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Jim Santilli, Executive Director

Jim Santilli has more than ten years of transportation safety experience, and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Traffic Improvement Association of Michigan (TIA).  Jim entered the industry in 2001, where he began initiating and participating with highway safety engineering, education, and enforcement initiatives in various areas of Michigan.  Since then, he was selected to speak at the 2006 and 2011 Michigan Traffic Safety Summits, and numerous other conferences and press events.  He was also nominee for the Governor's Traffic Safety Advisory Commission's Outstanding Traffic Safety Achievements During Calendar Year 2005 award.  Jim served as the president and chief executive officer of a transportation safety organization in Atlanta, Georgia from 2007 through 2011, and was acknowledged by a chief executive officer from the airline industry for his commitment to safety.

Jim is a member of the Michigan Governor's Traffic Safety Advisory Commissions' Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Team, Traffic Safety Engineering Action Team, Michigan Crash Data Users Group, and the Michigan Deer Crash Coalition, Michigan's Give 'em a Brake Safety Coalition, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments' Transportation Advisory Council, Oakland County Business Roundtable, several local traffic safety groups, and as a co-founder, a representative on the Ferris State University and Oakland University Traffic Safety Team's.  He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Intelligent Transportation Society of Michigan, and is a member and/or a supporter of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers - Michigan Chapter, Italian American Cultural Society, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Oakland County Association of Chiefs of Police, and has been extremely active in political affairs.  Jim was a recent candidate for State Representative in Michigan's 33rd District, which includes Clinton, Macomb, and Ray Townships.

Jim received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and an associate's degree in pre-criminal justice from Ferris State University.  A portion of the curriculum was a concentration on human resource management.  He was a recipient of the Ferris State University Torchbearer Leadership Award.

He was trained through the Oakland Police Academy to become licensed by the State of Michigan as an emergency medical services - medical first responder, the Flint Police Academy for Michigan's Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) certification, and has training in aviation safety, child passenger safety, homeland security, non-profit corporation federal and state procedures, non-violent/violent crisis intervention, and pedestrian and bicycle safety.

Previously, Jim has worked various jobs in the fields of juvenile justice and public safety.  In addition to TIA, he is currently employed as an Adjunct Criminal Justice Instructor at ITT Technical Institute.

A lifelong resident of Michigan, Jim was born in Detroit, raised in Clinton Township, and currently resides in Macomb Township.