Magazine honors archdiocesan director of risk management as innovator

By John Shaughnessy

The question about an unusual trick-or-treat event was unexpected for Mike Witka.

So was the national recognition he recently received.

The question about the trick-or-treat event came from a group of mothers at a parish in the archdiocese, a group that is planning “a tailgate trick-or-treat party” for Halloween.

“The mothers are going to hand out candy from their cars in the parking lot of the parish,” says Witka, the director of risk management and parish financial services for the archdiocese. “Their question to me was, ‘What’s our liability?’ I asked them, ‘Is it a parish-sponsored event or an event sponsored by the mothers?’ ”

When it comes to liability concerns and insurance questions, Witka is usually the point person for the archdiocese, whether it involves fun events or the recent storm damage to churches and schools in southern Indiana.

Still, it’s Witka’s efforts in a different role that led him to recently receive national recognition from the magazine, Risk & Insurance. Witka is among the first group of winners of the magazine’s awards for “Risk Innovators.” He was honored for creating a forum for Catholic risk managers from across the country to share their questions, concerns and approaches.

“I was kind of surprised by the award,” Witka says. “But it’s nice to be recognized for putting together the Risk Managers’ Forum.”

Witka first started thinking about the forum when he joined the archdiocese in 2004. He asked if there was a method already in place where diocesan risk managers from across the country could talk about the issues that they face. Told there was none, he started one in 2006 with Peter Persuitti, an official with Arthur J. Gallagher Co., the insurance broker for the archdiocese.

“Handling an insurance operation as large as ours, I needed to bounce things off of other people,” Witka says. “As I met more and more people in the same situation, the idea germinated that there needs to be a discussion vehicle to test ideas and ask questions.

“We started doing a Web cast where we would do subjects of interest and have people send in their questions. Peter and I host the Web cast every other month. We have people [participate] from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, and all across the country.”

While Witka leads this positive development for diocesan risk managers, he also created a breakthrough in his own life.

In 1994, a month after the oldest of his three children started her freshman year in college, his corporate job with an international insurance company was downsized. Seeing it as an opportunity to make changes for his future, he took a career test—“to see what I wanted to do when I grow up.”

The test revealed that working in Church administration would be a good fit. So Witka went back to school, earning a master’s degree in theology from Loyola University New Orleans. When his third child graduated from college in 2004, Witka decided to work full time for the Church.

“If you think in terms of how many assets we’re called to protect, it’s a pretty good responsibility,” says the 59-year-old Witka.

Even with the demands of his archdiocesan responsibilities, Witka also finds time to serve as the director of business and development for his parish, Our Lady of Grace Parish in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese.

“His experience at the parish and school level enables him to truly understand the types of risks that we face, and to try to mitigate these risks through loss prevention and insurance,” says Jeffrey Stumpf, chief financial officer of the archdiocese. “He helps parishes to budget effectively, to communicate their finances with parish leaders and members, and to understand the importance of establishing scholarship funds and maintenance reserves.”

“I don’t like to be bored,” Witka says with a laugh.

He’s still flashing a smile when he talks about his work for the Church: “I think this is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. There’s a lot of pressure and a lot of work, but I enjoy it because I’m helping people.” †