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California Water Association Fall Conference
WATER IN THESE TIMES NOVEMBER 2-6, 2020|9:00-10:30 AM (PDT ) w w w.calwaterassn.com California Water Association
California Water Association (CWA) is having a virtual 2020 Fall Conference this year. The multiday conference will take place from November 2-6, 2020 between 9:00 - 10:30 AM (PDT) daily. Our member only Board of Directors Meeting will be held Thursday, November 5, from 8:30 - 12:30 PM (PDT). Join us for exciting discussions on how our industry can/has adapted to a global pandemic, economic recovery, racial injustice, and the 2020 election. Login info will be sent to registrants via email.
REGISTER TODAY!
California Water Association
California Water Association Fall Conference
SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE Monday, November 2, 9:00 - 10:30 AM (PDT)
Our Industry Adapts to a Global Pandemic • • • • •
WATER IN THESE TIMES NOVEMBER 2-6, 2020|9:00-10:30 AM (PDT ) w w w.calwaterassn.com
Moderator: Denise Kruger, Vice President, Golden State Water Eileen Sobeck, Executive Director, SWRCB Rachel Petersen, Executive Director, CPUC Richard Rich, Chief Operating Officer, SouthWest Water Christy Baril, Operations Manager – Northern California, California American Water
Tuesday, November 3, 9:00 - 10:30 AM (PDT)
Reimagining California’s Economic Recovery • • • • •
Moderator: Joaquin Esquivel, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board Katie Henderson, US Water Alliance – Infrastructure Development Ellen Hanak, PPIC Jim Wunderman, Bay Area Council Jonathan Reeder, Wells Fargo
Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 - 10:30 AM (PDT)
How We Can Respond to Racial Injustice • • • • • • •
Opening Remarks: Commissioner Guzman Aceves, California Public Utilities Commission Group Discussion and Coaching Lead by Stacey Gordon, Rework Work Ed Simon, California American Water Company Lauren James, Suburban Water Systems Jennifer Lukins, Lukins Brothers Water Company Ron Webb, California Water Service Ed Jackson, Liberty Utilities
Thursday, November 5, 8:30 - 12:30 PM (PDT)
California Water Association Board of Directors Meeting (Members Only) *Link will be sent in a separate email.
Friday, November 6, 9:00 - 10:30 AM (PDT)
Election 2020 • • • •
Moderator: The Honorable Evan Low, California State Assembly Eric Schickler, Professor, Department of Political Science and Co-Director, Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley Jim DeBoo, State Election Analyst Rob Stutzman, State Election Analyst
SPEAKER/MODERATOR BIOS CHRISTINA BARIL, Operations Manager, began her career with
California American Water in 2014, with her initial role being in water quality and environmental compliance. She was later promoted to operations in 2017. Prior to working for California American Water, Christina specialized in the field of environmental compliance for various industrial and manufacturing facilities. Christina obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of California Santa Cruz in the field of Marine Biology. Christina holds Treatment 2 and Distribution 2 water treatment licenses in the State of California and is a member of California Nevada American Water Works Association (CA-NV AWWA).
Barbara Boxer of California, most recently as her legislative assistant covering the agriculture, Native American, water, oceans, and nutrition portfolios, in addition to being the director of information and technology. He was born and raised in California’s Coachella Valley. He holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in English.
