Elizabeth “Tizzy” Bennett, MPH, MCHES

Elizabeth “Tizzy” Bennett led drowning prevention initiatives for 30 years while serving as community health director at Seattle Children’s and helped launch the Washington State Drowning Prevention Network. She co-chaired the Life Jacket Working Group for the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan and now volunteers on water safety and drowning prevention projects. Tizzy has co-authored over 30 journal articles and book chapters on drowning prevention primarily focused on open water including observing life jacket use, the evaluation of a campaign to increase life jacket use and Everyone Swims, a policy and systems change approach to increase access to swimming and water recreation. Internationally, she co-led the development of open water drowning prevention guidelines and co-edited the Prevention Section of Drowning: Prevention, Rescue and Treatment. Tizzy received the 2024 NDPA Lighthouse Award and the 2022 Ireland Medal for her work in water safety.