ICSI welcomes Resilience First to its Board of Directors

ICSI is delighted to formally welcome Resilience First, and Tom Lewis as its representative, onto the ICSI Board of Directors.

Resilience First is the world’s largest global business network focused on resilience with 600 members across nearly 20 sectors, including the field of engineering. ICSI and Resilience First have established a collaborative partnership to accelerate the implementation of sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

Resilience First has been a valued partner to ICSI under the umbrella of Resilience Rising, particularly in relation to establishing the Engineering Leadership Group (ELG), a new engagement platform to capture the voice of global engineering firms, and the UNFCCC’s endorsed Race to Resilience campaign, of which ICSI and Resilience First are both Partner Initiatives.

As a Resilience First advisory board member and as Vice Chair of the recently launched Engineering Leadership Group (ELG) under a partnership agreement with ICSI, Lewis will serve as the network’s representative to ICSI in support of all of its mission objectives and activities.

“We are thrilled to have Tom on board and look forward to a continued partnership with Resilience First and the ELG,” said Savina Carluccio, ICSI Executive Director. “ICSI and Resilience First have established a collaborative partnership to advocate for the implementation of sustainable and resilient infrastructure, working closely under the umbrella of the Resilience Rising global non-profit consortium.”

As the Resilience First representative, Lewis will represent the perspective of private, engineering-inclusive organizations who are involved with bringing about more sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

“Resilience First’s strategic and operational leadership experience working across the private sector, combined with their subject matter expertise on resilience and sustainability issues ranging from security to climate, will be an invaluable contribution to ICSI’s future trajectory,” Carluccio said. “The partnership provides an opportunity to engage the broader business community in ICSI’s work, greatly helping ICSI in achieving its vision and strategic goals.”

Notably, Resilience First and ICSI have come together to establish the aforementioned ELG, a new engagement and advocacy platform to capture the voice and provide the valuable perspective of engineers and global engineering-inclusive companies.

Michael Rooney, CEO of Resilience First says: ‘There are clear synergies between Resilience First and ICSI’s visions and activities and we are excited to formalise this through representation on ICSI’s board. Tom’s expertise and insight will be of tremendous value to this position and we look forward to continuing this productive and transformative partnership.’

In his new role as ELG Vice Chair, Lewis will work alongside and ultimately succeed the ELG Chair, helping to increase the number and global diversity of ELG members while working with Resilience First and ICSI leadership to align annual activities to deliver on the engineering advocacy pillar of the ICSI strategic plan.

“The engineering voice and perspective has been largely absent from the global climate, resilience and sustainability policy and investment table for too long,” said Tom Lewis. “That is why I am so pleased and honoured to represent the private sector and engineering perspective through Resilience First, ICSI and the ELG.”

In addition to leading WSP USA’s Climate, Resilience & Sustainability business line, which strategically includes the company’s trademarked “Future Ready” program, Tom also acts as the US lead on WSP’s industry-leading global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) program. Tom is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in multiple states, holds a BS and MS in Civil Engineering and a Juris Doctorate with focus on environmental law, and is a board member for multiple organizations.