STACEY A. GORDON is a Diversity, Inclusion and Career Strategist
who works to reduce bias in recruiting and barriers to hiring. Leading at the intersection of recruiting, career development, diversity and workplace culture, Stacey has delivered keynote speeches globally and developed educational content that has engaged professionals both in-person and in a virtual environment. She focuses on reworking how JIM DEBOO, for more than two decades, has become one of California’s premier public affairs and government relations professionals. companies work. That includes how they recruit, hire and engage women and professionals of color. DeBoo manages and provides strategic consulting on a wide-range of complex political and public policy projects for statewide ballot measures, Stacey is the creator of the number one resume course at LinkedIn coalitions, corporations, independent expenditure committees, labor learning and her unconscious bias course has been translated into unions, and legislative and political action committees and their lobbying several languages. She is a highly rated coach practitioner who has teams. facilitated coaching of Chief Diversity Officers and other D&I practitioners DeBoo has led several successful efforts to both pass and defeat statewide ballot measures about the state’s most challenging issues. In 2018, he was the Campaign Manager for the No on Prop 10 (housing) campaign, which was defeated by a 20-point margin. The prior cycle, he was the Campaign Manager for the successful Yes on Proposition 56 campaign (tobacco tax to fund Medi-Cal and other health care programs), which was overwhelmingly approved with a 64% “Yes” vote despite being outspent 3:1 by tobacco companies opponents. In 2014, DeBoo also managed the No on Proposition 46 campaign (medical malpractice and physician drug testing), which was defeated in every single county in California. DeBoo also manages independent expenditure committees in California, and has participated in over 25 legislative and statewide candidate races and achieved a near 90% winning percentage for those targeted races. From 2010 to 2013, DeBoo served as the Director of the Speaker’s Office of Member Services (SOMS) and the Director of the Assembly Democrats, the campaign arm of the Assembly Democratic Caucus. In the 2010 election cycle, the Assembly Democrats were the only state legislative house in the nation to protect all their incumbents and pick up a Republican seat. In 2012, the Assembly Democrats achieved the historical, two-thirds Supermajority. In addition, he served as Interim Chief of Staff for Speaker John A. Perez. Previously, DeBoo served as the Chief Legislative Representative for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City of Los Angeles, and as Chief of Staff for two former Assemblymembers as well as Special Advisor to former State Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Senator, Jack O’Connell. DeBoo was named as one of Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 political influencers in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
E. JOAQUIN ESQUIVEL was appointed to the State Water
Resources Control Board by Governor Jerry Brown in March 2017 and designated by Governor Gavin Newsom as Chair in February 2019. Previously, he served as Assistant Secretary for federal water policy at the California Natural Resources Agency in the Governor’s Washington, D.C. office, where he facilitated the development of policy priorities between the agency, the Governor’s Office, the California Congressional delegation, and federal stakeholder agencies. For more than eight years prior to that he worked for U.S. Senator
at several Diversity & Inclusion forums. She was recognized by Pepperdine University as a Top 40 Over 40 Leader, was a finalist for Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women Helping Women Award and was recognized by Forbes as a Top 3 Business Leader Who Spoke Out About Diversity & Inclusion.
With an MBA from Pepperdine University’s Business School, Stacey is an Advisory Board Member to two career and technology related companies, was previously employed as an Adjunct Professor teaching Diversity in Organizations at Phillips Graduate University and manages programs for Professionals In Human Resources Association, the largest SHRM affiliate in the country. She is the author of a best-selling interview guide titled The Successful Interview: 99 Questions to Ask and Answer (and Some You Shouldn’t) and four LinkedIn e-learning courses titled Recruiting for Diversity, Awareness of Unconscious Bias, Making a Career Change and Writing a Resume, which collectively have accumulated more than one million views. As a consultant and career strategist, Stacey has written career and diversity related articles and provided content for SHRM, FastCompany, Skillsoft, Forbes, NPR Radio, BBC Radio, Essence Magazine, and Monster.com, to name a few. She was also a career segment guest contributor to Fox Business.
COMMISSIONER MARTHA GUZMAN ACEVES was
appointed Commissioner at the CPUC by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Dec. 28, 2016. She has focused on issues related to fuel switching, broadband access, water affordability, access to distributed solar and various other energy and telecommunications issues. She previously served as deputy legislative affairs secretary in the Office of the Governor since 2011, focusing on natural resources, environmental protection, energy and food and agriculture. She was sustainable communities program director for the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation from 2005 to 2011. From 2006 to 2008, she worked with Swanton Berry Farm on human resources issues including a new employee-stock ownership program. She was legislative coordinator for United Farm Workers from 1999 to 2005, working on labor and environmental issues. In 2010, she co-founded Communities for a New California, a charitable organization promoting increased civic engagement of underrepresented communities. Guzman Aceves earned a Master of Science degree in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Davis, and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University.
