SIA appoints two members to key group and committee leadership roles

SILVER SPRING, Md.—The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named two of its 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 chief operating officer (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,” said 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.”

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. 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, Security 500 and debateTech, and has been on numerous industry panels at ISC West, ASIS, MIPS and ISC East events. Additionally, he has been honored as a Security World Physical Security Market Top 12 Influencer.

The SIA Member Engagement and Experience Committee works to create and evaluate initiatives that increase member participation within SIA 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,” said 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.”

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, Mounir moved to the United States 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, Mounir 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 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,” said 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.”