People on the Move highlights the career advancements of high-level trailblazers working professionally in diverse areas of standardization, contributing every day to the strength and success of the U.S. standards and conformance community.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has appointed Bettina Ring as its new chief sustainability and diversity officer. In this role, Ring leads the organization’s strategic initiatives related to sustainability and diversity, and seeks to leverage SFI’s scale to drive meaningful change in the forest and conservation sector through collaboration with SFI’s network.
Ring comes to SFI after having served as the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Under her guidance, 68,000 acres of state forests in Virginia were certified to the SFI Forest Management and American Tree Farm System standards. Previously, she was the seventh State Forester of the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF). Ring was the first woman to hold both of these positions. She has been Deputy Forester and Chief of Urban and Community Forestry for VDOF, and senior vice president of family forests at the American Forest Foundation, as well.
Ring served on the SFI Board of Directors and was the winner of the SFI President’s Award in 2018. Her work has long supported diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in Virginia, and she worked in partnership with the University of Virginia’s Institute for Engagement & Negotiation to hold the first Governor’s Summit on Equitable Collaboration.
“Bettina is an extraordinary leader with experience in forest certification, conservation collaboration, community engagement, and environmental education, including Project Learning Tree. She is passionate and experienced at advancing sustainability through forest-focused collaboration, which is SFI’s mission,” said Kathy Abusow, SFI president and CEO.
The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) has announced that Justin Wiley is its new vice president of government relations, standards, and codes. In this role, Wiley leads advocacy for the pool and hot tub industry, and oversees the development and maintenance of PHTA standards, as well as their adoption into codes and regulations.
Prior to joining PHTA, Wiley was with the International Code Council (ICC), where he served as vice president of government relations. He also held the positions of regional manager of government relations and director of external affairs for ICC. He has more than 15 years of experience in construction and safety industry associations, with a focus on building safety, sustainability, and resiliency.
Wiley worked closely with PHTA staff and members throughout his years at ICC, and has strongly advocated for code adoption for pools and hot tubs.
“It is very exciting to have Justin Wiley join PHTA,” says Sabeena Hickman, PHTA president and CEO. “His extensive experience with constituent and member engagement, as well as issue advocacy, will be such an asset for our organization. Because he is already familiar with PHTA’s work through his time at ICC, we know he will be able to hit the ground running and fit right in with our team.”