EBA Levels Up on Professional Development

Members can start earning certificates in 2024

By Marty Walters

After a lot of work assessing learning needs and setting up our organization to host a certificate program, the Environmental Bankers Association is formally kicking off development in the summer of 2023! I’m very excited about leading this effort for EBA, a unique opportunity that came about after a merger ended my bank position. Like a lot of EBA members, this organization is my career home base, where environmental professionals are seen, heard, and supported. When I come to EBA events, it’s an opportunity to lift the fog of everyday pressures and uphold the professional and ethical standards of our field. Our new certificate program will capture this experience with a formal assessment of knowledge and skills needed to support good decision by bank environmental risk managers and the consultants who support them.

Over the next six months, we’ll be establishing a road map for the risk manager certificate, including:

• Prerequisite Qualifications

• Initial Certificate Training over 3-4 months

• Examination

• Award of Certificate

• Continuing Education

• Trainer Qualifications

• Program Administration

EBA will become accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), so that our program content will earn you continuing education credits.

When Dave Lambert took on the role of president for EBA in January 2022, he wrote in this Journal that EBA “will focus on increasing the value to membership by expanding the depth and breadth of educational and professional development opportunities and improving the quality of content.” Past president Bill Sloan promised us that EBA is evolving and acknowledged that our leadership position in the banking industry means we need to continue setting and meeting ambitious goals. Through the challenges of the pandemic and economic conditions in recent years, Bill handed off leadership of an organization that’s more resilient than ever. Dave has taken that organization to new levels of smart governance, transparency, and equity.

Over the next few months, we’ll be developing all the elements for the Certificate Program through our committees. Consider joining one of these wonderful committees to get involved. Contact me at marty.walters@recoveryrisk.com your questions and get guidance on how to best support the program.

Why Banks Need Certified Environmental Risk Managers

• Bridge from information gathering to risk mitigation and ultimate credit decisions

• Create deep bench of environmental risk professionals within consulting and bank organizations

• Integrated risk management that works for institutional needsoutsourced or internal, technical or non-technical

• Adaptability to changing supervisory and regulatory environment

• Responsive to investor, customer, employee, and community reinvestment concerns

• Data and reporting consistency, accuracy, usefulness in enterprise risk management

Why Environmental Professionals Need the EBA Certificate

• Unify professionals across the spectrum o Large bank risk teams o Small teams and single practitioners in smaller banks o Outsourced reviewers o Technical consultants o Other experts

• Facilitate transition from technical to financial work environment

• Support transitions from small and big organizations

• Develop career pathways within traditional environmental risk role

• Leverage risk mitigation skills to tackle other areas of risk like ESG and resiliency, project finance, M&A finance, equipment finance