Council Members

Strategic Risk Committee Co-Lead

Guardian Life

Sarah Williams is Chief Risk Officer at The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian). In this capacity, she oversees all aspects of the company’s enterprise risk function, including investment risk, derivatives use and governance, and operational risk. Williams also oversees Guardian’s enterprise risk appetite and serves as the chair of the Corporate Risk Management Committee.


Williams has worked in the insurance industry since 2000. She joined Guardian in 2022 from Global Atlantic Financial Group, where she was Deputy Chief Risk Officer. Prior to that, she worked at MassMutual as Vice President of Global Capital Risk, leading the company’s assessment of international capital standards. Williams also spent ten years of her career at The Hartford in a variety of finance, actuarial and risk roles, most recently as Vice President of Risk Analytics and Governance. Williams started her professional career as an auditor at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.


A graduate summa cum laude, Williams holds a BA in Accounting from American International College and a MS in Accounting from Western New England College. She became a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter in 2004 and a Certified Public Accountant in 2007 (license expired). Williams is active in industry forums, including an appointment for a 3-year term on the Insurance Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC) of the Federal Reserve Board, effective in 2021.