Meet a CARSP Memeber – Kim Henry

Date: August 12, 2026

Interviewer: Omid Sadrmanesh (Editor, CARSP Safety Network Newsletter | Toronto Metropolitan University)

Interviewee: Kim Henry (Executive Director, CARSP)

Omid:

Hi, everyone. Welcome to our featured CARSP member video interview. My name is Omid Sadrmanesh, and I'm the editor of the CARSP Safety Network Newsletter. Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Kim Henry, the Executive Director of CARSP. Kim, welcome.

Kim:

Thank you.

Omid:

I want to start my first question with this: you've been in the non-profit sector for over 20 years, and you have a long-standing background with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada. How did you first get involved in road safety, and how has your experience been?

Kim:

Sure. When I was in high school, three of my friends were in a drunk driving crash, someone hit them. Two were injured and one was killed. From then on, I always wanted to do something to help prevent that type of tragedy. So, when my children were young, I joined Mothers Against Drunk Driving at the local level in Waterloo, Ontario.

I did a lot of fundraising, awareness, and victim support. Later, I joined the National Board of MADD for six years working on governance, so I've done a little bit of everything with MADD. Then I decided what a great way to continue ensuring my children, and everyone else I know, stay safe by joining the CARSP organization.

Omid:

I'm so sorry to hear that story, but it's such an inspiring background for the role you do. What drew you into the Executive Director role at CARSP after all these years?

Kim:

Well, I think it's very important work. It's different from my role at MADD, but also similar in that we share one ultimate goal: making the roads safe. So I'm really excited to be on board.

Omid:

My second question is about the recent CARSP conference in Halifax. This was your first time leading the conference as Executive Director. How was that experience, and what was the most rewarding part of managing it?

Kim:

It turned out to be a really great conference. It was fantastic working with the organizing committee, the sheer amount of work put in by the committee was staggering. It was so rewarding to see the final outcome and to meet everyone at the conference who, despite coming from different backgrounds, shared the same goal.

Omid:

Yeah, I attended the conference as well, and it was great how everything came together with so many different people and topics. It was a very successful event.

With all your years of experience in this field, what do you see as the most urgent need in road safety right now, especially in Canada?

Kim:

My gosh, I was trying to think about what the single most urgent need is because there are so many challenges in road safety. Impaired driving remains a core issue, but looking at micromobility, which I learned a lot about at the conference, that's a huge emerging topic.

As I was thinking about this recently, I saw some young kids ride by my window on mobility scooters going down a big hill with no helmets on. It made me wonder how old they were, whether they were old enough to be using those scooters, and who is monitoring that. I think micromobility and how we adapt to new road users is a major challenge facing everyone in road safety right now.

Omid:

I completely agree. Our streets were originally designed for traditional traffic, and now we have new types of road users like e-scooters, which creates new challenges.

For young professionals, researchers, and students watching who come from different backgrounds and want to pursue a career in road safety, what advice would you give them?

Kim:

One key thing I emphasized at the conference is the value of networking. I knew its importance from my non-profit and fundraising background, but seeing how eager people in the road safety sector are to help emerging leaders was incredible.

Young professionals should make sure they are open to that support, there is immense value in finding a mentor and learning from experienced professionals. Don't be afraid to network, ask questions, and challenge things.

Omid:

I couldn't agree more. At the CARSP conference, you get exposed to so much diverse work, for instance, I learned about off-road vehicle injury research that I hadn't been aware of before. Networking with experts in those areas can open up entirely new career paths.

The same thing happened to me: I started researching e-scooters, and now I want to pursue my doctoral studies in this area!

Setting road safety aside for a moment, could you share a fun personal fact about yourself?

Kim:

Having nothing to do with road safety: I have two Golden Retrievers! I got them after my two sons finished university and moved out. People joke that I replaced my kids with dogs, which maybe I did! If I could, I'd have a house full of Golden Retrievers.

Omid:

That's the dream! Having two Golden Retrievers must keep life very bright.

Thank you so much for sharing all of these insights today. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up?

Kim:

I'm just really looking forward to this coming year and serving my first full year as Executive Director. I'm excited for our next conference in Vancouver and working with Transoft Solutions, our co-host this year. It's going to be a fantastic event with a few new additions that long-time attendees will enjoy.

Omid:

That's awesome! In our current Summer SNN issue, we have features from Halifax, and the call for abstracts for next year's conference in Vancouver will be in the upcoming issue. Going to the West Coast in the summer will be fantastic.

Thank you very much, Kim, and thank you to our audience for watching today. If you have any questions, or if there's someone you'd like to hear from in our featured CARSP video interview, please let us know. Have a great day, Kim!

Kim:

Thank you! Have a good day. Bye-bye!