REGION IV – VICE PRESIDENT CANDIDATE

Kelly Bernish
Manager, Safety & Health Operations
Walt Disney World
Lake Buena Vista, FL

BIOGRAPHY

Born and raised in Northeastern Ohio, Bernish began her first career job at SeaWorld in Ohio while finishing her Bachelors of Science degree at Kent State University.  Her path in the EHS field began in claims administration but soon began to ask the question, “Why aren’t we preventing these injuries from happening to begin with”.  That was some 20 years ago.

Bernish was promoted to Risk Manager and then Manager of EHS while taking advantage of learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom and began establishing a comprehensive EHS plan from the ground floor.  She found a local ASSE Chapter and became involved, serving as treasurer.  While managing her fast expanding career, Bernish had two daughters, Hanna and Taylor who are now sixteen and eighteen.

Bernish then had an opportunity with Anheuser-Busch, the owners of SeaWorld, to expand her safety experience by transferring to a brewery in California.  After a successful stint with the brewery she relocated again taking on the role of EHS Director for the SeaWorld parks in Orlando Florida, including opening two additional parks and several major rides and attractions. Active professionally, she quickly rose in the ranks of The Central Florida Chapter of ASSE where she currently serves as a very active past-president and delegate as well as serving as Chairperson for the Common Interest Group, WISE, Women in Safety Engineering.  She has also served on the Society level Diversity and PDC Planning Committees.

PLATFORM STATEMENT

As RVP for Region IV, leadership, communication, education and regional support of ASSE’s mission, “…providing representation, promotion and support for those engaged in the profession and/or the practice of safety, health and environment in their efforts to protect people, property and the environment”, will be my objective.  Providing a strong voice on the board for our region is critical to engage active ASSE citizenship on the regional level.  I will meet regularly with all of the Region IV chapters and their boards to ensure their concerns and issues are communicated and acted upon.  I will establish a mentoring program between chapters in my region for achieving Chapter Star recognition. My record is clear on my ability to strategically lead and communicate with an appropriate message and level of passion.  My mission is to instill a sense of identification and pride for the region through the chapters, including actively soliciting and properly acknowledging Regional Spy Awards and succession planning for Regional Officers.  Education throughout the region on a chapter and regional level is my priority.  I will establish a clearinghouse by which all educational opportunities are well orchestrated region-wide, to avoid overlap and oversaturation, while providing support and strategic marketing efforts for these events, culminating with a world class Regional Professional Development Conference.  Capitalizing on all modes of communication both internally and externally is critical and I will ensure the region and its activities are not only communicated passively through an active and relevant website but also actively through professional social networking opportunities and in-person chapter site visits.  Through these communication modes I will also inform, develop and recruit for all ASSE leadership and volunteer opportunities.  Volunteerism and stewardship, the principle by which ASSE continues to succeed, can only be strengthened by active leadership I am able to deliver.