Robert Riestenberg
Robert J. “Bud” Riestenberg (Chair) has been a distinguished leader in the plumbing and mechanical industries for over forty years.
Riestenberg has frequently noted over the years that ‘Nobody gets to live life backwards. Look ahead—that’s where the future lies.' And with that, he is looking forward to working with IWSH as an appointed trustee and looks forward to advancing the valuable work being done throughout the plumbing and mechanical industry.
Riestenberg is focused on taking the next step to work with IWSH as a trustee to complete the full circle of his decades of commitment and dedication to the IAPMO Group's overall mission. The potential for experience and training will bring immediate impact to aid other countries in fulfilling their goals of good clean potable water and proper sanitation systems for everyone.
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."
Dan Daniels
Dan Daniels began as an apprentice in Colorado more than 40 years ago. In 1991, Daniels was offered an inspector’s position with the city of Pueblo’s Regional Building Department. His supervisors recognized the quality of his work and made him the chief plumbing inspector for the city and county in 1999.
Daniels is a Past President of IAPMO, and has served as a member of the American Water Works Association. He is the Chairman of the UPC Technical Committee and has served as chairman of both IAPMO’s UPC Workshop Committee and IAPMO’s Career Services Committee and served on the Audit Committee, Bylaws Committee, Executive Committee and R&T Board of Directors.
Daniels is excited to serve on the IWSH Board of Trustees, and is eager to be a part of the ongoing collective efforts of IAPMO under this philanthropic banner and continuing to provide safe drinking water and sanitation to more than half of the world’s population.
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.
Gary Hile 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.
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.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.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.
Swathi Saralaya
Swathi Saralaya (Project Manager) currently works at IAPMO India, and holds a Bachelor of Engineering Graduate in Environmental Science with further experience as a Design Engineer and in Public Health Engineering. She served as a Technical Committee member for IAPMO India’s 2014 & 2017 Uniform Plumbing Code India; 2013 & 2017 Water Efficient Water – India, and the Guide to Good Plumbing Practices by the Indian Plumbing Association. Her work takes her across India to oversee a range of Plumbing training and educational programs.
Saralaya has played a key role in organizing teams for Community Plumbing Challenge projects in India and Indonesia, and has participated in several editions of the Healthabitat Nepal Village Sanitation Program. She is a recipient of the World Plumbing Council Education and Training Scholarship (2018); the first woman to be awarded this accolade.
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 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 is the current chair of the National Institute of Building Science’s Consultative Council and is the lead facilitator for the American National Standards Institute’s Energy Efficiency Standardization Coordination Collaborative.
Notably, Pete also co-chaired the Steering Committee for Water Efficient Products which helped to foster the development of the US EPA WaterSense® program. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE).
