The Australian Water Association (AWA) Board met for the first time online last month, to welcome the new Directors with their term officially starting at Ozwater’21.
Building from the success of Ozwater’21 and lessons learnt from COVID-19, the new AWA Board will focus on the delivering in the final year of Strategy’22 and working towards our next AWA Strategy, following the achievements of the year ahead including AWA’s customer centric digital transformation.
AWA President, Louise Dudley, said “It’s been challenging managing and responding to the impact of COVID-19 over the last 18 months. However, everyone has worked well together to put the Association in the best possible position, particularly with the success Ozwater’21 in Adelaide.”
“I look forward to continuing to build on the legacy over the next 2 years, especially as we celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Association in 2022” Ms Dudley said.
AWA CEO, Corinne Cheeseman, said “I’m excited to welcome our new Directors to our very dedicated and inspiring Board. We’ve managed through a challenging year and taken opportunities to set ourselves up for the future. I am looking forward to working with our Directors in planning our future as we strive to provide more value and a great experience for our members.”
The Association is pleased to welcome the new Board of Directors:
Louise Dudley (President)
Louise has been Chief Executive Officer of Urban Utilities since 2012, and prior to this was the utility’s founding Chief Financial Officer. Preceding Urban Utilities’ formation, Louise held several senior management roles at Brisbane City Council and KPMG.
Carmel Krogh OAM (Immediate Past President)
Carmel has been on the Board since 2013 and was AWA President from 2019-2021. A former Director of Shoalhaven Water, Carmel now provides strategic advice to the water sector and was awarded an OAM in 2019 for her service to civil engineering.
Jim Athanas
Jim is the Vice President Product Management & Strategy Emerging Markets at Xylem. He has 26 years of experience in the water sector, particularly in the areas of chemical water treatment and capital equipment. He is passionate about sustainable water management and attracting more talented young water professionals to the sector.
Peter Dennis
Peter is the Managing Director at Hunter H2O. His executive experience covers both utility and local government with strong involvement in regional areas, major infrastructure projects and setting policy and directions on reuse and biosolids management.
Dr Sandra Hall
Sandra is Operations and Business Development Manager at the Advanced Water Management Centre, University of Queensland. With a passion for education and research, Sandra also provides a strong voice for diversity, inclusion and equity in the sector and was inducted as a Fellow of the International Water Association in 2016.
Karlene Maywald
Karlene is the Managing Director, Maywald Consultants Pty Ltd and a South Australian Water Ambassador. She has strong government experience being a previous SA Minister with responsibility for water. Using this experience, Karlene now focuses on driving collaboration and engagement between industry, government, related sectors and the community.
Shelley Shepherd
Shelley is a Director of Urbaqua, a not-for-profit environmental organisation that works to support and deliver water and environmentally sensitive outcomes in Western Australia. Shelley is an environmental planner specialising in strategic planning, policy development, urban water management and collaborative project delivery.
Daniel Sullivan
Daniel is CEO of Iota Services, joining South East Water in 2017 to run its commercial arm, Iota. He has over 20 years’ experience in senior roles across technology commercialisation, consulting and international trade including 12 years as a trade official on diplomatic postings.
Kevin Werksman
Kevin is the CEO for SUEZ Australia and New Zealand. With training in economics, engineering, and environmental management, he has advised utilities, governments and the private sector on a wide range of infrastructure transactions, business cases, policy challenges, and operating model changes.
Due to personal circumstances, Kate Draper withdrew from her position of Director as announced in October 2020. The Board has decided to hold the vacancy on the Board and will revisit this decision in 12 months’ time.
