About the US Resiliency Council

Our Mission

“Improving community resilience, through a focus on engineering, equity, environment and economics.”

Our Vision

“A future where we not only have a low impact on the environment, the environment has a low impact on us.“

Meet Our Leadership Team

The USRC’s executive leadership consists of engineers, and experts in public policy, insurance, lending, construction and housing. Together with advisory committees and membership that include architects, researchers, scientists, civic leaders at all levels, industry suppliers, and disaster and emergency response related professional organizations, the USRC brings an unparalleled level of capability to the mission of improving community resilience in the built environment.

Each of our directors joined the USRC with a unique passion for resilience that reflects our vision to create a world in which building performance in earthquakes and other natural hazards is understood.

“I believe that consistent and credible ratings like the USRC’s are critical to dispel myths about building performance and support effective resilience efforts.”

– Sorrel Hanson, FM Global

Evan Reis, PE, SE Executive Director

Evan Reis, PE, SE
Executive Director

Evan Reis is a Registered Structural Engineer in California, Hawaii and Texas. He graduated with his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Structural Engineering from Stanford University in 1988. The following year he was helping the University recover from the Loma Prieta Earthquake and playing an integral part in its long-term seismic program, a relationship that continues today. He was the structural engineer for the seismic retrofit of several of Stanford’s most historic buildings, including the Memorial Church and Stanford Art Museum, each of which won national awards for their technical excellence and creative design.

Evan co-founded the US Resiliency Council (www.usrc.org) in 2011 as a way to educate building stakeholders and the public about the gap between the growing sustainability movement and true resilient design. The country was made painfully aware of this gap little more than a year later, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Evan noted that even though there were more LEED certified buildings in the New York area than anywhere in the world, these buildings were built to have a low impact on the environment, not for the environment to have a low impact on them.

The mission of the USRC is to educate, advocate and promote resilience-based design that considers the impacts of natural disasters as an essential component of long-term sustainability. Its earthquake building performance rating system is being used by public and private owners and communities, and is forming the basis of economic and financial incentives being developed by lenders and insurers to reward high performing buildings.

Evan is a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, BizFed, the California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo Architectural Engineering Advisory Board, and the National Institute of Building Sciences. He is Chairman of the Alliance for National and Community Resilience and the Ravenswood Youth Athletic Association.

Evan Lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Kristine and their three sons.

Sharyl Rabinovici, PhD Director of Strategic Communications
Sharyl Rabinovici, PhD Director of Strategic Communications

Sharyl Rabinovici is a researcher and policy entrepreneur in the natural disaster risk reduction space. Trained in both environmental science (BS, ‘97, Stanford) and public policy (MPP ‘00 University of Chicago and PhD, ’12 UC Berkeley), Dr. Rabinovici’s work spans the spectrum, from behavioral research and risk assessment to solution design, implementation, and program evaluation. As an independent consultant since 2014, she has orchestrated several interdisciplinary research projects to understand what moves individuals, businesses, and jurisdictions forward in managing their risk exposure. Her mission is always to put evidence-based best practices into use, be it through risk communication product design, strategy development, facilitating collaborative decision-making, or training teachers and neighbors in emergency readiness as a PTA or CERT volunteer. Recent clients include the California Earthquake Authority, City of Palo Alto (CA), FEMA, and the California Office of Emergency Services.

Dr. Rabinovici is currently a Visiting Scholar with the UC Berkeley’s Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER). Past board appointments include seven years with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute-Northern California Chapter and three years with the US Resiliency Council before joining as USRC’s Director of Strategy and Communications. She lives with her husband and two children in El Cerrito, CA, ½ a mile from the Hayward Fault.

Ron Mayes, PhD, PE Director and Board Chair
Ron Mayes, PhD, PE Director and Board Chair

Senior Consultant, Simpson Gumpertz Heger

Ron received his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1972 and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to perform post-doctoral research at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at Berkeley. Ron has 40 years of management and technical expertise in earthquake and structural engineering and his technical experience includes working with many of the world’s leading authorities in earthquake and structural engineering. He recently served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) and is a past Vice- President of The Masonry Society (TMS). He was selected “Structural Engineer of the Year” by the Wiley Journal “Design of Tall and Other Buildings” in 2006 and is a Fellow of both the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) and SEAONC.

