NDDCEL Advisory Board member Ellen Hunt Receives 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award for Ethics and Compliance Leadership
Ellen M. Hunt, Vice President of the Global Ethics & Compliance Program for Cushman & Wakefield and a long-time leader in the field, was recently honored with the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award by Compliance Week. This recognition reflects not just the longevity of her service, but the quality, consistency, and heart of her impact.
Hunt, who serves on the Advisory Board of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership (NDDCEL), has spent over two decades shaping and strengthening the field of ethics and compliance across industries.
From healthcare and food service to large nonprofit associations, her work has helped elevate ethics and compliance from a fragmented responsibility to a cohesive, purpose-driven discipline. And at every step, she’s prioritized people.
According to Aly McDevitt, data and research journalist at Compliance Week, the Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for a practitioner, educator, or commentator who has “upheld the core principles of ethics and leadership throughout his or her career.” Compliance Week—the premiere governance, risk and compliance service for corporate professionals—aims to be the leading resource for these fields, and honoring those who exemplify its mission is a key way it upholds and promotes those standards.
Hunt described receiving the award as an unexpected but deeply meaningful moment. Because nominations come from peers in the field, Hunt views the recognition as a reflection of how others experience her leadership style: rooted in values, trust, and a commitment to doing what’s right.
“Ellen meets the above criteria in spades,” McDevitt noted. “Her nominations were not only abundant, but genuine, heartfelt, and original. Each person took great care in submitting thoughtful recommendations—a testament in and of itself. Further, when I reached out to all of her nominators for further information, every single person came back to me offering more time and substantive input—not merely boilerplate answers.”
This resounding support from her peers speaks to the depth of Hunt’s influence—not just in shaping programs, but in shaping people.
Hunt’s career began in law, and she originally saw herself strictly in that role. But during her time at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, a major compliance issue led the company to restructure its internal oversight—and Hunt was asked to take the lead. She said she “got voluntold” to switch directions, a nudge from others that ended up redirecting her entire professional path.
That turning point was when she began to see how ethics and compliance (E&C) could fulfill her original desire to help people. She went on to lead major E&C efforts at organizations like AARP, Lifepoint Health, and U.S. Foodservice, building programs that went far beyond legal requirements and laid the groundwork for trust, resilience, and lasting culture change.
Throughout her work, Hunt has prioritized purpose-driven leadership, always asking a central question: “What are you doing and why are you doing it? The answer can’t be just making money.”
Hunt’s connection to the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership reflects her deep alignment with the University’s mission and values. She says the Center’s commitment to principles-based leadership has helped inform her thinking and reinforces the kind of work she strives to do.
She sees her role—whether in an organization or on an advisory board—as helping identify what truly matters and ensuring systems are designed so that everyone can benefit fairly.
At NDDCEL, Hunt helps shape conversations around how business leaders can be both effective and ethical.
Hunt believes ethical organizations not only make better decisions but also become stronger, more human-centered places to work. This creates a positive ripple effect on the products and services they offer.
Hunt emphasizes the collaborative, inclusive nature of the ethics and compliance profession. Rather than seeing colleagues as competitors, she views the field as one where shared growth benefits everyone. “When we all level the playing field for each other, it makes us all better,” she said.
She has demonstrated this ethos throughout her career—mentoring newcomers, co-founding the “Seven Elements” book club for ethics and compliance professionals, and serving as a speaker and advisor at conferences and institutions across the country. Hunt believes that giving back to the profession is not optional but essential. “No matter what your profession is, you should commit to it,” she said.
As a mentor, she focuses on helping others recognize their potential and the value of ethical action. She encourages future leaders to continue growing the E&C field thoughtfully and intentionally. “I hope it encourages more professions to join and I hope it continues to examine itself and change. It’s not static.”
As Hunt looks to the future, she’s energized by the direction of the field. She believes ethics and compliance are evolving into something more dynamic and aspirational.
“I truly believe that we [the E&C community] are at a new frontier,” she said. “We have a huge opportunity to move to be one that is inspiring and behavior-based.”