Marinda Griese, board president of the California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) and claims administrator of the California Joint Powers Risk Management Authority (CJPRMA), is the recipient of AGRiP’s Award for Excellence in Service, recognizing her measurable contributions to public entity pooling and her service-driven leadership within the pooling community.
The Award for Excellence in Service honors an individual who actively promotes and strengthens public entity pooling through contributions of special merit, demonstrates improvements to services provided by or to AGRiP member pools, and leadership that elevates the profession as a whole.
In her role as board president of CAJPA, Marinda has helped the association reshape its approach to mounting liability pressures within the pooling community, including work on a proactive, strategic framework for coordinated action, policy reform and system-level solutions that support California public authorities.
Marinda led the adoption of a three-track agenda emphasizing rapid, coordinated responses to emerging legislation; association-led reforms to improve fairness and predictability; and system-level solutions using shared loss control strategies and evidence-based practices. As part of this work, she launched CAJPA’s efforts to gather and analyze data to support evidence-based decision-making on behalf of local governments and their risk pools. The partnership quantified the frequency and financial impact of large claims and helped ground public-facing conversations in verified data — strengthening credibility, unifying messaging and outlining practical approaches to reducing volatility from nuclear verdicts while protecting public funds.
Marinda’s service also extends deeply into education and professional development through CAJPA. She has chaired CAJPA’s Litigation, Insurance, and Tort Liability (LITL) Committee as well as its Professional Development Committee, advancing initiatives that build practical claims and operational expertise across the pooling community. A frequent presenter at industry events, Marinda emphasizes collaboration and actionable learning, equipping pools with tools to address today’s evolving liability environment.
Her focus on advocacy and professional development, and her broader body of work, including her professional role at CJPRMA, underscores her leadership in public entity risk management.
Marinda will receive the Award for Excellence in Service on Monday, March 2, at Governance Conference 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.