Ron was the Co-Chair of the SEAONC Ratings Committee for eight years and is a Co-Founder and the acting Executive Director of the US Resiliency Council. In 1982, Ron formed and became President of Dynamic Isolation Systems, Inc. (DIS). DIS specialized in the design, analysis and supply of base isolation systems. At DIS, Ron had a national leadership role in developing and implementing base isolation technology and code procedures for buildings, hospitals and bridges. He joined the consulting firm of Simpson Gumpertz and Heger Inc. (SGH) in June 2001 and is currently their in-house specialist in the application of innovative technology. Ron was the base isolation project engineer on SGH’s unique application of base isolation technology on the China Basin project. This involved the use of base isolators to add two additional stories on top of an existing three story building with the goal of minimizing the seismic force on the structure below. This project was awarded SEAOC’s Excellence in Engineering award in 2008 and won the SEI/ATC Retrofit Project of the Decade award in 2009.

Ron was a member of the original ATC 58 project team that defined the scope of the performance based FEMA P-58 project that defines the earthquake performance of buildings in deaths, dollars and downtime. Ron was a co-leader of the EERI reconnaissance team for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake that once again demonstrated the disconnect between the public’s understanding of the performance of a code designed building and that given in the commentary to our building codes. Ron believes that the mission of the US Resiliency Council to be the administrative vehicle for implementing rating systems for buildings for earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, floods and blasts and to educate the building industry and the general public about these risks is a mission that is very timely

USRC Statement

Ron was a co-leader of the EERI reconnaissance team for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake that once again demonstrated the disconnect between the public’s understanding of the performance of a code designed building and that given in the commentary to our building codes. Ron believes that the mission of the US Resiliency Council to be the administrative vehicle for implementing rating systems for buildings for earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, floods and blasts and to educate the building industry and the general public about these risks is a mission that is very timely.

Johanna Cunningham Director
Johanna Cunningham
Director

Founder, National Short Term Rentals

Johanna M. Cunningham is the Founder of National Short-Term Rentals headquartered in Southern California. Johanna has been exposed to the real estate industry through her mother, uncle and grandparents since the early 70’s. Johanna ‘s background initially led her on a different path as she pursued a career in the health club industry for more than 17 years.

Johanna earned her Bachelors Degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and began her own consulting firm, Creative Corporate Solution. She facilitated Strategic Planning Retreats and offered Executive Training solutions for non-profit boards of directors. Her consulting business eventually led her back to the real estate industry where she took the helm as an Executive Director. More recently she expanded her involvement and education to include the multi-family industry. This path led her to the USRC as she realized how important it is to acknowledge building performance and resilience.

USRC Statement

Johanna has been involved with the USRC since the beginning and now serves as a Board Member. As a lifelong Californian Johanna has a personal as well as a professional interest in keeping our built environment safe. Seismic risk is not taken as seriously as it should be and the USRC’s mission is positioned to help residents understand why they should take notice and become proactive to protect their family and friends. The USRC has qualified and strategically placed professionals in all aspects of the built environment. They know what it takes to become a resilient community.

Her intention is to do what she can to inform and educate on all types of risk; fire, earthquakes, mud slides, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. Information is critical and saving lives is the goal.

Sorrel Hanson, PE Director

Jeff Ellis, PE, SE
Director

Director, Codes and Compliance, Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc.

Jeff Ellis is a licensed structural engineer in several states and licensed professional engineer in 37 states and has been a practicing engineer since 1991. Prior to coming to Simpson Strong-Tie in 2000, he was a design engineer for small and large commercial, institutional, residential and forensic projects designing with wood, cold-formed steel, structural steel, masonry and concrete for more than nine years. He began working at Simpson Strong-Tie as a branch engineer for the southwest regional offices. Currently he is the Director of Codes & Compliance and manages the company’s efforts in these arenas as well as engages in special projects, such as product development and enhancement and industry efforts. He currently serves as a member of the SEAOC Policy Committee and as a Manager on the International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) Board of Managers. He served as President for the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC), SEAOC Secretary, California Building Officials (CALBO) Structural Safety Committee member, chairman of the AISI Committee on Framing Standards (COFS) Lateral Design Subcommittee for several years, and as President of the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI). He’s authored numerous articles and design guides and has a passion for community resilience as many lives and livelihoods will be saved with innovative and effective resilience strategies.

