Water Leadership Institute Celebrates 2025 Graduates Across Three Nations

The Water Leadership Institute Class of 2025 includes 83 water professionals representing 27 states, Canada, and New Zealand. These graduates are the 14th class of the institute and join 590 alumni of the program.  They are also the second year to have two parallel cohorts running at once.

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.
The class of 2025 completed their program at WEFTEC 2025 and were recognized at a ceremony on Sunday, September 28.

WLI25 Turning Challenges into Strengths Through Resilient Leadership Series

As part of their final project, the Water Leadership Institute (WLI) 2025 cohorts have developed a YouTube series on Turning Challenges into Strengths Through Resilient Leadership. You can watch the videos on the playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcIZ_Qi40I1HsbJkOgKpzXrik9685C19A

This group also has created a series of columns on the same topics that will appear in Water Environment & Technology magazine throughout 2026.

Apply for 2026

The application period for the 2026 Water Leadership Institute will open on November 3rd. To get more information about the program, visit the program website.

WWW.WEF.ORG/WLI

Blue Cohort:
Aaron Rice, City of Grand Junction, Blue Cohort

Abhishek Sharda, Brown & Caldwell, Blue Cohort

Afiya N. Wilkins, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Blue Cohort

Andrew J Barbeau, DuPage County, Blue Cohort

Andrew Hummel, Burns & McDonnell, Blue Cohort

Andrew Beatty, Loudoun Water, Blue Cohort

Bennett Parsons, The Water Research Foundation, Blue Cohort

Bianca Milano, Aquarion Water Company, Blue Cohort

Brian Bilodeau, The Metropolitan District, Blue Cohort

Brigit Afshar Buff, Plummer Associates, Inc., Blue Cohort

Caitlin Ruff, Black & Veatch, Blue Cohort

Chad A Whiting, Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, Blue Cohort

Charles E Howard III, Inframark, Blue Cohort

Christa Cook, Global Support and Development, Blue Cohort

Cody Schoepke, City of Fond du Lac - (Fond du Lac Regional Wastewater Treatment & Resource Recovery Facility (WTRRF)), Blue Cohort

Curtis E. Huey, Mechanicsburg Waste Water Treatment Plant, Blue Cohort

Daniela S. López, RJN Group, Blue Cohort

David Gisborn, DC Water, Blue Cohort

Eric Nash, PCL Construction, Inc., Blue Cohort

Holly Fraychineaud, Pontchartrain Conservancy, Blue Cohort

Jackie Kingdom, Carollo Engineers, Blue Cohort

Jan Nowak, Xylem, Blue Cohort

Janet E Frost, OWASA, Blue Cohort

Jared Steven Bond, City of Lynnwood, Blue Cohort

Jeffrey Thomas Hlad, Metro Water Recovery, Blue Cohort

Jissell Carolina Muir, Arcadis U.S., Inc., Blue Cohort

Joanna Ibrahim, Olokun Minerals, Blue Cohort

Jordan Lewis, NC Department of Environmental Quality, Blue Cohort

James Birmingham, Plante Moran Realpoint, Blue Cohort

Kathryn Serra, C.T. Male Associates, Blue Cohort

Lisa Mace, Beca, Blue Cohort

Maygan Cline, Geosyntec Consultants, Blue Cohort

Melissa Pierce, Current Innovation, NFP, Blue Cohort

Michael Rodriguez, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Blue Cohort

Michael D. Hess, HRSD, Blue Cohort

Nicholas H Lewis, Gannett Fleming, Blue Cohort

Maria Dominique M. Ong, Carollo Engineers, Blue Cohort

Riese Rubin, Water Environment Federation, Blue Cohort

Richard Tyson, Kankakee River Metropolitan Agency, Blue Cohort

Sara Sietsema, City of Willmar, Blue Cohort

Sian Graziella Bashkiroff, City of Oxnard, Blue Cohort

Green Cohort:

Alexis Kontorousis, Johnson Controls, Green Cohort

Andrew Brocato, GreenPoint Engineering, Green Cohort

Andrew Doerflinger, PE, STV Inc, Green Cohort

Angel M. French, City of Watertown PCF, Green Cohort

Annie Cashon, Burns & McDonnell, Green Cohort

Arisbeth Ibarra Nieblas, Trinity River Authority of Texas, Green Cohort

Ashley Voskuhl, Water Environment Federation, Green Cohort

Barbara Arnold, Lower Allen Township, Green Cohort

Benjamin Cario, Arcadis, U.S., Green Cohort

Bethel Abate, DC Water, Green Cohort

Bradley W. Schmitz, Loudoun Water, Green Cohort

Brandon H. Scurto, Northern Moraine Water Reclamation District, Green Cohort

Carson Knutson, City of Vacaville, Green Cohort

Casey S. Johnson, Anna-Jonesboro Water Commission, Green Cohort

Courtney Thomas, Black & Veatch, Green Cohort

Mojolaoluwa Ladipo-Obasa, DC Water, Green Cohort

Edward Makowski, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Green Cohort

Elaine Leonard, HDR, Green Cohort

Emma Grace Housman, Xylem, Green Cohort

Farshid Shoushtarian, Yokogawa, Green Cohort

C. Hunter Nelson, LabWare Global Services, Green Cohort

Jegnaw G Essatu, WSSCWater, Green Cohort

Jayla Niquera Berry, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Green Cohort

Jenna Troppman, Tetra Tech, Green Cohort

Juan Guzmán, CDPHE/WQCD, Green Cohort

Juliana Mejia-Franco, SENTRY Water Monitoring and Control, Green Cohort

Krysten Marshall, Garver, Green Cohort

Laura Boyd, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Green Cohort

Lenai Hunter, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, Green Cohort

Lindsay Diaz, GHD, Green Cohort

Madeleine Harris, Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, Green Cohort

Miguel Antonio S. Sibayan, Imagine H2O Asia, Green Cohort

Michael J. Firestone, Mount Pleasant Waterworks, Green Cohort

Peter Pommersheim, South Essex Sewerage District, Green Cohort

Powell Hinson, Carollo Engineers, Green Cohort

Rachel Chai, University of South Alabama, Green Cohort

Sam Broadnax, Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, Green Cohort

Ding Hsiang (Shawn) Lin, Geosyntec Consultants, Green Cohort

Steven Mosley, Industrial Flow Solutions, Green Cohort

Sunny Aggarwal, NORESCO, Green Cohort

Tammy Yates West, Austin Water-City of Austin, Green Cohort