Isabelle Novak Goes All In On Enterprise Risk Management with a New Program at Wake Forest SPS

Isabelle Novak traces her interest in enterprise risk management to an unlikely source: her sorority. 

Isabelle completed her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where she majored in communication studies and sociology and minored in criminology. She also served as vice president of risk management and chapter relations and standards of her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. 

“I never thought I had a place in the business world until these positions,” Isabelle recalled. “I always loved rules growing up. I was never the type to cheat at hide-and-seek as a kid. Right away, this was something I was really interested in.” 

Isabelle, now part of the inaugural cohort in the Master of Enterprise Risk Management program at Wake Forest School of Professional Studies, decided to nurture her growing interest and landed one internship at a Big 4 Consultancy in 2022, then another in 2023. In her first internship, she worked in business continuity and cyber risk. Then, she discovered enterprise risk management (ERM). 

“What I specifically love about ERM is you get to tap into so many different risks–regulatory and compliance risk, financial risk, cyber risk,” Isabelle said. “It’s continuous learning, and that’s one of my core values.”

Following her internships and her graduation from UNC Wilmington in May of 2024, Isabelle decided to further her education into ERM. She discovered the new program at Wake Forest SPS, which she began in September of 2024. 

“I was immediately drawn to not only the curriculum and the flexibility but also how it seemed like the faculty and administrators truly care about me getting this knowledge,” Isabelle said. “Now, as I go through the courses, it’s very evident that they want to see you succeed. They want to see you grasp the knowledge.”

Now that she is fully immersed in the program, Isabelle has come to appreciate even more of what it offers. For instance, the members of her cohort offer a diversity of experience that she has benefited from immensely in online discussion boards and offline conversations. Faculty members have been extremely responsive, responding to her questions rapidly and thoughtfully. She has also been able to manage her time and balance her responsibilities for work and life, thanks to excellent communication from the program and access to expectations for the entire course a week prior to its start. 

Time management became particularly important in March of 2025, when Isabelle began a full-time position as an analyst. She noticed the real-world applicability of her coursework immediately. 

“I love talking about the different frameworks we learn, and it’s been really neat to talk to the senior leadership in my organization and pick their brains about the pros and cons of each framework and what they use in their line of work,” she said. “A lot of what I’m learning has been able to overlap, and I could not contain my joy, initially. It just all connected, and it was just a really great feeling.”

Moving forward, Isabelle is eager to continue expanding her knowledge and apply it to her work. “This is definitely a field I want to pursue for a very long time. I feel like it’s ever-evolving, and there are so many different things you can tap into,” she said. “I’m never bored. There’s always something new to learn. And I think that’s what I love the most.”

Learn more about our online Master of Enterprise Risk Management program. Request more information today.