Joseph Pugh

Joe Pugh is a strategic risk management professional with experience maturing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Ethics and Compliance programs within for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Joe is skilled in Enterprise Risk Management and has a passion for building strategic ERM programs from the ground up. Joe is a founding member of the DC ERM Roundtable, consisting of private, public, and not-for-profit organizations in the Washington, DC Metro area, where risk practitioners network and share information, and learn techniques for advancing the ERM discipline. Joe is a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP), a RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP), and holds a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) designation through the Institute of Internal Auditors as well as the Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) certification through ISACA. Joe is currently the Senior Director, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) & Compliance at AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. Joe leads the ERM program at AARP, where he built, matured, and focused on creating an ERM framework that is strategic-centric and an ERM governance cadence that provides risk-informed information to executives, the AARP Board of Directors, and key decision makers at all levels of the organization. Under Joe’s leadership, the organization has become more risk savvy and able to understand the enterprise risks “to” and “of” strategic priorities, as well as the capability to act quickly when risk exposures change. Joe regularly delivers ERM reporting to executive management, the AARP Board of Directors, and its Committees. In addition to his ERM role, Joe works closely with the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer in developing and executing various strategies designed to promote a strong ethical culture and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Joe played a key role in AARP being named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for three consecutive years. Joe earned his MBA from Marymount University in Arlington, VA, and completed an executive education program through Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business that focused on management development skills for an ever-changing organizational landscape, including high-performing teams, change management, and persuasive communication. Joe is a frequent speaker on ERM and Compliance. Joe co-authored with AARP’s COO the publication “AARP’s Innovative Past Inspires Transformation Today,” via the Wall Street Journal – Risk & Compliance, 2019, and co-authored the publication "Where to Start: Risk Management 101" in the CEP magazine, July 2023.