PPB January 2020

for whom he develops compliance programs and advises on product safety, recall readiness, safe supply chain, and regulatory and social compliance. As most volunteers will admit, it’s sometimes difficult to manage their day job with volunteer workloads. Brenner, too, faced his challenges—especially since he was volunteering for several organizations, including International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO), an international forum for product safety stakeholders where Brenner served as president. When asked about these challenges, Brenner replies, “In most of my volunteering at PPAI and at ICPHSO, I took on leadership positions, which require the identical commitment and priority as your primary ‘day job.’ You can’t say, ‘I don’t have time for this today’ if the volunteer organization is relying on you as president, seminar chair or another senior leadership position. So, one of the major challenges, obviously, is managing time and priorities when your volunteer responsibilities and your primary job responsibilities both demand your attention and participation at the same time.” Despite the challenges, the victories are what Brenner remembers most—and there were many. “As a board member and PRAGmember, I had a lot to do with PPAI developing and the board agreeing to the Product Safety Aware program. This is an extraordinary victory for the industry and one in which PPAI stands alone,” he says. “No other trade association has ever set minimum product safety and compliance education requirements in order to be allowed to exhibit, advertise or become a sponsor. It was a gutsy move by a very classy organization—more gutsy from a financial perspective than most members realize. And it has been a huge success.” Overall, Brenner says he’s especially proud of how product safety and compliance education has grown from an idea discussed at an early PRAG meeting to become PPAI’s most well- attended standalone educational program, year after year. “I’m proud that 10 years later, we’re still as enthusiastic and passionate about the next Product Responsibility Summit as we were about the first one—and that I’ve had the privilege to co-chair all of them,” he says. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to represent the industry to the CPSC and that, partly through my efforts as well as those of Anne Stone (PPAI director of advocacy and member engagement) and Paul Bellantone (PPAI president and CEO)—PPAI is very well regarded by all of the CPSC commissioners and held out as the gold standard as a result of our uncompromising support of product safety.” Looking back over the past 12 years, his only regret is that he didn’t start volunteering earlier so he could have made a greater impact. Brenner’s advice for others thinking about jumping into the volunteer pool is this: make sure you are volunteering for the right reason. “In my history of volunteering—not necessarily at PPAI but elsewhere—I have known individuals who volunteer or run for a board position because they feel it will help them professionally or look good on their resume,” he says. “I understand and appreciate the importance of recognition, but unless there is an underlying passion and resolve to spend whatever time is required, to prioritize your volunteer responsibilities as you would any other significant responsibility, the quality of the volunteer work may not be of the same value as those whose primary motivation is a desire to serve and give back.” Tina Berres Filipski is editor of PPB . Rick Brenner was instrumental in launching the first PPAI Product Responsibility Summit and has provided leadership and expertise as chair of the program. FEATURE | PPAI’s Top Awards 44 | JANUARY 2020 |