Interesting Times: Water in a Time of Turbulence

Ms. Bateson is the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) and Treasurer for GLWA. Ms. Bateson’s service follows her tenure as the first CFO for DWSD which began in February 2013. In that role she led the Financial Services Area through a significant transformation effort engaging cross-functional teams to achieve sustainable change. The result was a professionalized department with an unprecedented demonstration of transparency to all stakeholders. This pivotal effort supported intensive, collaborative discussions that were essential to forming the Authority.

Ms. Bateson possesses extensive financial and public administration experience. As a visiting specialist for the State and Local Government Program with Michigan State University Extension, Ms. Bateson worked with state and local officials to address the needs of cities in fiscal stress. Her research, educational programs, and writings related to public-sector financial challenges are often cited. In her roles as Assistant City Manager and Finance Director in local government, she was responsible for strategic planning, financial turnaround, information technology, labor relations, employee benefit design, project management and deploying multi-year budgeting and long-range capital planning. Ms. Bateson’s professional career began with a national accounting firm serving clients in the construction, manufacturing, and nonprofit sector.

Ms. Bateson earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in professional accountancy from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a Master of Public Administration in Public Administration from Eastern Michigan University.

Brittany Bolen has a wide-ranging regulatory and policy practice in which she provides counseling, strategic advice, and advocacy on complex environmental matters and draws upon her extensive, senior-level experience in the federal government and deep understanding of the rulemaking and legislative processes. Brittany assists clients with a full suite of regulatory matters, including comments on agency proposals, engagement with regulators, enhancements to internal compliance programs, and enforcement actions under the Clean Air Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act, among other environmental laws. She also advises clients on federal funding opportunities, voluntary programs, and tax provisions under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act

Brittany joined Sidley from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where she served as the associate administrator for policy and senior counsel to the administrator. As the former head of EPA’s Office of Policy, she oversaw all aspects of agency-wide (i.e., air, water, waste, and chemicals) policymaking and directly managed over 150 employees providing multidisciplinary knowledge in areas of regulatory development, environmental economics, environmental permitting, environmental justice, climate adaptation, community revitalization, voluntary standards, and sector-based engagement.

Prior to her executive branch service, she served on congressional committees in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, including as Counsel with the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee which has jurisdiction over EPA and environmental policy issues.

She is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law, J.D., (2013) and the University of Florida, B.A., 2010 (cum laude).

Ivan Boykin serves DC Water as Vice President, Finance, working in the Finance and Procurement cluster. Mr. Boykin has served the Authority in a number of roles since initially joining the Authority as Water Billing Assistant, Collections, in August 1999.  Most recently, Mr. Boykin held the position of Director, Finance.

As Vice President, Finance, Mr. Boykin plays a critical role in partnering with the senior leadership team in strategic decision making and operations. As part of these duties, Mr. Boykin ensures that top management officials have accurate financial information to make decisions on the operations of DC Water.

Additionally, Mr. Boykin manages the Accounts Receivable staff for retail revenue payments and the Risk Management team.  He will also direct all cash management activities for short-term liquidity and long-term solvency to ensure our debt is properly managed in accordance with the Authority’s financial policies.

Mr. Boykin holds a Master’s degree in Finance: Securities and Investments, from Southern New Hampshire University and a Master’s degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University.

Jessica Brody has served as Denver Water’s General Counsel since 2018.  Prior to Denver Water, Ms. Brody worked as an associate at Arnold & Porter, LLP, an international law firm, where she specialized in environmental law and complex litigation.  Ms. Brody then served as the lead environmental lawyer for the City and County of Denver and then as an Assistant Director within the City Attorney’s Office.

Ms. Brody earned a bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and a law degree from the Yale Law School.

Ms. Brody also serves as the Denver Metro basin director on the Colorado Water Conservation Board and previously served as Chair of that board.