Farid Ibrahim, PE, SE, LEED AP Director

Jay Kumar, PE
Director

Principal and director of structural engineering services, Partner Engineering & Science Inc.

Jay Kumar is a Principal and director of structural engineering services at Partner Engineering & Science Inc. where he oversees the seismic due diligence practice. Mr. Kumar is integral to the daily delivery of seismic risk / damage-loss assessments used for finance, leasing and acquisition of commercial real estate. These studies are delivered to those banking and lending institutions in the United States that consider seismic risk.  At Partner, Jay is responsible for seismic risk consultation and policy development for various lending institutions.

Over the years Jay has performed seismic risk analysis for various government entities such as the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), Department of General Services (DGS), General Services Administration (GSA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and others.

As a speaker, Jay has provided advisory and technical presentations regarding mandatory seismic retrofit programs, many of which are geared to dispel misconceptions about earthquake performance goals of seismic hazard reduction programs.

Jay is a Member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), a voting member of the ASTM committee for Seismic Risk Assessments, and a periodic contributor to the Existing Buildings Committee (EBC) of the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California.  Jay has performed post-earthquake damage inspections as well as physical seismic assessments of thousands of structures.

A graduate of San Jose State University, Jay has served as the Engineer of Record for over 100 various seismic retrofit projects applied to existing buildings and has a nuanced understanding of disconnects that often exists between good policy decisions and physical implementation in aging buildings.

Michael Cochran, SE Director
Blake Roskelley, SE
Director

Senior Structural Engineer, Business and Product Development, Clark Pacific

Blake Roskelley is a licensed Structural Engineer in California and Illinois and a licensed Professional Engineer in Colorado. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Prior to his arrival at Clark Pacific, he was a design engineer in the structural engineering consulting industry where he performed seismic evaluations and designed seismic retrofits of small and large existing buildings as well as design of new buildings with various gravity and lateral systems.

At Clark Pacific, Blake works across the company- Business Development, Product Management, and Preconstruction. He is on the front lines of Clark Pacific’s project pursuits, developing innovative precast concrete gravity and lateral systems while working closely with individual project design teams to ensure project goals are met. Post award, Blake continues to refine project specific solutions while also working to standardize these project-based solutions into cost effect market facing products. He is also leading efforts to research and develop resilient systems for incorporation into Clark Pacific’s suite of structural products and systems. Blake’s front line exposure, coupled with his technical ability, provides a great opportunity to influence and drive resilient outcomes while constantly getting feedback from client perspectives.

Blake and his wife Courtney live in the Sacramento, CA area with their four sons.

Camilla Seth Director
Camilla Seth
Director

Managing Director of The Finance Hub

Camilla Seth serves as Managing Director of The Finance Hub, a grantmaking and investment intermediary working to align capital markets with sustainable food production. The Hub focuses on the financing of globally traded soft commodities and the role of land-use in climate change related financial disclosures and investment strategy. The Finance Hub is a central partner within the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Conservation and Financial Markets Initiative.

Camilla has over 25 years’ experience working on sustainable finance and market development with financial institutions, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining the Finance Hub in 2018, Camilla was Executive Director for Sustainable Finance at JPMorgan Chase where she focused on conservation and climate finance, environmental risk management, stakeholder management and policy development. Camilla was the chair of the multi-bank group that drafted the Green Bond Principles which set the stage for the development of the $150 billion Green Bond market (2018) and developed and managed the firm’s conservation finance partnership with The Nature Conservancy – called NatureVest. She also advised businesses within the Investment Bank and JPMorgan Asset Management on ESG and impact investing. Camilla served as Vice President of Environmental Affairs at Citigroup, where she managed implementation of the bank’s sustainability policy (the first such policy in the U.S.) helping to shape work across the investment bank. She also directed Citigroup’s global environmental philanthropy, doubling its size and linking to the bank’s sustainable business priorities. Camilla was Program Officer for the Environment at the Surdna Foundation where she managed climate change and biodiversity protection initiatives. She began her career at EA Capital, one of the earliest financial advisory firms specialized in resource efficiency and productivity in the energy, water, agriculture, transportation and forest product industries.

