To celebrate International Women’s Day at Verisk—and to showcase Verisk as a leading data analytics company with diverse leadership—Verisk is highlighting its women leaders through a series of Q&A blog posts focusing on this year’s theme, #BalanceforBetter.
We spoke with RoseAnne Franco, head of oil and gas risk, and head of Africa at Verisk Maplecroft. Verisk Maplecroft helps organizations optimize and strengthen their risk management processes and supply chains by providing a full-spectrum solution that blends an unparalleled portfolio of global risk analytics with world-leading analysis, real-time locational monitoring, and innovative risk-calculator technology.
How will you help forge a more gender-balanced world?
The first step is to ensure that all analysts have equal access to opportunity. Historically, that’s been lacking for underrepresented groups in the energy industry. And it’s often been that the people most vocal about advancement and new opportunities achieve the most progress. But if you periodically check in with everyone on your team, you can help balance that access to opportunity. For women, this helps us reach gender parity.
If you could give one piece of advice to the next generation of women leaders, what would it be?
Work as hard as you possibly can—know the language of your industry and be (over) prepared. But I think that when you do succeed, people remember. Working predominantly in the energy industry, there still aren’t a lot of women out there, so we stand out. But that isn’t a bad thing.
What is your greatest accomplishment, and why?
My five-year-old daughter, who peppers me with thoughtful questions and is a gentle reminder of daily joys. Rain means rainboots and splashing, and cold weather means colorful gloves. And the questions: "Mommy, what will it be like when I grow up? I will drive an electric car and can fly to the moon, but what else will it be like?" And then I think of my own mother and what she has seen in her own lifetime. She grew up on a farm in Colombia in the 1940s and '50s, and my daughter’s questions force my mind to stretch.
What are you doing daily to ensure your continued growth and development as a leader?
I’m recrafting my vision. I had a clear view of what I wanted to do, which aligns largely with what I’m responsible for today. However, the oil and gas industry finds itself in transition. I’ve spent much of my career focused on defining a base case and scenarios, but the possible trajectories confronting energy have injected an unusual level of uncertainty. But I lean on my usual tools—critical thinking and lots of questions. And I have the luxury of being part of the Verisk family that includes Wood Mackenzie and Greentech Media, which allows me to fully investigate what could be next. To be sure, uncertainty is good for the risk industry.