Pictured: Ryan Colker, Karl Fippinger and Catherine Vinson

The International Code Council (ICC) welcomes three new staff members who will greatly contribute to the association’s building safety mission and its focus on innovation and excellent customer service.

Ryan Colker joins the Code Council as vice president of innovation. In this new role, Colker will identify emerging issues in the building industry, including how new technologies can be leveraged by codes and standards, methods to modernize the application of building regulations, and the development of new business strategies that support members and building safety professionals. He will also serve as executive director of the Alliance for National and Community Resilience. Most recently, Colker was the vice president of the National Institute of Building Sciences, where he led the institute’s efforts to improve the built environment through collaboration of public and private sectors. Previously, he was the manager of government affairs at ASHRAE.

Karl Fippinger, CEM, PMP, is the new vice president of fire and disaster mitigation. He will be responsible for managing the Code Council’s relationships and programs related to fire service activities and emergency management. He will work with federal, state and local agencies in the area of disaster preparedness and public safety. Most recently, he led federal disaster response and recovery programs as well as emergency response planning, training and exercises for Dewberry. Previously, he managed professional development and exhibits for the International Association of Fire Chiefs. Fippinger brings more than 25 years of combined fire and rescue service experience as an instructor, command officer and assistant fire chief in the Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties of Virginia. He is also a certified emergency manager with the International Association of Emergency Managers. 

Catherine Vinson is joining the Code Council to expand and further develop the Code Council’s customer service culture. She will initially focus on testing and certification as the assessment center manager. In her most recent role, Vinson was an operations services quality manager for Protective. Previously, she was the director of client care for Employment Screening Services.

“We are thrilled to have these three new additions to our team,” said Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “We are constantly striving to improve our products and services, and I am confident that these new members of our team will allow us to better support our members and advance our mission.”