Camilla has served on several non profit boards, including her current service on the Board of the U.S. Resiliency Council in California.

Camilla lives in Montclair, NJ with her two daughters.

Camilla Seth Director
Bill Larson
Director

Chairman Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition

Bill Larson held the positions of Vice President of Marketing and Communications for CalPortland Company and CEMEX during his career of over 40 years in the cement and concrete industries. He holds an MBA with a focus in marketing and communications. He has received an Executive MBA in International Business Management and International Business Marketing while participating in the CEMEX CIM program training at the international universities of INSEAD (France 2004), Technologico de Monterrey (Mexico 2004), Stanford University Graduate Business School (2005) and Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management (2007). Bill was very active in regional and national industry trade association committees during his career. He recently retired in July, 2020 and is currently a consultant to the Northwest Cement Council.

Bill was the founder of the Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition (PNBRC) in 2016, was appointed as Chairman, and currently serves in that capacity. He has been the Chairman of both the Northwest Cement Council and the California Nevada Cement Association. He was also the Chairman of the Portland Cement Association Sustainable Development Committee and the Communication Committee and was a member of the Industry Advisory Council for the Concrete Sustainability Hub at Massachusetts Institute of Technology prior to his retirement.

Damian Wach
Director

Vice President Prudential Mortgage Capital Corp.

Damian Wach...

Here is What People are Saying About the USRC

Dr. Lucile Jones, Science Advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti – “The USRC Rating System is credible, consistent and transparent and would make a better foundation for critical decisions.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti – “In my Resilience by Design Plan, I called for a seismic safety rating system that would help our city not only survive a large earthquake, but better protect our residents and their property. USRC’s system answers that call.”

Greg Michaud, Head of Real Estate Finance, Voya Investment Management – “The USRC provides consistency, audit procedures and a revocable certification to those who prepare this critical piece of transactional due diligence.”

Chris D Poland Member, National Academy of Engineers – “The USRC is poised to fill one of the key missing links needed to create Disaster Resilient Communities.”

Sorrel Hanson, FM Global – “I believe that consistent and credible ratings like the USRC’s are critical to dispel myths about building performance and support effective resilience efforts.”

Tom Neary, AON – “Building ratings systems such as the USRC allow us to help clients address the root causes of risk, and build operational resiliency.”

Michael Bade Associate Vice Chancellor – UCSF – “I support the mission and goals of the USRC because I believe it is of great importance to achieve greater public understanding of the nuances of building and infrastructure resiliency”

Johanna Cunningham, Past Executive Director Apartment Association, California Southern Cities – “Resilience is a concept that may be new to some but important to all. The more involved and informed I become regarding resilience the more I am convinced that lives will be saved when the USRC Rating System is used. It is not an issue of ‘IF’ something happens, it is an issue of ‘WHEN’ it will happen – so the USRC Rating System is really invaluable”.

Ryan Kersting, SE, Buehler and Buehler Engineers – “[The USRC] demonstrates how resiliency works and affects our communities and how our communities recover…This is a perfect example to the public as to how a good building design affects them.”

Monica Schultes, PCI Ascent Magazine – “Having [a USRC] rating signifies that it will perform well after an earthquake and Roseville city services will not be interrupted. A building could possibly have a LEED rating for energy efficiency and sustainability (day to day usage), and a USRC rating for disaster response.”

