Board of Governors

Lisa Williams is the founder and Principal of Cap8 Doors & Hardware. In her current role, she is responsible for ensuring that the organizational capacities are aligned with the targeted strategic direction of the Company.

Prior to founding Cap 8 Doors & Hardware, Lisa co-founded and served as broker for a full-service real estate brokerage company, Senate Realty Corporation. Ms. Williams was responsible for developing and implementing the strategic direction of the Corporation. Through her vision, she was able to grow Senate Realty into the largest minority owned real estate brokerage firms in the District of Columbia. Prior to Senate, Lisa worked across a multitude of industries as a Business Strategy and Process Improvement Consultant for Deloitte Consulting.

Robert is President of Warren Doors & Access Control in Pensacola, Florida. His career in the door and hardware industry began more than 25 years ago making deliveries and working in the warehouse. Since then, Robert joined Baptist Health Care in 1998 and started a technology consulting business in 2005. Over the years, Robert has continued to be involved with his family’s businesses in accounting and technology support roles and decided in 2015 to rejoin full-time, serving as CFO and now President.

He is a graduate of the University of West Florida College of Business, earning a BSBA in Accounting, and is a member of the Door Hardware Institute (DHI), the National Association of Industrial Office Properties (NAIOP), Rotary International, and the Leadership Pensacola Class of 2007. In 2020, Robert and his team launched DoorTalk.com to offer a new, open platform to bring architectural door and hardware experts together to highlight security and safety topics.

Since returning to the door and hardware industry, Robert has been active in DHI, attending events and technical schools, earning the CFDAI credential, and pursuing the AHC. He believes the future of DHI is very bright and is proud to have the opportunity to serve on the Board of Governors. Robert is motivated to help guide the future of DHI while promoting education and engagement throughout the industry.

Robert is a proud dad to Samantha Warren, owner of a digital content marketing agency. When not working, he enjoys paddle boarding, watching sports, and searching for great live music.

Nate Spitz has been in the Security industry for over 17 years where he is currently employed at Allegion PLC, a global leader in security products and solutions. Nate is the General Manager for Allegion’s Door Control Business Unit and prior to that he served as the General Manager for Allegion’s Strategic Business Unit in Canada and LATAM. He has also spent 7 years with Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies before Allegion spun off in 2013.

Over his career he has held multiple leadership roles within the company and has business certificates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as Harvard Business School. He attained a Master’s Degree from Notre Dame’s Mendoza Business School and did his Undergraduate Degree at Purdue University.

In addition to serving on the Board of Governors, Nate also serves on Marian University’s Saint Joseph’s College Board of Visitors and is a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Nate and his wife Kristen reside in Carmel, Indiana with their daughter Anna Grace. When he is not working, his interest includes hiking, biking, traveling and spending time with his family.

Travis began his career in the door and hardware industry in 2017 as a General Manager for VT Industries in San Antonio, TX. He continued to grow within the company and was promoted to Vice President of Operations and later to Senior Vice President of the Architectural Wood Door Division. In his current role, Travis is responsible for sales, customer service, and operations for VT Industries’ Architectural Wood Door Division. Travis thoroughly enjoys working with the wonderful team at VT Industries as well as the valued partners within their vast distribution network. Travis recently relocated to Sioux City, IA to work from VT Industries’ Corporate Office.

Prior to joining the door industry, Travis graduated with his B.A. from Northwest Missouri State University in Business Management and Marketing. He began his professional career in 2002 as a Department Manager with Pella Windows and Doors and through a series of promotions and relocations he finished his Pella career as the Plant Manager of Gettysburg Operations in Pennsylvania. During this time Travis also earned his M.B.A. with an emphasis in Finance through Bellevue University.

Nathan is currently the President of Opening Technologies, Inc. where he has worked for over 27 years. He began working with the company while still in high school when his father, Martin, started the business. Before that his father had him tinkering with locks and masterkey systems as early as 10 years old.

Over the years, Nathan played a pivotal role in the evolution of the company. He was instrumental in forming the Master Keying Department, the Low Voltage Business Unit, and the Contract Hardware Division before he assumed the role of President in 2016. His day-to-day mostly consists of managing the business and supporting a great team of associates. He still likes getting into the details of a hardware schedule, keying hierarchy, or wiring diagram when he can.

Outside of work, Nathan enjoys spending time with his wife of 22 years and three teenage sons, traveling, and volunteering as a Score business mentor which allows him to share his experience with other companies.

Scott has been fortunate to have worked in the Door and Hardware Industry for over 23 years. He has experience on both the Manufacturing and Distribution sides of the business. Scott graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and an emphasis in Marketing.

