Sarah Kyle

2019 EMERGING VOICE AWARD RECIPIENT

B.A. 2000, Political Science

Senior Advisor, Federal Government Relations, Eli Lilly & Company, Washington, D.C.

Sarah Kyle has dedicated her career to public service, working as a legislative staff member for a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator (both from Indiana) in addition to working at the largest independent government relations firm in Washington. She specializes in health and social policy, and previously serving as the national manager, government relations, for JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), one of the top five charities in the nation and currently working at Eli Lilly & Company in a Senior Advisor role.

Her political science professors and exposure to the C-SPAN archives at Purdue helped channel her interest in politics, but she remembers the exact moment she understood what working in public policy meant to her.

“When I first arrived in Washington in 2000, I was able to see Father Theodore Hesburgh [president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame] awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in recognition of his many contributions to civil rights, higher education, the Catholic Church, the nation, and the global community,” recalls Kyle. “It was there, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, that I realized that public service is about one’s contribution to the betterment of society. While working for former U.S. Senator Bayh, I had the opportunity to help advance legislation that would benefit the health of children and the elderly. Another particular ‘wow’ moment was witnessing the historic passage of the Affordable Care Act from the Senate gallery on Christmas Eve 2009, and later witnessing the final passage of that legislation from the House gallery.”