Jim Santilli has more than 24 years of 
transportation safety experience and began his career with the Transportation Improvement Association (TIA) on May 15, 2006. Santilli was asked to lead the agency during January of 2011. On June 24, 2011, the Board of Directors officially appointed him to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Santilli is the 4th leader in TIA’s 58-year history. Previously, Santilli worked in a variety of public safety positions and as a college criminal justice instructor.
During 2024, Santilli received the Richard H. Austin Long-Term Service Award from the State of Michigan for long-term contributions and commitment to traffic safety. He also was the recipient of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson’s prestigious ‘Elite 40 Under 40’ leadership award during 2012.
Santilli served as the Chairman of the Michigan Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commissions’ Distracted Driving Action Team from 2021 to 2024 and 2013 to 2018. He serves on the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee, and founded and coordinates the M-59 Traffic Safety Team. Santilli previously served as the 2016/17 President of the Intelligent Transportation Society of Michigan’s Board of Directors, and a member of the Oakland County Connected Vehicle Task Force, Oakland County Transportation Committee (2011 to 2019), Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) Transportation Advisory Council, and Ferris State University Traffic Safety Team. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, Southeast Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, Macomb County Association of Chiefs of Police, Oakland County Association of Chiefs of Police, and Oakland County City Managers Association.
As a leader in distracted driving awareness, Santilli worked with victims to create a distracted driving campaign. The campaign was one of five traffic safety programs in the nation to receive a Peter K. O’Rourke Award during 2013. It also received a 2012 Outstanding Traffic Safety Achievement Award from the Michigan Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission. A component of the campaign, a realistic distracted driving crash education video, received an Eclipse Award for production excellence and has been viewed in more than 90 countries. Since 2010, Santilli has been speaking about the dangers of distracted driving and promoting increased enforcement. He began working on hands-free local ordinances during 2010, and publicly announced the Hands-Free Michigan Campaign on March 30, 2016. That same year, Santilli conducted extensive research and provided State Representative Martin Howrylak with language for a hands-free distracted driving bill that was introduced in the Michigan Legislature during 2016 and 2017. State Senator Ruth Johnson used the language to introduce a bill during 2019 and 2021. Furthermore, he launched an enforcement initiative known as “Operation Ghost Rider,” which was featured nationally in The Wall Street Journal and at the 2019 Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California.
Santilli holds an Airman Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with a small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) rating. He has more than 10 years of experience flying multirotor and fixed-wing unmanned aircraft, and completed private pilot ground school courses. Furthermore, Santilli was trained in drone assessment and response tactics for Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS). Since 2018, Santilli has trained professionals from 258 agencies (federal, state, county, local, tribal, and college/university) and companies in 27 states throughout the United States of America. He’s flown numerous public safety missions, which include: auto theft and drug trafficking surveillance, fatal and severe injury traffic crashes, fire, home raid, homicide, natural disaster, officer-involved shooting, and search for missing and armed persons. Furthermore, he flew missions for Hurricanes Milton (2024), Helene (2024), Idalia (2023), and Ian (2022). Santilli is an appointed FAA Safety Team Representative, member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and lifetime member of the Air & Space Forces Association. He previously served on the Michigan Aeronautics Commissions’ Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Advisory Committee, and was part of a sheriff aviation unit for 4 years.
A lifelong resident of Michigan, Santilli is a graduate of Ferris State University. At FSU, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, received the Torchbearer Leadership Award, and an award from the Department of Public Safety for many years dedicated to traffic safety. He is also a proud graduate of Michigan’s largest high school, Dakota High School, where he served as student body president. His training includes 911 dispatch, child passenger safety, corporate law, criminal and juvenile justice, crisis and emergency management, traffic incident management, Emergency Medical Services Medical First Responder, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), and Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers.
Santilli frequently communicates with other professionals throughout the world to remain on the cutting edge in transportation safety.
