlyn Knieriem. “With her past successes implementing thorough, effective risk management processes, I am eager for her to continue the momentum in establishing robust risk management practices at First Interstate.”
In alignment with First Interstate’s value of Commitment to Community, Garcia is active in her community, volunteering at Food Bank of the Rockies, the Denver Rescue Mission, and Junior Achievement. She is passionate about serving and supporting children and underprivileged people, as well as ensuring people have access to financial literacy education programs so they can build and sustain a fulfilling life.