Christine Assili
Department of Homeland Security
2021 fellow
Prior to the Fellows program, Ms. Assili served as the Director of Production for Strategic Communications and Public Affairs. There she oversaw the Transportation Security Administrations’ (TSA) TV Studio, Graphics, Writers/Editors, and Web and Applications divisions.
Ms. Assili previously served as Director of Communications in Intelligence & Analysis, where she drove employee engagement work. Her Focus Group initiative led the way to improving Federal Employment Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) scores the department. Her efforts led to her department being recognized by the TSA Administrator HQ Office of the Year (2018).
Ms. Assili has more than 25 years of transportation security experience in both private and government sectors with her federal career beginning right after 9/11 as a Special Agent with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Her field and headquarters experience is expansive. After a major incident, she led efforts for new security requirements of international cargo and in 2014 was recognized by the Assistant Administrator for Excellence in Stakeholder Engagement. She also served on joint duty assignments at the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was instrumental in managing major policy initiatives.
Ms. Assili began her career at U.S. Airways, where she managed employees across divisions in Maintenance, Customer Service and Ramp Operations. She was instrumental in leading efforts in the Self-Directed Team program, the High Performance Work Organization and Creating Impressions of Excellence, which created a blueprint for dynamic change to enhance labor-management relations and a culture change initiative delivered to all 55,000 employees receiving Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Awards.
She holds a B.A. in Business and a M.B.A. Other honors include TSA Project Team Award 2009; Honorary Cargo Association accolades in 2006 and 2007; TSA special recognitions in 2005 and 2006; the FAA Special Act Award in 2002; and a Certificate of Recognition from the DHS Chief Security Officer in 2016.
