The Water Leadership Institute Class of 2023 includes 54 water professionals representing 22 states, Canada, and Botswana. These graduates are the 12th class of the institute and join 451 alumni of the program.
The class of 2023 completed their program at WEFTEC 2023 and were recognized at a ceremony on Sunday, October 1.
The Water Leadership Institute (WLI) 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 enables 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.
2024 Water Leadership Institute Graduates
- Alex Fuentes, WSCC Water
- Amber Williams, WSSC Water
- Anahita Esmaeilian, HDR Inc.
- Andres William Ward, Sarasota County Public Utilities
- Anjulie Cheema, Confluency
- Anna Kazasi, Virginia American Water
- Annelise Howell, Jacobs
- Archana Sharma, Mead and Hunt
- Aria Harris, Xylem Inc
- Ashok Perera, Atkins North America
- Ashwin Dhanasekar, The Water Research Foundation
- Benn S. Sherman, Town of Uxbridge
- Bianca S. Pinto, Water Environment Federation
- Blayne Johnson, Trinity River Authority of Texas
- Bridget Ingram, Wessler Engineering
- Chandler Mancuso, Macdermid Envio Solutions
- Corwin L Washington, Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO)
- Courtney Dantone, Kiewit
- Daylen Smith, Meta
- Eider Alvarez-Puras, Johnson Controls
- Ethan Yen, Black & Veatch
- George S. Kansas, P.E., Town of Bethlehem, NY
- Haley Morton, Burns & McDonnell
- Haley Overholt, Veolia
- Jack Denby, Hampton Roads Sanitation District
- Jake Whited, Arcadis
- James A Howard, California Association of Sanitation Agencies
- Jared Voskuhl, City of North Port Utilities
- Jennifer Fehrs, WEF
- Jennifer Sabater, Reeves Young, LLC
- Jessica Bullock, Anne Arundel County DPW
- Joy Crutchfield, GHD Inc
- Julia C. Matton, WCS Engineering
- Karen Steele, Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality
- Kelsey McWilliams, Point of Shift
- Kieyona Erica Bailey, Great Lakes Water Authority
- Kimberly Scherber, MSA Professional Services
- Kyle A Breaux, Sewerage and Waterboard of New Orleans
- Lisa J. Derrigan, GHD
- Michael Farrar, Union County Water
- Nicole Cohen, Carollo Engineers
- Nicole Conner, Kennedy Jenks
- Nina Khanzadeh, City of Aurora, Aurora Water
- Ole Espeland, Mt. Baker Ski Area Inc.
- Robbie Venis, AECOM Canada
- Sadra Heidary-Monfared, Capital Region District (CRD)
- Sara J. Igielski, Carollo Engineers
- Sophia Gupta, AECOM
- Susan McDonald, WSSC Water
- Taylor Ann Evans, Imagine H2O
- Tshoganetso Masunga, Consultant
- Veronica Jensen, Toho Water Authority
- Yaolin Fennell, AlexRenew
- Yonas G. Hagos, HDR
Apply for 2024
The application period for the 2024 Water Leadership Institute will open on November 1. To get more information about the program, visit the program website.
WLI Overcoming Today's Workforce Challenges Series
As part of their final project, this group developed a three-part webcast series a three-part webcast series on Overcoming Today's Workforce Challenges and Preparing for the Future. Register to access the recordings at www.wef.org/WorkforceChallenges.
This group also has created a series of articles on the same topics that will appear in Water Environment & Technology magazine throughout 2024.
