Nicole Puri

Nicole Puri is the Risk Management Officer for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a government corporation which protects the retirement incomes of nearly 40 million American workers in nearly 24,000 private-sector defined-benefit pension plans. PBGC was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to encourage the continuation and maintenance of private-sector defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums at a minimum. In FY16 PBGC received over $6.5 billion in premium income and paid out over $5.7 billion to or for retirees.

Nicole joined the PBGC in 2017 as part of their efforts to establish an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program. Her role is to lead the ERM efforts of the corporation, educate the staff, leadership, and board of directors of the corporation in risk management, and to serve as an advisor on risk.

Prior to PBGC, Nicole was part of a small team which created an enterprise risk management program for the Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) at HUD. As the Deputy Director of that program, Nicole led the organization through a gradual change to more strategic and risk-based decision-making using an ERM framework. PIH’s efforts to implement ERM were recognized by GAO in its report titled ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT: Selected Agencies' Experiences Illustrate Good Practices in Managing Risk.

Before coming to government, Nicole worked for a Big Four consulting firm focused on risk management services to the federal government. She holds a law degree from George Mason University School of Law and an undergraduate business degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.