The RICOWI Foundation

Mr. Olson is a volunteer board member. He is the President and Technical Director of the Tile Roofing Institute (TRI). He has been involved with the roofing industry since 1978, having operated a multinational tile manufacturing company prior to taking the helm of the TRI in 1991. He has been involved with numerous industry groups, including NRCA, IBHS, CRRC, ASTM, WSRCA, FRSA, CRSA, and CSA. He has been a member of the Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues, Inc. (RICOWI, Inc.) since 1990 and served as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Olson will bring vision to the Foundation. He has experience in all areas of management, finance, sales, product, and government. He is also currently the District Governor of the Eugene, OR Rotary Club. Mr. Olson’s duties are contained in the RICOWI Foundation Bylaws. His duties include attending the Foundation Board Meetings, and voting on board decisions. He has agreed to abide by refraining from any conflict of interest votes that occur between his duties as a director and his position with TRI.

Mr. Schroeder serves as a volunteer director, and is the Secretary of the Foundation. Mr. Schroeder currently is the Senior Principal Engineer of SDII Global. Mr. Schroeder area of expertise includes structural, civil, geotechnical, foundation engineering, litigation support/expert witness, commercial roofing systems, and determining the cause and/or origin of failures. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer in 21 states, and has taught numerous building envelope and forensic training courses. Mr. Schroeder has vast experience in observing roof failures and is committed to assist the RICOWI Foundation in setting the direction of the Foundation. He will be an asset in reviewing proposals that will make a difference in these failures. Mr. Schroeder’s duties are contained in the RICOWI Foundation Bylaws. His duties include attending the Foundation Board Meetings, and voting on board decisions. He is responsible to accurately record the minutes of the meetings. He has agreed to abide by refraining from any conflict of interest votes that occur between his duties as a director and his position with SDII Global.

André Desjarlais is the Program Manager for the Building Envelope and Urban Systems Research Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has been involved in building envelope and materials research for over 45 years, first as a consultant and, for the last 30 years, at ORNL. Areas of expertise include building envelope and material energy efficiency, moisture control, and durability. Desjarlais has been a Member of ASTM since 1987 and serves on Committees C16 on Thermal Insulation, D08 on Roofing, and E60 on Sustainability. He is the past Chairman of ASTM Committee C16 and was awarded the title of Fellow in 2011. He has been a member of ASHRAE since 1991 and serves on Technical Committees TC 4.4 on Thermal Insulation and Building Systems, TC 1.8 on Mechanical Insulation Systems, and TC 1.12 on Moisture Control in Buildings, and is past Chairman of TC 4.4. André is also a founding director of the IIBEC Foundation.

Mr. Janni is a volunteer board member. He also holds the position of Manager of Engineering Services at Duro-Last Roofing, Inc. He has over 40 years manufacturing experience with Duro-Last in various leadership roles. Mr. Janni brings a wealth of knowledge about product strengths and concerns. His dedication to outstanding product development, will be useful to the foundation as the board seeks to identify quality research projects. Mr. Janni has served as President, Treasurer and currently chairs the Member Services Committee for the Single Ply Roofing Institute (SPRI). Mr. Janni is a member of the technical committee for the Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) and is a member of the Special Interest Group for the Dynamic Evaluation of Roofing systems (SIGDERS) – Phase V, VI, and VII & VIII in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada. In addition, he is also a member of RICOWI, NFPA, ICC, IIBEC, and ASCE. Mr. Janni’s duties are contained in the RICOWI Foundation Bylaws. His duties include attending the Foundation Board Meetings, and voting on board decisions. He has agreed to abide by refraining from any conflict of interest votes that occur between his duties as a director and his position with Duro-Last Roofing, Inc.

Ms. Cook is currently volunteering to oversee the Foundation. Ms. Cook is a seasoned professional who has focused on “making a difference” in communities, companies, and families, through employer driven workforce and industry initiatives. Her 40 years’ experience in addressing manufacturing and industrial distribution industry issues has led to local, regional, national and international recognition. Her work has taken her across the US and internationally, special economic development/workforce projects included working with NASA; National Center for Tooling / University of Toledo; Cepacimex among many others. She possesses diverse skills that allow her to strategically lead and grow an organization. With both private and nonprofit experience, she has led successful start-up and turn around operations focusing on sustaining initiatives.

As a consultant, she has enjoyed working for both national and international organizations, serving on local, state and national boards and committees. She served as Executive Director to RICOWI (Roofing Industry Committee On Weather Issues, Inc.), an international think tank that focuses on extreme weather impact on buildings, from 2009-2019. Her time there led to expansion of industry and volunteer involvement. Her previous experience leading non-profits resulted in successful grant awards that received national recognition for excellence in results.

Since 1996, Ms. Cook has served as a Team Leader with the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS). Serving as a Team Leader has given her the opportunity to not only review high school and college programs across the United States, but to share best practices with the programs, discuss concerns with employers, educators, government and students about various issues.

Ms. Cook will provide vision and leadership to the Foundation. Her past experience with nonprofits, profits, employers, community, education and government will assist with developing a broad base of support for the Foundation. Ms. Cook will keep the Foundation focused on its mission. Ms. Cook’s duties are listed in the Foundation Bylaws. Ms. Cook is a non-voting member of the board. She has agreed to abide by the Conflict of Interest policy.