{"id":227036,"date":"2026-03-19T15:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/227036\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:26:07","slug":"california-jpia-recognizes-five-year-anniversary-of-nikki-salas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/227036\/","title":{"rendered":"California JPIA recognizes five-year anniversary of Nikki Salas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"California<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

The California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (California JPIA) celebrated the five-year anniversary of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Nikki Salas in February. Since joining the Authority in 2021, Salas has played a significant role in driving organizational progress by assisting with the modernization of human resource (HR) programs, identifying opportunities to enhance internal systems, and helping to guide the California JPIA through significant growth and change.\n<\/p>\n

Since 2020, the Authority has evolved as an organization. Alongside leadership transitions and numerous retirements, over one-third of the current staff have been hired since 2021. \u201cWe\u2019ve had department growth and retirements across the board, including in our executive management team,\u201d said Salas. \u201cWith that change in staff comes an evolution of the organization. However, through these changes, we\u2019ve been able to hold on tight to our core values and what it really means to exceed our members\u2019 expectations.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

California JPIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alex Smith reflected, \u201cFive years ago, we gained not just a talented executive, but a leader who makes everyone around her better. Nikki\u2019s integrity, creative problem-solving, and collaborative spirit have made our organization stronger and more resilient. She is also results-oriented \u2014 the kind of person who turns ideas into action.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Salas joined the California JPIA as a human resources manager, bringing extensive experience from her nine years at the Town of Apple Valley, where she collaborated closely with the Authority as Assistant Town Manager.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the benefit of working for a member agency \u2014 that\u2019s how I got to know the Authority,\u201d Salas said. \u201cI was Authority-adjacent for years before I ever started working here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

That member perspective has proven valuable in her current role, where she oversees human resources, fleet management, agency clerk, administration, training, and communications. \u201cAs we prepare to introduce new initiatives to members, I make it a priority to consider the experience from the end users\u2019 perspective,\u201d she said. \u201cI strive to anticipate their needs so we can proactively address them and ensure a seamless rollout.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Salas has worked on many projects during her tenure, but is especially proud to have spearheaded the Authority-wide implementation of Paylocity, an HR and payroll platform that debuted in April 2024. The system consolidated previously disjointed timesheet, payroll, and HR processes into a single, streamlined platform with easy employee access.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Another project that stands out is working with Employment Practices Manager,\n<\/p>\n

Kelly Trainer Policky, Training Manager, Ryan Thomas, and Risk Services Director, Alex Mellor to overhaul HR resource and training offerings. Salas has been a key team member in helping to develop HR resources specific to public sector professionals \u2014 the team has created model personnel rules, overhauled the annual HR Academy with fresh content and new speakers, and launched an HR training series that combines online and in-person components.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of HR training out there, but there aren\u2019t many quality resources for public sector human resources,\u201d Salas said. \u201cOur content is robust and connects all of these professionals to a full HR network that they can discuss current trends and similar workplace issues.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In 2024, Salas was promoted to the CAO role, where she\u2019s had the opportunity to make a greater impact across the Authority. She describes her leadership style as a quiet champion. \u201cI help everybody succeed,\u201d she said. \u201cMy role is not very visible outside of the organization, but I like being a behind-the-scenes supporter, because I can focus on helping out and supporting a lot of departments organization-wide.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

What Salas finds most rewarding is the variety her role offers. \u201cI\u2019ve got a big team, so I get to be involved in a training project one day, and a facility issue the next,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

As she reflects on her five years at the Authority, Salas sees the bigger picture of the work. \u201cEverything that the Authority does impacts 126 California public agencies,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great feeling going to work every day and seeing the impact of what we do on public agencies.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

About California JPIA\n<\/p>\n

Providing innovative risk management solutions for its public agency partners for more than 45 years, the\u00a0California Joint Powers Insurance Authority<\/a>\u00a0(California JPIA) is one of the largest municipal self-insurance pools in the state, with more than 125 member cities and other governmental agencies. Members actively participate in shaping the organization to provide important coverage for their operations. The California JPIA provides innovative risk management solutions through a comprehensive portfolio of programs and services, including liability, workers\u2019 compensation, pollution, property, and earthquake coverage, as well as extensive training and loss control services. For more information, please visit the California JPIA\u2019s website at\u00a0cjpia.org<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (California JPIA) celebrated the five-year anniversary of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Nikki…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-227036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}