ELLEN HANAK is vice president and director of the PPIC Water
In 2015, together with Assemblymember Ian Calderon (D-Whittier), he launched the first in the state California Legislative Technology & Policy Center and a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where she holds the Ellen Hanak Chair in Water Policy. Under Innovation Caucus. The Caucus comprises of a bi-partisan group of Senators and Assemblymembers who view this as a statewide effort her leadership, the center has become a critical source of information to ensure that California remains the global leader in technology and and guidance for natural resource management in California. She has authored dozens of reports, articles, and books on water policy, including innovation. Managing California’s Water. Her research is frequently profiled in the Assemblymember Low is a lifelong resident of Silicon Valley and has national media, and she participates in briefings, conferences, and been a regional community leader. His work within the community interviews throughout the nation and around the world. Her other areas of and deep knowledge of issues local residents faced led him to run expertise include climate change and infrastructure finance. Previously, for Campbell City Council in 2006. He made history as the first Asian she served as research director at PPIC. Before joining PPIC, she held American elected to Campbell’s City Council. positions with the French agricultural research system, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and the World Bank. She holds a PhD in In 2010, Assemblymember Low also made history by becoming the youngest openly LGBT mayor in the country at the age of 26. While economics from the University of Maryland. serving on Campbell’s City Council, he helped balance the city budget KATIE HENDERSON is a Senior Program Manager at the US without eliminating vital services and increase government transparency Water Alliance, a national nonprofit organization advancing policies and by streaming City Council meetings online. Assemblymember Low programs that build a sustainable water future for all. She manages promoted small business and job growth by cutting red tape and the Value of Water Campaign, which educates and inspires the nation streamlining the licensing process for business owners. about how water is essential, invaluable, and in need of investment. Prior to joining the Alliance, Katie was a Research Manager at the Water Assemblymember Low has been named “Legislator of the Year” by the Internet Association, TechNet, The Computing Technology Industry Research Foundation where she managed a large portfolio of research on integrated water management, workforce, and communication. Katie Association, California Faculty Association, Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, California District Attorneys Association and Faculty is a strong voice for effective communication about water’s value, and Association of California Community Colleges. has written blogs, essays, and journal articles exploring how to inspire behavior changes that will lead to better management of, and investment He also served as a community college instructor teaching American in, our water systems. She earned an MS in Human Dimensions of Government and Political Science at De Anza Community College. Ecosystem Science from Utah State University in 2012. A Bay Area native, Low attended local public schools and earned degrees from De Anza Community College and San Jose State DENISE L. KRUGER is Senior Vice President, Regulated Utilities for Golden State Water Company. In this role, Ms. Kruger has oversight University. He went on to graduate from the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University. of all functions in Regulated Utilities, including Water Operations, Asset Management, Environmental Quality, Customer and Community RACHEL PETERSON is presently serving as the CPUC’s Acting Relations, Customer Service, Water Use Efficiency, Water Resources Executive Director. Rachel has worked at the CPUC since and Regulated New Business. Golden State Water Company provides 2011 in several leadership positions, including chief of staff and advisor water service to 254,000 customers and electric service to 23,000 to Commissioners, acting director of the new Safety Policy Division, customers in California. and most recently Deputy Executive Director for Safety Enforcement Ms. Kruger has over 25 years of experience in the utility industry. She and Policy. She has experience in numerous areas of the CPUC’s utility joined Golden State Water Company in 1992 as Manager of Quality regulation, including electricity, gas, safety, and transportation, and has Assurance and Water Quality. In 1998, Ms. Kruger was appointed to the led initiatives to bring greater transparency to the CPUC’s processes. position of Vice President, Water Quality. She then served in various Rachel is an attorney and former nonprofit executive director, and lives in executive roles in water operations before being appointed Senior Vice the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. President, Regulated Utilities. Ms. Kruger is active in the utility industry, including holding a Board seat RICHARD RICH is the Chief Operating Officer for SouthWest Water Company. He has more than 20 years of experience in the regulated on CFEE, the California Foundation for the Environment and Economy. water and wastewater industry. As COO, Richard is responsible for She is a past Chair of the Water Research Foundation, an organization driving strategic prioritization and operational excellence for all of responsible for over $460M worth of water related research, and SouthWest Water’s business units serving water and wastewater past Chair of the American Ground Water Trust. Ms. Kruger received customers