Gary Hile
Gary Hile (Chair) is a third-generation practitioner of the trades; his grandfather, father and brother were all members of the plumbing profession. Hile entered the profession 36 years ago, completing his apprenticeship and putting in his years as a journeyman. From 1989 to 1992, he worked as a plumbing foreman. He then began his career as a plumbing and mechanical inspector with the city of Anchorage in 1992 and was appointed to his present position as Chief Plumbing/Mechanical Inspector in 2000. Hile is a Certified Plumbing Inspector (IAPMO), a Certified Mechanical Inspector (IAPMO and ICC), a Certified Medical Gas Inspector (PIPE), a Certified Backflow Assembly Tester for the Municipality of Anchorage, and a Certified Backflow Assembly Instructor through the University of Florida.
Bill Erickson
Bill Erickson (Treasurer) is the Chairman of the Board of C. J. Erickson Plumbing Co. He is the third generation of his family to lead this business founded in 1906 by his grandfather Carl Joseph Erickson. Bill’s son Matt is the current CEO of C. J. Erickson Plumbing Co. handling the current day to day operations.
Bill Erickson graduated from Bradley University in 1970 with a degree in business management. After college he served an apprenticeship with Plumbers Local 130 and became a journeyman plumber in 1974. He has held all the positions in his company. Foreman, estimator, project manager and became CEO in 1987. As CEO he helped his company grow to be one of the largest and most respected plumbing contracting firms in the Chicago metropolitan area. In 2006, after the companies 100th anniversary celebration, he stepped down as CEO. He now donates his time on various local, state and national boards and committees affiliated with water and energy conservation and sustainable construction initiatives. He is most proud of being the chairman of the IAPMO “Green Technical Committee” which produced the first ever green plumbing code supplement in 2012. Erickson is honored to be appointed as a founding Board member of the IWSH Foundation, in his words "There is so much work to be done."
Ken Borski
Ken Borski is division manager, plumbing inspections, for the city of Houston, a post he’s held since March 2014. Kenneth has been with the city for 25 years, beginning as a plumbing inspector and advancing to senior inspector and assistant chief before assuming the division manager position.
A member of Local Union 68 since 1980, Kenneth graduated from the Local 68 Apprentice School and has been a journeyman plumber since 1983.
Kenneth has been a member of the IAPMO Publications Committee since 2013 and is chairman of the Houston Area Plumbing Joint Apprenticeship Committee, on which he’s served since 1989. An ASSE International member since 1994, he’s a member of the Professional Qualifications Committee and is president of the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter. He is also a member of the Texas State Association of Plumbing Inspectors.
Tom Gugino
Tom Gugino has dedicated his life's work to the plumbing industry in almost every capacity for the past 40 years. Working as a journeyman and foreman until 1984, he began working for the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, eventually becoming the plumbing and mechanical inspections supervisor in 1999. A vital part of the southern Nevada plumbing industry, Gugino has made an enormous impact to the IAPMO Board of Directors, and the industry at large.
A charter member of the Southern Nevada chapter, Gugino has been actively involved with IAPMO for nearly twenty years. He has served one year as vice chairman and seven years as the chairman of his chapter. He was a ten-year member of the Product Certification Committee and the Standards Review Committee. A loyal supporter of IAPMO who is always at the ready to help, Gugino was the deserving recipient of the Government Person of the Year award in 2005.
As a second-generation plumber, Gugino is first to say that he unknowingly took 24/7 access to potable water systems and safe sanitation for granted. The moment Gugino had the opportunity to accompany IAPMO's Jed Scheuermann to Nepal in 2013 to assist Healthabitat devise waste management solutions for villages in the impoverished nation, Gugino's vision changed. With that, his passion and dedication have taken center stage, utilizing his lifelong knowledge and expertise to assist in providing basic water and sanitation solutions to protect the public's health in developing countries.
