FWEA Chapter Corner: FWEA Leadership Workshop 2022: True Leaders in the

Welcome to the FWEA Chapter Corner! The Member Relations Committee of the

Florida Water EnvironmentvAssociation hosts this article to celebrate the success of recent association chapter activities and inform members of upcoming events. To have information included for your chapter, send details to Melody Gonzalez at gonzalezm@bv.com. Melody Gonzalez

FWEA Leadership Workshop 2022: True Leaders in the Making

Melody Gonzalez

Ifetayo Venner, current WEF president-elect, introduces herself to the crowd.

Group photo of the FWEA committee and chapter leaders. On a gorgeous weekend in February on beautiful Daytona Beach, the FWEA leaders from every corner of the state of Florida got together for a twoday workshop. This meeting is held every year around the same time, with the goal of learning about the organization, sharing information, training the new incoming chairs, and finding solutions to common challenges.

Due to the pandemic, however, an inperson meeting in 2021 was simply not possible. Many of these leaders haven’t seen each other for more than two years; therefore, the friendly atmosphere was almost palpable.

The workshop started with a review of the previous year’s status of the organization, which can be summarized in one word: Strong! Throughout the pandemic, chapter and committee members alike faced the multiple challenges of uncertainty and social distancing. In a constant struggle to keep our organization’s mission alive, every chapter and committee quickly adapted to its local situation and adjusted its activities to be able to serve our members and community in the best possible way.

This year the organization was able to enjoy the presence of Ifetayo Venner, the president-elect of our parent organization, the Water Environment Federation (WEF). Ifetayo shared with our local leaders national strategies and also gave a very detailed overview of the organizational chart and the several layers of committees, groups, and subgroups under WEF’s umbrella.

On day two, our leaders focused on working on the strategy plans for the upcoming year. With our mission and vision in mind, each chapter and committee made a commitment to create a route map that will guide our activities during the next year.

This is a vital part of the process where the current chair needs to work together with the upcoming officers to ensure that the plan is feasible and that the next board will have realistic goals to work toward throughout the year.

By the end of the workshop, there was a clear understanding of the future of the organization, and the happy faces reflected the hard work that everyone had put in. This two-day exchange turned this group of colleagues into the leaders that will bring the organization to the next level. The future is bright, and the sky is the limit!

The leaders working on strategic plans.

Melody Gonzalez, E.I., is a civil engineer with Black & Veatch in Miami. She serves as FWEA Member Relationship Committee chair and secretary/contact for the South Florida Chapter FWEA. S

Chapter leaders working together exchanging successes and challenges.