Community Outreach and Advocacy Standing Committee

Scope of Work

The Committee on Community Outreach and Advocacy (COA) is responsible for advancing the recognition of the profession; increasing the public’s awareness of the profession and the services provided; and guiding the Society and its chapters in reaching out to the public, to allied professionals, to industry members, and to the code enforcement community for the purpose of increasing the stature of fire protection engineering and fire safety engineering. This Committee also recommends and monitors positions taken by the Society on emerging technical, legislative, and regulatory issues as well as provide support for marketing and public relation’s initiatives implemented by, and on behalf of, the Society.

Committee Members

Committee members are appointed by the SFPE Board of Directors for a three-year term. Members can request to be appointed to a second three-year term. Requests are reviewed by the Chair and the staff liaison and decisions are made by the Board of Directors. End of term is denoted in parentheses below.

Committee Chair: Jared Thibodaux
Staff Liaison: Julie Gordon

Kathleen Almand (2021)
Anthony Apfelbeck (2020)
Cristina Aragon-Vandenbent (2023)
Brian Ashe (2020)
Sherif Azab (2023)
Ronel Baes (2023)
Babak Bahrani (2020)
Brian Baring (2023)
Caroline Beauchemin (2023)
Ralpha Bless Jr. (2023)
Byron Briese (2021)
Julie Brown (2024)
Olusegun T. Buhari (2023)
Victor Burgos (2023)
Mary Button (2024)
Bruce Campbell (2021)
Richard Cardile (2024)
Raymond Clarke (2024)
Brian Cohen (2020)
Anthony Cole (2021)
Daniel Colombini (2020)
Jon Corbett (2023)
Brad Cronin (2022)
Matthew Daelhousen (2022)
Elizabeth Diharce (2023)
Sankalp Dixit (2022)
Gary Dominguez (2022)
Mark Dubbin (2020)
Derek Duval (2021)
Rocky Edwards (2021)
Frank Ellis (2022)
R. Keith Fairfax (2021)
Ralph Foster (2021)
Alexander Glennon(2022)
Glen Hamilton (2020)
Chris Harner (2024)
Michael Hennegan (2021)
Mark Hopkins (2022)
Gavin Horn (2021)
Bryan Hoskins (2020)
Diana Hugue (2021)
David Jacoby (2021)
Gregory Jakubowski (2021)
Bill Johns (2020)
Thomas Jones III (2023)
Elizabeth Kallman (2023)
Lucas Kirn (2021)
Christopher Koch (2024)
Quang Le (2023)
Daniel Lemieux (2022)
Robert Lopez (2024)
Amanda Lucarino (2023)
James McLean(2022)
Brian S. Meurer (2023)
Andrew Milliken (2021)
Luis Molinelli (2021)
Chris Olmstead (2023)
Thomas Platt (2021)
Leomard Ramo (2022)
Joseph Rashleigh (2020)
Robert Richter (2020)
Ryan Rigsbee (2022)
Ron Rispoli (2024)
Jeffrey Rosen (2020)
Lance Rutimann (2020)
Richard Salzer (2023)
Saif Siddiqui (2023)
Ritesh Singh (2023)
Katrina Smith (2024)
Jared Thibodaux (2021)
Brian Thompson (2020)
Steven Venditti (2021)
Leslie Villanueva (2021)
Gennaro Vuoso (2021)
Jennifer Wetzel (2023)
Zachary White (2023)
Brandon Wilkerson (2021)
Kim Wilson (2023)
David Young (2021)
Joseph Zwarts (2023)


Subcommittees

Fire Service

Scope of Work

This subcommittee is a diverse group of SFPE members that all have an interest in the advancing cooperation and communication between the fire service and the fire protection engineering profession. Working with research, emerging trends, and hot topics, where applicable, engineering information is transferred to the fire service.

Committee Members

Subcommittee Chair: Brad Cronin
Subcommittee Co-Chair: Frank Ellis
Staff Liaison: Julie Gordon

  • Byron Briese
  • Anthony Cole
  • Jon Corbett
  • Gary Dominguez
  • R Keith Fairfax
  • Daniel Finnegan
  • Douglas Frey
  • Gavin Horn
  • David Jacoby
  • Gregory Jakubowski
  • Robert Lopez
  • Brian Meurer
  • Andrew Milliken
  • Chris Olmstead
  • Tom Platt
  • Edward Prendergast
  • Ron Rispoli
  • Steven Venditti

Student Outreach

Scope of work

This subcommittee helps developing materials that can be used to help students learn about fire protection engineering. Volunteer members work with student outreach programs such as the annual Future City Competition and bi-annual Engineering and Science Festival. Materials and resources are gathered to disseminate to middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students.

Committee Members

Subcommittee Chair: Matthew Daelhousen 
Subcommittee Co-Chair: Greg Jakubowski
Staff Liaison: Julie Gordon

  • Kathleen Almand
  • Babak Bahrani
  • Julie Brown
  • Mary Button
  • Brian Cohen
  • Bruce Campbell
  • Marcin Cisek
  • Anthony Cole
  • Derek Duval
  • R Keith Fairfax
  • Tom Goss
  • Chris Harner
  • Mike Hennegan
  • Bryan Hoskins
  • Diana Hugue
  • Thomas Jones III
  • Elizabeth Kallman
  • Alex Miear
  • Andrew Milliken
  • Christine Pongratz
  • Katie Pothier
  • Robert Richter
  • Dave Young

Strategic Alliances

This task group helps coordinate agreements between the Society and industry organizations that have a common goal to share resources, or to undertake a specific, mutually beneficial common goal to further the missions of both entities.

Subcommittee Chair: Cristina Aragon-Vandenbent
Staff Liaison:
Julie Gordon

  • Sherif Azab
  • Ronel Baes
  • Brian Baring
  • Ralph Bless Jr.
  • Nicole Boston
  • Tijani Buhari
  • Victor Burgos
  • Richard Cardile
  • Daniel Colombini
  • Jon Corbett
  • Elizabeth Diharce
  • Rockwood Edwards
  • Thomas Jones
  • Quang Le
  • Daniel Lemieux
  • Amanda Lucarino
  • Luis Molinelli
  • Ryan Rigsbee
  • Richard Salzer
  • Saif Siddiqui
  • Ritesh Singh
  • Jared Thibodaux
  • Jennifer Wetzel
  • Kim Wilson
  • Joseph Zwarts

To join a standing committee or subcommittee fill out and submit this volunteer application. The Board of Directors will review applications and make appointments on a rolling basis.