Will Witcher, Associate Engineer at LDA Engineering, is participating in the 2019 Water Professionals Leadership Academy (WPLA), which kicked off in October and ends with a graduation ceremony at the 2019 Water Professionals Conference in August. The WPLA is sponsored by the Kentucky/Tennessee Section of the American Water Works Association (KY/TN AWWA) and the Kentucky/Tennessee Water Environment Federation (KY/TN WEA). Participants attend sessions in various locations across the region.
Valerie Lucas is Executive Director of KY/TN WEA. “The Water Professionals Leadership Academy is the latest collaboration between KY-TN WEA and KY/TN Section AWWA. In its second year, WPLA continues to be an opportunity where water professionals enrich their leadership skills and grow their professional community. We are honored to have such a great group of dedicated professionals representing our organizations,” she said.
Training sessions topics include internal and external communication, finance/budget/rates/risks, leadership style, and industry trends. Kay Sanborn, Executive Director of KY/TN section of AWWA, said, “It’s been gratifying to see graduates of the 2018 WPLA use the leadership skills they learned to plan sessions and participate as speakers for the 2019 WPLA. They’re ambassadors for the program and we’re proud to call them water professional leaders!”
Witcher adds, “The WPLA has provided an excellent opportunity to continue to develop leadership skills in the context of the water environment industry. I have enjoyed networking with other emerging leaders from across Tennessee and Kentucky and sharing challenges and successes. We’ve had the opportunity to interact with individuals in leadership positions within the field to gain insight into effective organizational leadership as well as discuss their perspectives on issues and topics pertinent to today’s water environment industry.”