in Alabama, California, Oregon, South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Texas. Richard’s focus as COO are providing exceptional customer University of California-Davis and a Master of Business Administration service, maintaining environmental compliance, safety with continuous Degree from the University of California-Irvine. improvement, ongoing community involvement, and employee success. ASSEMBLY MEMBER EVAN LOW was elected to the California ERIC SCHICKLER is Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of State Assembly in November 2014 to represent District 28. At the age Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the of 31, Assemblymember Low became the youngest Asian American author of three books which have won the Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize legislator to have been elected to the Assembly in state history. The district is located in Silicon Valley and includes Campbell, Cupertino, Los for the best book on legislative politics: Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, and the areas of West San Jose, Willow Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress (2001), Filibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the United States Senate (2006, with Glen, Cambrian, and Almaden Valley in San Jose. Assemblymember Gregory Wawro), and Investigating the President: Congressional Checks Low chairs the Business and Professions Committee.
on Presidential Power (2016, with Douglas Kriner; also winner of the Richard E. Neustadt Prize for the best book on executive politics). His book, Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965, was the winner of the Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book on government, politics or international affairs published in 2016, and is co-winner of the J. David Greenstone Prize for the best book in history and politics from the previous two calendar years. He is also the co-author of Partisan Hearts and Minds, which was published in 2002. He has authored or co-authored articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Polity, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Social Science History. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of American politics, the U.S. Congress, rational choice theory, American political development, and public opinion.
ED SIMON currently serves as California American Water’s Director
of Business Performance and Supplier Diversity. In this role, Ed and his team have led the successful implementation of various projects. Under his leadership, California American Water’s supplier diversity program has consistently met and exceeded the California Public Utilities Commission goal over the past three years, and in 2016, achieved its highest diversity spend percentage (32.18%). Over the last two years, California American has provided 45 new diverse vendors with opportunities to work with them. Ed’s tenure with American Water began in February 2001. He has held several positions with American Water including Call Handling Supervisor, Business Services Liaison, Missouri American Operations Manager, and Central Division Director, Customer Relations. At Missouri American, he worked in the St. Louis County Operations division, one of the largest districts in American Water, where he managed the districts field service, meter reading and customer service support functions. As the director of customer relations, he developed and implemented the Central States Customer Relations Team, which is the model used across American Water today. As California American Water Vice President of Operations, Ed was responsible for managing the operations at all of the company’s well, tank, and treatment facilities as well as the field staff. Prior to joining American Water, Ed held various management positions in the property/casualty insurance industry. He earned a Bachelor of Art’s Degree in Organization Studies from Fontbonne University in Saint Louis, Missouri and in 2017 earned a Master’s Degree in Executive Leadership from University of San Diego.
EILEEN SOBECK has nearly 40 years of government service, and
more than two decades of executive and management experience leading professional staff in complex organizations. She is new to state government, but has spent her career in federal agencies that touch on many of the same science-based, public resource challenges the State Water Board faces.
connections to California.
ROB STUTZMAN is founder and president of Stutzman Public
Affairs, a Sacramento based firm specializing in campaigns, communications, crisis management and award-winning political advertising. Rob was deputy chief of staff for communications to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In this capacity, he oversaw press, speechwriting and public appearances for California’s populist celebrity governor. He also served as co-communications director in the historic California Recall of 2003 that placed Schwarzenegger in office. Rob’s current and past clients include Fortune 500 companies, trade associations and private firms spanning a multitude of industries including entertainment, technology, agriculture, manufacturing and consumer products. Previously, Rob logged a career working in state and national political campaigns and for elected officials. Notably, he served as communications director for the California Department of Justice and Attorney General’s Office. Rob is a third generation Californian. He is a frequent speaker on California politics and public policy and regularly appears on television news shows as a political commentator. His opinion articles have been published in most major California newspapers. A graduate of Point Loma College in San Diego (BA, philosophy, 1990), Rob is a notorious Dodger fan, wine nerd and avid average golfer.