The USRC Has Received Support from the Following Organizations and Individuals

ENGINEERS

  • AMG STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
  • BENTLEY CORPORATION
  • BRANDOW AND JOHNSON
  • BUEHLER & BUEHLER
  • DAVID FRIEDMAN, SE
  • DEGENKOLB
  • EVAN REIS, SE CO-FOUNDER USRC
  • FORELL ELSESSER
  • FTF ENGINEERING
  • GMS, LLP
  • HOHBACH LEWIN
  • HOLMES STRUCTURES
  • IDS GROUP
  • INSIGHT STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
  • JEFF SOULAGES, INTEL CORP.
  • JOHN A MARTIN
  • KPFF
  • LPA
  • MARX OKUBO ASSOCIATES
  • MICHAEL COCHRAN, SE
  • MHP STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
  • MIYAMOTO INTERNATIONAL, INC.
  • NABIH YOUSEFF & ASSOC.
  • PARTNER ENGINEERING
  • REAVELEY ENGINEERS AND ASSOCIATES
  • RISHA ENGINEERS
  • RON MAYES, PHD CO-FOUNDER USRC
  • RUTHERFORD AND CHEKENE
  • SAIF HUSSAIN, SE
  • SAIFUL/BOUQUET STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
  • SESOL, INC.
  • SGH
  • STRUCTURAL FOCUS
  • THORNTON TOMASETTI
  • WALTER P MOORE
  • WISS, JANNEY, ELSNER
  • ZFA ENGINEERS
  • SIRVE TECHNOLOGIES

ARCHITECTS

  • ARUP
  • HOK
  • JANICE OLSHESKY, AIA
  • JAY RASKIN, AIA
  • MICHAEL LINGERFELT
  • RUSS DRINKER, AIA
  • SOM
  • TERRY BROWN, AIA

CONTRACTORS

  • BLACH CONSTRUCTION
  • CLARK PACIFIC
  • ROBERT MCINTIRE, NOVA PARTNERS
  • STEVEN SAUNDERS CONSTRUCTION INC.

PROFESSIONAL / RESEARCH

  • APARTMENT ASSOCIATION – CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN CITIES
  • APPLIED TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
  • EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING RESEARCH INSTITUTE
  • IAMPO UES
  • INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL
  • LA TALL BUILDINGS COUNCIL
  • NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING ASSOCIATIONS
  • PACIFIC EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER
  • PACIFIC NORTHWEST BUILDING RESILIENCE COALITION
  • US GREEN BUILDINGS COUNCIL – LOS ANGELES

INDUSTRY

  • CALIFORNIA NEVADA CEMENT ASSOCIATION
  • BASF
  • TARGET STORES
  • CONSTRUCTION SPECIALTIES
  • CORE BRACE
  • DIS
  • HILTI
  • MITEK
  • NATIONAL READY MIX CONCRETE ASSOCIATION
  • PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION
  • PRECAST/PRESTRESSED CONCRETE INSTITUTE
  • SIDE PLATE
  • SIKA
  • SIMPSON STRONG TIE
  • TAYLOR DEVICES

SOFTWARE PROVIDERS

  • BENTLEY SYSTEMS
  • COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES INTERNATIONAL
  • HASELTON BAKER RISK GROUP

LENDING

  • ERIC VON BERG, CMB CO – FOUNDER USRC
  • NEWMARK CAPITAL REALTY

INSURANCE

  • AIG
  • CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE AUTHORITY
  • FM GLOBAL
  • RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

INDIVIDUALS

  • BRENT MAXFIELD, LDS CHURCH
  • DAVID KHORRAM, CITY OF LONG BEACH
  • GREG MICHAUD, VOYA
  • INES PEARCE, PEARCE GLOBAL PARTNERS
  • LUCY JONES, DR. LUCY JONES CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
  • MARK KROLL, SARES REGIS GROUP
  • MICHAEL BADE , UCSF
  • MICHAEL LINGERFELT
  • ROBERT HENDRICKSON, ESQ., DUANE MORRIS
  • RON LYN, CLARK COUNTY BUILDING DEPT.
  • VICTORIA WIGLE, DPR CONSTRUCTION

GOVERNMENTS

  • CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
  • CITY OF LOS ANGELES
  • FEMA – FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY