Lori Gillespie, ANAB Vice President, Elected as IAF Vice Chair

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lori Gillespie, the ANSI National Accreditation Board's (ANAB) vice president of management systems and validation and verification, has been elected to a three-year term as vice chair of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). Her term began November 5, 2021.

The IAF is a worldwide association of accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, processes, services, personnel, validation and verification and other similar conformity assessment programs. The IAF works to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment to reduce risk for businesses and their customers by assuring them that accredited certificates and validation and verification statements may be relied upon.

As IAF vice chair, Ms. Gillespie will assist the IAF chair, Mr. Emanuele Riva of Accredia, in ensuring the overall smooth functioning of the organization; contribute in the planning and execution of the IAF Board, Executive Committee, Joint IAF-ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) Executive Committee, General Assembly, and Joint IAF-ILAC General Assembly meetings; and assume overall responsibility for the development and implementation of the IAF Strategic Plan. She will also represent IAF, as required, in relations with partner organizations and external forums, and assume the function of the IAF chair, should they be unavailable for duty—among other responsibilities.

An active member of the IAF for over 10 years, Ms. Gillespie holds various voting and leadership roles. She is a member of the IAF Technical Committee, the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) Committee, and the Database Management Committee (DMC). Additionally, she serves as an IAF Management Systems Certification Working Group co-convener and as an IAF/IAAC peer evaluator for various management systems.

At ANAB, Ms. Gillespie oversees global accreditation services for approximately 50 management systems and validation and verification programs. She joined ANAB in 1998 and has been intimately involved in operations and management while ANAB's accreditation programs have experienced substantial growth. She has maintained this leadership role through various mergers and acquisitions, including in 2004, when ANAB became jointly owned by the American National Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI) and the American Society for Quality, Inc., through the complete unification of ANAB as a wholly-owned affiliate of ANSI in 2018, which is when the ANSI legacy accreditation programs merged with ANAB accreditation programs. She also provides leadership as an ANAB Management Systems Accreditation Committee member. Ms. Gillespie also represents ANAB and accreditation services as an associate member of the Independent Association of Accredited Registrars (IAAR) and a nonvoting member of the IAAR Auditor Apprenticeship (IAA) Central Committee.

In 2018, Ms. Gillespie was honored with an ANSI Meritorious Service Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the U.S. voluntary standardization system during World Standards Week.

Her other accolades include an International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) Recognition in 2015 for initiative, dedication and resourcefulness in advancing International Aerospace Quality.

"We are thrilled to congratulate Lori on her new appointment," said Lane Hallenbeck, executive director of ANAB. "Her tremendous knowledge of IAF operations and accreditation, combined with her skills in consensus building, will be of great benefit to the IAF and the international accreditation community."

"I look forward to serving as IAF vice chair and helping champion conformity assessment that supports businesses and consumers alike. It is my honor to advance IAF's core priorities, which include maintaining and improving robust accredited certification around the world," said Ms. Gillespie. "Our industry is rapidly changing, with the use of technology and in response to various safety concerns. I thank the IAF members for their confidence in my ability to assist leading our industry into a safer future."

About ANAB

The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), a wholly owned subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is the largest multi-disciplinary ISO/IEC 17011 accreditation body in North America, with comprehensive signatory status across the multilateral recognition arrangements of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). The ANAB accreditation portfolio includes management systems certification bodies, calibration and testing labs, product certification bodies, personnel credentialing organizations, forensic test and calibration service providers, inspection bodies, police crime units, greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies, reference material producers, and proficiency test providers. For more information, visit www.anab.org.

About ANSI

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations.

The Institute represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org.

SOURCE American National Standards Institute