Ian Longacre
Ian Longacre is a plumbing and mechanical inspector with the city of Santa Fe, N.M., a residential building inspector, a residential and commercial building plans examiner, a member of UA local 412, and Chairman of the IAPMO New Mexico chapter since 2016. Longacre first became familiar with the building codes while growing up and helping alongside his general contractor father. He is an expert in the sizing and design of radiant heating and cooling systems, solar heating systems for both domestic hot water and active heating systems, and geothermal systems using ground source heat pumps to both extract and reject energy from and into the earth to heat and cool homes.
Longacre was able to take advantage of his plumbing and heating field experience that began in 1987 in San Diego to guide his career in the plumbing and heating industry. He was fortunate to work for a plumbing company that sub-contracted for one of the biggest developers in San Diego County, which specialized in everything from single family tract homes and apartment buildings to low and mid-rise commercial buildings and retail properties.
David Viola
David Viola is the CEO for IAPMO. He has more than 25 years of senior management experience within the plumbing and mechanical industry. He joined IAPMO in 2007 and, served as IAPMO’s chief operating officer with strategic and operational responsibility for the comprehensive array of IAPMO Group programs and services. Dave also serves as Deputy Chairman of the World Plumbing Council. Dave previously worked as Technical Director for the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) from 1998 until 2007. He serves or has served on many industry committees and boards in the United States and Canada, including AWE, ASME, ANSI and ASHRAE.
Seán Kearney
Seán Kearney (Managing Director) joined The IAPMO Group in 2015, and from that point has overseen development of the international Community Plumbing Challenge (CPC) program, which has grown into the flagship initiative of the IWSH Foundation today. Over the past five years, he has directed projects launched in India, South Africa, Indonesia, and the United States.
Kearney worked for WorldSkills Foundation during its start-up period from 2013-15, during which time the CPC concept was established, alongside several other skills showcase projects and sustainability initiatives that lead to further project management experience in countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.
He is responsible for strategic and organizational leadership across the IWSH team, and further guidance in the design and delivery of other international programs and partnerships of The IAPMO Group.
Robyn Fischer
Robyn Fischer (Senior Director for IWSH North America) has spent her career working on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues at the state, federal, and international level. She joined IAPMO in 2020 as the western Director of Government Relations, after working for more than ten years WASH policy in Washington, DC. Prior to working for IAPMO, Robyn was the U.S. Director of Policy and Advocacy for WaterAid, the largest international NGO focused on improving water and sanitation access for the poorest communities around the world. While there she worked with USAID, Congress, State Department, and led NGO coalitions to improve WASH programs and increase federal funding for those initiatives.
She has also influenced the development of domestic water policy and legislation for prominent groups such as the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Early in her career, Robyn examined water reuse policy and energy transmission issues for the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Water and Power. Robyn is originally from Los Angeles, CA and earned a degree in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz -- go Banana Slugs!
Grant Stewart
Grant Stewart (Program Director, International) has a background in plumbing and education as well as strong links to the global WorldSkills movement. After competing at the WorldSkills competition in 1997, Stewart worked in many roles in that organization, up to international Chief Expert in Plumbing and Assistant Technical delegate for WorldSkills Australia. Grant has worked full time as a Plumber and a Plumbing Teacher in various regions of Australia, and across the world. The experience of living and working in Zimbabwe in the late 1990’s, building classrooms, furniture and toilets in schools began a strong interest in water and sanitation projects and the sharing of skills in developing regions that continues to this day.
Since joining IAPMO in late 2013, Stewart has worked with World Plumbing Council, Healthabitat, RMIT University and WorldSkills Foundation on many projects including Sanitation Studios in Nepal and the pilot Community Plumbing Challenge in India. He has gone on to direct Community Plumbing Challenge initiatives and local community partnerships in South Africa, Indonesia, and the Navajo Nation.
Jed Scheuermann
Jed Scheuermann (Program Director, North America) is a Master Plumber, with over 40 years’ experience and has achieved a Bachelor (Education) degree and Instructor of Pipe Trades Certificate. As an educator, his passion is to effectively share trade knowledge, and he believes that access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are basic human rights that much of the world lacks.
In 1989 Scheuermann participated in his first humanitarian mission at an orphanage in Brazil. His experience there literally changed his life, setting his feet on a path that prompted numerous humanitarian and first responder to natural disasters trips. He has now traveled to nearly 40 countries in the process, and is an avid writer & photographer having published many articles.