JIM WUNDERMAN is President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a CEO-led public policy and advocacy organization formed in 1945 that works to shape the future of the Bay Area and keep it as the most innovative, globally competitive, and sustainable region in the world. Since becoming CEO in 2004, Jim has dramatically expanded and deepened the Council’s reach and influence throughout the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, California, the nation and the world. As the leading steward of the Bay Area, the Council has grown under Jim’s tenure to include more than 325 member companies across a wide range of industries. He has positioned the Council as a leading voice for business and the economy on a wide range of issues, including housing, transportation, homelessness, workforce development, early education and more. Jim opened the Council’s office in Sacramento, where he regularly appears on the list of the state’s Top 100 political movers and shakers. Governors, mayors, legislators, foreign leaders and top business executives regularly seek Jim’s input and guidance on key issues and he makes regular appearances and provides commentary across a wide range of news media.
Behind Jim’s leadership, the Council has spearheaded and partnered in numerous ballot measure campaigns that have secured tens of billions of dollars for transportation, affordable housing, early education, climate resilience, and healthcare. And he is at the helm of early efforts to create a unified vision for the growth of the Northern California megaregion, bringing the assets and economies of the Bay Area, Sacramento and the Most recently, she was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the U. S. Central Valley into a common market. Department of Commerce (2014-2017). Prior to her work at NOAA, she Recognizing the Bay Area’s emergence on the world stage as an was the Department of Interior’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular economic force through its leadership in technology and innovation, Jim Affairs (2012-2014), and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife steered the Council to play a greater role on the international stage. In and Parks (2009-2012). Ms. Sobeck is a lawyer by training and spent 25 particular, he launched a bold initiative in China that has grown to four years at the U. S. Department of Justice, ultimately serving as Deputy Bay Area Council offices, which in turn led to the creation of a publicAssistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources private partnership with the state of California to reopen its trade and (1999-2009). While Ms. Sobeck has spent her professional career in investment office in China, operated by the Bay Area Council. Washington, D.C., she has many ties to California. She grew up in Davis, is a graduate of Stanford and Stanford Law School, and has strong family Jim has served on numerous boards and commissions. He currently
serves as a gubernatorial appointee as Vice Chair of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA, which develops and operates the region’s ferry system), the University of California Business Executive Council, the State of California’s International Trade and Investment Advisory Council, the Too Small to Fail Advisory Council, California-China Trade and Investment Advisory Board, Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, Sierra Energy, TMG Partners, and Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. Other recent board engagements included the California Pacific Medical Center, the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, and the Oakland Zoo. Since 2008, Jim has served as a Visiting Professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, teaching a course in executive leadership.
Prior to his work at the Bay Area Council, Jim’s career from 1984 to 2004 was split between both the private and public sectors. He served as Chief of Staff to San Francisco Mayor Frank M. Jordan from 1992-95, following five years of work for Mayor Dianne Feinstein. From 1997 to 2004 he served as Senior Vice President for external affairs at Providian Financial Corporation. He also served as Vice President and General Manager of two major waste collection, disposal and recycling firms in the Bay Area under its parent, Recology, Inc. Jim is a graduate of San Francisco State University, majoring in political science. He also holds an Associate’s Degree in business administration from Kingsborough College, City University of New York. Jim is married to Kristina Wunderman, has four children and resides in Contra Costa County.
REGISTER TODAY!
California Water Association Fall Conference
WATER IN THESE TIMES NOVEMBER 2-6, 2020|9:00-10:30 AM (PDT ) w w w.calwaterassn.com