After college, he began his career at Georgia Pacific Industries as an Inside Sales Representative, selling interior and exterior doors, prehung units, and millwork. His primary customers included Home Depot, lumber yards, and residential door shops. He was later promoted to Outside Sales, covering the state of Arizona.

Scott was then recruited as an Operations Manager for Smith Moulding Wholesale, a manufacturer and distributor of various millwork products. He expanded their offerings to include prehung interior and exterior doors, Masonite products, residential hardware, and closet components.

Following this, Scott became the National Field Sales Representative for Sierra Pine LTD, the second-largest manufacturer of MDF, particle board, MDF mouldings, and specialty products globally. He played a key role in growing their business within the door manufacturing segment.

Scott was later recruited by TruStile Doors to serve as their National Sales Manager, where he helped expand their residential business. He was subsequently promoted to Vice President of Commercial Sales, contributing significantly to their commercial growth with clients such as Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and the Commercial Door and Hardware Industry. He was actively involved in writing door and hardware specifications for Marriott and Hilton, who sought higher-quality doors than the typical flush options. These hotels often struggled to secure stile and rail doors due to value engineering by DFH houses.

Recognizing a gap in the market, Scott envisioned a different kind of DFH company that could serve the hospitality and custom commercial markets without excessive costs to owners. He saw how antiquated the industry was and believed he could make a meaningful impact.

From that vision, Scott founded Architectural Concepts in 2007. The company has been in business for over 14 years, serving all of North America and the Islands. Architectural Concepts is a unique breed of distributor, manufacturing its own stile and rail MDF doors, storefronts, curtain walls, infill window systems, shower doors, cultured marble surrounds, pans, doors, frames, hardware, and offering preinstallation services. The company aims to create a hybrid model that delivers exceptional value to general contractors and owners.

Erin has been in the Door & Hardware industry for 30 years mostly in distribution. She has done everything from take-offs to purchasing to project management. Over 7 years ago, she moved to the manufacturing side. As an Architectural Consultant and Specifier, she worked with architects to develop specifications that meet the requirements of the owner, building use, and code requirements. She moved to the position of Specifications Manager responsible for developing specifications for all product offerings. She is responsible for providing technical and building code information to meet the ever changing requirements.

She is currently the Influencer Education Manager delivering opening solutions education. This involves educating on the proper product selection for every opening to provide a safe and secure environment.

During her 30 years in this industry, she has earned her AOC (Architectural Openings Consultant), CFDAI (Certified Fire Door Assembly Inspector), DHT (Door Hardware Technician), DHC (Door Hardware Consultant), CDT (Certified Document Technician) and CCPR (Certified Construction Product Representative) credentials.

Lewis Smith has been at NGP for the past 8 years. After graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2004, he spent five years with Canon in outside sales, then two years with GE Capital. He earned an MBA from Emory University along the way.

Since joining NGP, Lewis has served in various capacities primarily in sales, marketing and finance roles. He is currently the CEO of NGP and sister company, Jordan Aluminum.

Lewie’s family includes lovely wife Liz of 9 years, son Frazer [6], and daughters Lottie [3] and Rose [5].

Robert Dippell is President and General Manager of William Knell and Company Limited, where he has been employed since 1997. Robert is a professional accountant and received his CA designation in 1999.

Knell's is a multi-divisional distributor of products and services to commercial concerns in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. At Knell's, Robert is the top decision maker and oversees all strategic and administrative functions for the company.

Early in his career Robert developed his passion for volunteering. He is actively involved with the Rotary Club of Kitchener Grand River, having served previously as Treasurer, Board Member and President; Child Witness Centre Waterloo Region, having served as President, Treasurer and Board Member; and, the Door and Hardware Institute Canada, currently as President/Board Member and previously as Treasurer.

In his spare time, Robert enjoys time with his family, water skiing, furniture building and baking.

Jason Gehrs, DHT, AHC, DHC, CFDAI, FDHI has been in the door & hardware industry for over 40 years having received his AHC credentials in 1984. During his career in this industry, he worked in distribution for 27 years and has spent 18 years in the manufacturing sector. Currently he is employed as an Architectural Consultant and Specification Writer for Allegion.

He has been involved in the Door & Hardware Institute since 1980 and have served in chapter officer positions in Connecticut, Michigan, MO-Kan, and Iowa. He currently serves as the education chairman in the Iowa Chapter and has presented, and continues to present, the DHI courses to his local chapter as well as other nearby chapters. He has been regularly teaching at the DHI National Classroom Series programs since 2006 plus he taught sporadically in the 1990’s under the week-long instructional program.

He has served as a member of the Education Council since 2009 and has helped update many of the courses during that time. He was also involved in the development of the testing criteria for the new DHT and DHC credentials. He feels that being involved in DHI is critical for both the personal and professional growth of our membership and looks forward to serving as the Education Council Chairman.