Christopher Lindsay
Christopher Lindsay (Senior Director, Government Relations) brings over a decade of nonprofit and international development experience to IWSH. He began his career serving in the White House where he played a pivotal role analyzing and reporting trends on the thousands of nonprofits who partner with the government – representing billions of dollars. In this capacity, Christopher also worked to rebuild the United States’ refugee program in the years following the attacks of September 11th, helping populations in the most desperate circumstances.
Later, he would work with corporations and high net worth families to structure their philanthropic activities on issues ranging from creating microfinance projects in Peru to rebuilding schools in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. An outspoken advocate for clean water and sanitation, Christopher has worked with government ministries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the MENA region to improve governance, develop human capital, and implement the mechanisms necessary to build supply chain capacity.
Randy Lorge
Randy Lorge (Project Manager) is the Director of Workforce Training and Development for IAPMO. He is a Third-Generation Plumber, having served his Plumbing Apprenticeship in Wisconsin. He received his Master Plumber’s license in 1999.
Shortly after becoming a Master Plumber, Lorge began a career as a full-time Plumbing Instructor for United Association (UA) Local 400, where he has been a member for over 25 years. He has taught Plumbing Apprentices, Journeymen, and Inspectors plumbing code for over 20 years. In 2003, he graduated from the UA Instructor Training Program.
Lorge has been a member of the IAPMO Training and Education Committee for the past 5 years, during which time he coached American plumbing apprentices and engineering students towards participation in the first ever Community Plumbing Challenge event, in India. Lorge has been involved in all IWSH follow-up projects in South Africa, Indonesia, and the United States since.
In 2016, Lorge was awarded the Gaylord K. Unbehaun Community Service Award. He was also awarded the IAPMO Industry Person of the Year in 2018.
Dain Hansen
Dain Hansen has over 15 years of global policy, philanthropic, nonprofit and international charity experience. Dain began his career living in Australia working with indigenous and immigrant populations. Since that time, Dain worked on Capitol Hill for Senators and Congressmen on domestic and global environmental issues.
Dain has worked with USAID, foundations and organizations from the WASH community on projects throughout the globe, including; Southeast Asia, the Middle-East, and Africa. Dain is currently based in Washington, D.C., and works with water-related charities, foundations, domestic and international policy makers, and governmental aid organizations.
This engagement is done to further expand and provide assistance to developing nations to increase quality of life through training and vocational programs, standardization and governance in the demand-side water.
Gaby Davis
Gaby Davis participated in the development of Health Aspects of Plumbing, a publication with the goal of facilitating the adoption of good plumbing practices in developing countries to ensure the health gains and well-being expected from proper plumbing systems.
When the World Plumbing Council announced its plans to celebrate World Plumbing Day on March 11 every year, every where, Gaby immediately jumped on board. Since it’s inception in 2010, Gaby has served as an ambassador of World Plumbing Day – speaking with hundreds of elementary aged students every year about the important role the plumbing industry plays in maintaining our health.
As the daughter of a teacher and a career in the plumbing industry for more than two decades, speaking with children about clean water, proper hygiene and the importance of a plumbing system is near and dear to Gaby’s heart. She continues to visit schools in the Southern California area every year promoting the important work of the plumbing industry.
Pete DeMarco
Pete DeMarco is the Executive Vice President of Continuous Improvement Programs for the IAPMO Group. His primary responsibilities include working with IAPMO leadership teams to develop and act upon strategic business goals for the IAPMO Group.
Pete is the founder of the Plumbing Efficiency Research Coalition (PERC), an organization dedicated to conducting research pertaining to plumbing systems in consideration of the emerging trends towards lower water consuming plumbing fixtures and appliances. He has acted as lead facilitator for the American National Standards Institute’s Energy Efficiency Standardization Coordination Collaborative.
Notably, Pete co-chaired the Steering Committee for Water Efficient Products which helped to foster the development of the US EPA WaterSense® program. He currently has also served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and on the Board of Directors and on the Executive Committee for the Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI).
