Mayors Innovation Project
A peer learning network for mayors and city leaders.

Pooling Resources: A Workshop for the Innovative Utility Leader

Thursday, June 29 – Friday, June 30
InterContinental Hotel, New Orleans, LA

Thank you for joining us for this invitation-only, off-the-record workshop with storm, drinking, and waste water utility leaders. The meeting followed the US Water Alliance’s One Water Summit in New Orleans (June 27-29).

This meeting focused on stimulating conversation, sharing big and creative ideas, and creating space for an honest discussion of the issues.
Meeting goals:

  • Create space for an honest discussion of challenges and opportunities
  • Elicit big and creative ideas
  • Foster connection between utility leaders
  • Focus on strategies for collaboration between utilities and other departments/governmental entities

This event was focused on cities in the Great Lakes basin, but the topics covered were broadly relevant. Attendees had the opportunity to connect with leaders facing many of the same challenges, from shrinking budgets to algal blooms to lead pipes. We shared what insights and analysis we have gathered so far from our research about how utilities can increase their efficiency in the face of these challenges.

See full agenda here.

Recommended resource: Working paper on Urban Water Systems

Attendees

Gary Belan, Senior Director, Clean Water Supply Program, American Rivers
Theresa Connor, Project Development Officer, Colorado State University
Paula Conolly, Coordinator, Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange
Radhika Fox, CEO, US Water Alliance
Adel Hagekhalil, Assistant Director, LA Sanitation, Los Angeles, CA
Cynthia Koehler, Executive Director, WaterNow Alliance
Nilaksh Kothari, CEO & General Manager, Manitowoc Public Utilities, Manitowoc, WI
Michael Lunn, Environmental Services Department Manager, Grand Rapids, MI
Mel Meder, Senior Associate, Mayors Innovation Project
Palencia Mobley, P. E., Deputy Director/Chief Engineer, Water & Sewerage Department, City of Detroit, MI
Edward Moore, Director of Public Utilities, Toledo, OH
Jeff Mosher, Chief Research Officer, Water Environment & Reuse Foundaiton
Howard Neukrug, Adjunct Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Tom Owens, Program Associate, Pisces Foundation
Rolfe Porter, Executive Director, Niagara Falls Water Board, Niagara Falls, NY
Rob Renner, CEO, Water Research Foundation
Satya Rhodes-Conway, Managing Director, Mayors Innovation Project
Katie Rousseau, Director, Clean Water Supply, Great Lakes, American Rivers
Brenda Scott Henry, Director, Green Urbanism & Environmental Affairs, Gary, IN
Kevin Shafer, Executive Director, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Milwaukee, WI
Debra Shore, Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Chicago, IL
Wing Tam, Deputy ​Director of Watershed Programs, LA Sanitation, Los Angeles, CA
Timothy Thomure, Director, Tucson Water, Tucson, AZ
Chris Wanner, Director of Operations, Portland Water Bureau, Portland, OR