The Water Environment Federation proudly announces the 52 graduates of its Water Leadership Institute Class of 2020.
The Water Leadership Institute program is aimed at educating and training emerging leaders and providing them with opportunities to build strong, lasting relationships within the water sector. The intensive program allows participants to engage in management training and leadership development through a blended learning approach that includes examining complex challenges facing the water and wastewater industries and networking with public and private sector practitioners. There are 291 alumni of the program, which is in its ninth year.
“The Water Leadership Institute Class of 2020 represents the range of talent that the future of the sector depends on,” said WEF 2019-2020 President Jackie Jarrell. “We look forward to seeing the impact this impressive group will have within the profession.”
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The Graduates
The WLI 2020 consists of 52 participants from around the US and Canada.
- Alec Mackenzie — EPCOR — Alberta
- Alma Beciragic — UNC Chapel Hill — North Carolina
- Ana J. Pena-Tijerina — City of Fort Worth Water Department — Texas
- Ashley B. Warren — Metropolitan Water Reclamation District — Illinois
- Bashar Al-Daomi — Portland State University — Oregon
- Bradford Lovett — Water Environment Federation — District of Columbia
- Brian Hill — Water Environment Federation — Maryland
- Brian L. Tierney — Evoqua Water Technologies — Wisconsin
- Christina M. Davenport — City of Bend — Oregon
- David Michael Rhoten — S&ME, Inc. — Tennessee
- Elaine Samuel — GM BluePlan Engineering — Ontario
- Elizabeth James Guilford — Walsh Construction
- Company — California
- Erik Asay Simmons — HDR — Washington
- Felicia K. Glapion — AlexRenew — Virginia
- Garrett Bergey — SDE, Inc. — Vermont
- Indra Maharjan — Ontario Clean Water Agency — Ontario
- Jaren Murphy — McCarthy Building Companies — Arizona
- Jennifer Loconsole — Black & Veatch — Illinois
- Jenny Reitz — Hampton Roads Sanitation District — Virginia
- Jesse Burch — Beaver Water District — Arkansas
- Jonathan Leitch — Victaulic — California
- Joseph Massimo — SUEZ — Pennsylvania
- Jennifer Cobb, P.E. — Henrico County Department of Public Works — Virginia
- Karoline Terrazas — Union Sanitary District — California
- Kerry Reed — City of Framingham — Massachusetts
- Kristin Johansen — City of Santa Fe — New Mexico
- Kurt Kinney — Arcadis — Ohio
- Lorenzo D. Freeman — City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management — Georgia
- Louis Storino — Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago — Illinois
- Marc Serna — South Coast Water District — California
- Michael Brothers — City of Alabaster Environmental Services — Alabama
- Nicole Stephens — Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. — North Carolina
- Olga Djoumessi — N/A — Illinois
- Palencia Mobley, P.E. — City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department — Michigan
- Paula Monaco — Plummer Associates, Inc. — Texas
- Peter Buehlmann — Brown and Caldwell — Virginia
- Rebecca Erickson — South Platte Water Renewal Partners — Colorado
- Roanna Purcaru — GHD — Arizona
- Robert Frost — Hazen and Sawyer — New Jersey
- Ryan Radspinner, P.E. — HRSD — Virginia
- Saa Shemsu — Montgomery County Environmental Services — Ohio
- Sabrina Ann Parker — City of Olathe — Kansas
- Samantha Rucinski — SUEZ — Pennsylvania
- Sarah M. Hunt — Arcadis — Ohio
- Shelby Beauchemin — City of Largo — Florida
- Shelley W. Porter — West Virginia American Water — West Virginia
- Sophie Frances Manley — City of Chicago Department of Water Management — Illinois
- Stacy Thompson — City of Saco WRRD — Maine
- Stephanie Spalding — HDR — Virginia
- Tayo Olatunji — DC Water — Maryland
- Wes Merkle — TriCo Regional Sewer Utility — Indiana
- William Searles Jr. — Kiewit Infrastructure West Company — California
Sharing Expertise
As part of their final project, the 2020 graduates have created a series of five community outreach webcasts with activity guides that can be used to promote the water sector. These webcasts will take place throughout October and November 2020.
The 2020 cohort split into five groups to produce these webcasts. Each group will host a webcast to explain the outreach options they created for differing target groups ranging from elementary, middle, and high school ages through college and the public. Each webcast will focus on one overarching topic with activities for two different age groups. Learn more about the webcasts:
Community Outreach
Webcast Series
Interested in WLI?
The application period for the 2021 Water Leadership Institute opens in November 2020. In the meantime, you can learn more about this program and the application process.
