Christine M. Sullivan, CSP, ARM, is the 108th president of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), serving a one-year term. She has been an ASSP member since 1996 and lives in Glastonbury, CT.
Sullivan has 30 years of safety and health experience. She is senior vice president and risk control director at Sompo International, a global specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. She stresses risk management over compliance and encourages businesses to manage total risk so they can reduce incidents, better protect workers and maximize financial performance.
Sullivan’s term as president will complete a decade of service on the Society’s Board of Directors. As only the eighth woman to lead the organization since it was founded in 1911 – and third in the past four years – Sullivan believes that increasing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the profession can elevate the safety and health of workers everywhere.
ASSP’s efforts around DEI are not only goals Sullivan supports professionally, but they are also elements of her family life. She believes it is critical to integrate DEI into all aspects of life and approach every situation with that lens of acceptance and accountability. She says differences among people should not only be accepted but widely celebrated.
Her Society honors include the Charles V. Culbertson Outstanding Volunteer Service Award, the Risk Management and Insurance Practice Specialty Safety Professional of the Year Award, and the Council on Practices and Standards Safety Professional of the Year Award.
Sullivan’s past Society roles include vice president of finance, vice president of the Council on Professional Development, chair of the Professional Development Conference Planning Committee and member of ASSP’s 100th Anniversary Task Force in 2011. She has also served as president of the Colorado Chapter.
Sullivan supports emerging safety professionals and knows there is great potential for the future growth of ASSP and the occupational safety and health profession. It is all about building relationships, being a strong communicator in the workplace and giving back as a volunteer leader, she says.
Sullivan holds a bachelor’s degree in human factors engineering from Tufts University in suburban Boston.