Leigh Ann Pusey, longtime leader of the American Insurance Association, plans to depart in June for an executive role with the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co.

Pusey has led the AIA since 2009, and first joined in December 1996 as senior vice president for public affairs. She has also served in leadership roles including chief operating offer, and has been one of the few women to lead a major insurance organization.

She will step down on June 9 to join Lilly as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications.

Pusey has served in organizations including as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Committee of 100 and board member of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Before AIA, Pusey had been the deputy assistant to President George H.W. Bush for the White House Office of Public Liaison and deputy director of communications for the Republican National Committee.

Pusey is staying on at AIA through a transition period where she is working closely with J. Stephen Zielezienski, AIA senior vice president and general counsel, and Jo DiGiovanni, AIA senior vice president for state affairs, on AIA public policy goals.

Christopher Swift, The Hartford’s chairman and CEO and AIA’s chairman, said that Pusey provided “dynamic and energetic leadership” for the trade association and lobbying group.

“During that time, she built a strong, dedicated team of professionals who every day zealously represent the property/casualty industry in Washington, D.C. and in state capitals across the nation,” Swift said in prepared remarks.

He added that Pusey’s departure “provides an opportunity to build off the momentum and success of recent years and identify a leader who can continue AIA’s journal of excellence, providing thought leadership for the industry in a time of tremendous change and challenge.”

AIA represents more than 325 insurers.

Sources: AIA, Eli Lilly