RILA adds two execs to leadership team

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has appointed Sue Pifer as VP of compliance and Tiffin Shewmake as the director of the Center for Retail Compliance (CRC).

“The experience and skills that Sue and Tiffin possess make them uniquely suited for delivering exceptional value to our member companies on a broad range of compliance issues. We are excited to have them join the RILA team,” said RILA president Sandy Kennedy.

Once completed, the CRC will be a comprehensive resource center for retail environmental compliance and sustainability information. The CRC will provide retailers and industry stakeholders with access to retail-specific information, tools and solutions pertaining to state and federal environmental regulations.

Pifer joins the association from Meijer, where she served as the chief compliance officer, legal and compliance. In her new role, Pifer will be responsible for providing advice, counsel and leadership to a variety of significant compliance functions, including to the CRC, where she will focus on developing a system for vendor-retailer communication with the goal of enhancing environmental compliance.

In addition to her role with the CRC, Pifer will lead several key committees within the association, including the Internal Audit Committee and the Financial Leaders Council, made up of senior-level audit and finance executives from America’s largest retailers.

Pifer has a JD and LLM from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Shewmake comes to RILA from Hitachi Consulting, where she was responsible for managing several government contracts focused on sustainable operations, compliance with environment regulations and the development of training programs. Shewmake will lead the overall development of the CRC, managing a six million dollar budget with the goal of creating a self-sustaining entity within four years. She will also be responsible for the management of the CRC steering committee, working with retail environmental compliance executives to define the role of the CRC in the retail industry.

Shewmake has a MS in information systems from George Mason University.

Pifer and Shewmake will report to RILA’s EVP and general counsel, Deborah White.

“Sue’s experience leading the compliance program of a major U.S. retailer will make her an outstanding resource for RILA’s member companies,” said White. “Sue’s experience along with Tiffin’s extensive project management experience and understanding of environmental regulatory structures make the two a remarkable team and a significant asset to RILA, the CRC and our members.”