Vanessa Forsythe

Vanessa Forsythe serves as Chief Legal & Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary of Sunrise Senior Living, a leading developer and provider of senior living services with communities across the United States and Canada and more than 21,000 team members. In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the company’s Legal, Risk Management, Compliance, Corporate Care, and Internal Audit functions, and is the principal legal advisor to the Board of Directors and executive leadership team. She serves on the company’s executive leadership team.

Vanessa leads enterprise-wide legal strategy, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance, guiding the organization through complex operational, real estate, and regulatory matters. She oversees the legal and administrative teams that support the company’s strategic transactions, acquisitions, and development initiatives across multiple jurisdictions, and plays a key role in shaping Sunrise’s enterprise risk, quality, and compliance frameworks and governance practices. She also works closely with industry partners to advance Sunrise’s regulatory and public policy engagement, supporting resident well-being, quality of care, and sustainable growth.

Prior to joining Sunrise in 2010, Vanessa was a partner at Howrey LLP, where she focused on complex commercial litigation and antitrust matters. She previously served as a federal judicial law clerk to the Honorable Leonie M. Brinkema, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Vanessa serves on the Litigation Advisory Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and on advisory committees for Argentum, the national senior living trade association. She is a former board member of the Alzheimer’s Association, National Capital Chapter, and remains active in philanthropic boards and alumni engagement efforts. She is also a member of the American Bar Association and other professional organizations.

Vanessa earned both her J.D. and B.A. from the University of Virginia and is committed to advancing Sunrise’s long-term success and to fostering its mission-driven culture focused on high-quality resident experience and service.