Ashley Lam

Ashley is a program director at BNP Paribas. She is an accomplished risk & control specialist and strategic advisor with 15+ years of experience developing, executing and performing risk assessment programs for various global financial institutions. Ashley holds a B.A in Economics and Politics from New York University.

Ashley serves on the iMentor Young Executive Leadership Board and is a committee leader for several women’s network as well as AAPI organizations. She is an advocate for first- generation students, Asian American leadership, and women’s leadership. She has also founded a scholarship for first generation BIPOC high school and college students.

What makes you a Risky Woman?

In risk management, it’s often safer to maintain what already exists – business as usual as they say. I choose to question it. Whether leading teams through new governance tools, strengthening third-party oversight, or elevating how controls are embedded into daily operations, I focus on building systems that are not just compliant, but strategic.

Name your top 3 achievements

1. Serving on the NYC Young Executive Advisory Board for iMentor – a nonprofit mentorship organization for over 8+ years and a 13+ year member. In 2026, was honored to join iMentor ring the opening bell at Nasdaq.
2. Leading a highly successful team especially working with junior talent and being successful in over 8 promotions for them.
3. Promoted to executive director after leading global enterprise compliance risk remediation efforts and strategically building new operational risk mgmt team after 10 years in field.

What is the biggest risk you’ve taken in your career?

The biggest risk I took in my career was stepping away from a platform I had built and scaled over five years to lead the creation of a new, department-wide program focused on modernizing control execution and business management through tooling. This move required navigating ambiguity, influencing stakeholders, and driving executing.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

Over the past two years, I proactively earned certifications in data privacy, artificial intelligence, AI ethics, and data governance from five prestigious institutions to strengthen my strategic and technical capabilities.

What is the best quality for successful leaders in Risk?

Influence Without Authority – Risk leaders often don’t “own” the business but they must be able to understand, mitigate, and address risk accordingly.