SIA Appoints Tom Cook, Rita Mounir to Key Group and Committee Leadership Roles
Cook has become chair of the SIA Executive Advisory Board while Rita Mounir now serves as vice chair of the SIA Member Engagement and Experience Committee.
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Security Industry Association (SIA) announces it has named two SIA members to serve in key leadership roles on its committees and groups.
Tom Cook, executive vice president of sales and operations at Hanwha Techwin America, has become chair of the SIA Executive Advisory Board, and Rita Mounir, co-founder and COO of Allthenticate, now serves as vice chair of the SIA Member Engagement and Experience Committee.
Established in 2017, the SIA Executive Advisory Board (formerly the SIA Executive Council) is a panel of executive thought leaders from SIA member companies and a forum that offers input on how market developments influence SIA’s strategy and key initiatives. The group advises the SIA Board of Directors on how to grow member value.
“I am honored to assume the role of SIA Executive Advisory Board chair,” says Cook. “As part of the group’s efforts in the future, we will focus on building awareness of school security guidelines from the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools and developing how-to guides to assist in obtaining funding for educational facilities to secure their facilities and people. We will also continue to advise SIA in building guidance programs for the security industry to help our society be more secure at all times.”
Tom Cook has been active in the security industry for 34 years. He has been Hanwha Techwin’s executive vice president of sales and operations for 10 years and has led the Hanwha Techwin America to be one of the premier video companies in North America, SIA notes.
He has previously run sales organizations in North America for Vicon and Panasonic Video. Cook started in the security industry as a software design engineer and has a degree in electrical engineering. He has been an active participant and sponsor for industry events such as Securing New Ground, The Great Conversation and debateTech, and has been on numerous industry panels at ISC West, ASIS, MIPS and ISC East events.
The SIA Member Engagement and Experience Committee works to create and evaluate initiatives that increase member participation within the association and guide the development of member engagement strategies.
“I am pleased to accept the role of vice chair for the Member Engagement and Experience Committee,” says Mounir. “This committee plays a vital role in optimizing the SIA experience while ensuring that new members are welcomed and taken care of. Beyond thrilled to be a part of this team.”
Rita Mounir is the co-founder and COO of Allthenticate, an all-in-one authentication and access control company that lets organizations easily manage their workforce’s access while replacing their passwords and keys, with a single credential stored on their smartphones.
Born and raised in Morocco, she moved to the U.S for her degree in financial mathematics and statistics, which she obtained from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mounir is an award-winning entrepreneur, a keynote speaker and a board member of Santa Barbara’s Ventech (formerly the MIT Enterprise Forum).
As a young woman founder in the security industry, she spends a lot of her free time empowering and helping other women and girls get into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields through her volunteering with Girls Inc., and her involvement with the local Women In STEM chapter, SIA says.
“SIA is thrilled to welcome Tom Cook and Rita Mounir — two accomplished industry luminaries — to serve in leadership roles with the SIA Executive Advisory Board and Member Engagement and Experience Committee,” says SIA CEO Don Erickson. “We appreciate Tom and Rita’s willingness to share their time and expertise on behalf of the SIA community and help us to deliver exceptional value.”
Click here to view SIA’s committee guide.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
Related Content
Security Is Our Business, Too
For professionals who recommend, buy and install all types of electronic security equipment, a free subscription to Commercial Integrator + Security Sales & Integration is like having a consultant on call. You’ll find an ideal balance of technology and business coverage, with installation tips and techniques for products and updates on how to add to your bottom line.
A FREE subscription to the top resource for security and integration industry will prove to be invaluable.
