Nicole Testa Boston, CAE, has served as CEO of SFPE (Society of Fire Protection Engineers) since 2013. She is responsible for the Society’s wide-ranging and expanding strategic initiatives, technical and educational programs, finance and advocacy, and overall operations and staff. She serves as an officer on SFPE's Board of Directors as well as SFPE's Foundation. In 2020, under her leadership, SFPE launched a new legal entity, SFPE Europe, in Belgium where she also serves on the Board of Advisors. She is based at SFPE's global headquarters outside Washington, DC.
During her tenure, Boston has initiated and overseen a dramatic transformation of the engineering Society. Driven by a deep commitment to SFPE's vision and mission, Boston has led the Society through tremendous strategic and institutional changes, including the creation of a new governance model; a chapter restructuring resulting in global chapter growth from 73 to 108; multiple strategic planning cycles; an office relocation that included a new build; development of many new technical standards and guides; defined core competencies for the profession; a comprehensive digital transformation; the creation of a legal entity in Europe; implementation of a development plan for the Society's Foundation; and successful financial and operational management through the 2020 global pandemic.
Boston has 25 years of experience in the engineering industry, having previously served 11 years as deputy director of Fiatech, an industry-led consortium in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin focused on deploying new technologies to improve capital projects. Prior to that, she served as executive director of the Building Futures Council as well as held senior management positions at the Civil Engineering Research Foundation at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Boston is a certified association executive (CAE) through the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and currently serves as Chair of the Board of the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE). She received her bachelor's degree in international studies from American University’s School of International Service and a Certificate in Fund Raising Management from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.