As Executive Vice President, Jordan is responsible for all of Garney’s pipeline operations in the eastern region of the U.S. In this role, he oversees project acquisition, contract management, staffing, safety, scheduling, and client satisfaction. He works closely with the market leaders in this region and Garney’s executive leadership to set and execute the company’s strategy, tactics, and objectives.

Jordan is an active member of WEF, AWWA, and NUCA, as well as a certified Design-Build Professional. In 2022, he was recognized as one of ENR MidAtlantic’s Top Young Professionals. In addition, he is involved with several councils within Garney and serves as an ESOP Trust advisory member.

Brian Carnes is General Manager and Treasurer and oversees the daily operations of Loudoun Water. He joined the Authority in 2007.

He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University and a Master of Business Administration from Frostburg State University.

Rocky has been with Raftelis for more than 17 years helping utilities and the public sector develop solutions to their unique financial and operational challenges. Rocky’s core focus has been water, wastewater, and stormwater financial planning and rate studies and now assists utility and public sector partners in a number of areas, including financial and strategic planning, plan implementation, rate and fee studies, cost of service, benchmarking and metric tracking, risk analysis, utility policy, rate cases, financial capability assessments, and staff augmentation.

Rocky has experience engaging boards, councils, multiple partner organizations, and the public to discuss complex and challenging issues and work toward consensus. In addition to project work, Rocky leads several program areas within Raftelis. He is the executive lead for Ellio, our cloud-based tool for planning implementation, financial modeling, and peer benchmarking.  Rocky is also the executive lead for Raftelis’ Sustainability and Climate Resilience Community of Practice. Rocky oversees Raftelis’ many survey efforts, including the biennial national Water and Wastewater Rate Survey, which is co-produced with the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the INSIGHT Survey, which is produced by the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA).

Rocky holds a Master of Science Degree from Carnegie Mellon University (2006), and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Princeton University (2004).

Steve de Mik, who joined HRSD in 2008, is the Deputy General Manager and Chief Financial Officer and provides broad oversight and strategic direction to various departments, specifically Finance, Information Technology, Talent Management and Communications. He previously served as Director of Operations from 2015 to 2022. In that role, he led a staff of over 500 responsible for the complex operation and maintenance of HRSD’s treatment plants, interceptor systems, and electrical and instrumentation infrastructure as well as various support services. His initial role at HRSD was Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer where he was responsible for HRSD’s general financial and business functions, including financial reporting, investment portfolio, debt and risk management, and customer billing.

Before joining HRSD, Mr. de Mik served for seven years as the Director of Finance and Business Services for the City of Norfolk. A certified public accountant, he holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary and has completed the Kenan-Flagler Water and Wastewater Leadership Program, the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Program and CIVIC Leadership Institute. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri. Mr. de Mik also serves as treasurer for Heart for Orphans, a nonprofit organization based in the City of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Alexandra Gunnell is the Loans and Grants Director for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). Since 2014 she has led efforts to obtain and administer over $2.5 billion in loan and grant funding for more than 20 critical water and wastewater projects in San Francisco. She previously served as the Assistant Executive Director for the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies and has nearly 20 years of experience in the utility sector.

The Board of Directors appointed Randy E. Hayman as Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Executive Director in April 2025.

Hayman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Before assuming his post in New Orleans, Hayman was the Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner & CEO. He also served as a partner at the environmental law firm of Beveridge & Diamond, headquartered in Washington, DC. He held positions as general counsel for 15 years at two major water utilities, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority and the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.

As Executive Director, he is responsible for managing all units and a staff of approximately 1,300 at Sewerage and Water Board, which provides integrated water, wastewater, and stormwater services for the City of New Orleans. Core responsibilities include oversight of two drinking water treatment plants and two wastewater treatment plants. The Executive Director is also responsible for the operation and maintenance of the 1,600 miles of water mains, 1,630 miles of sewers, 76,000 catch basins and various pumping stations throughout the city.

In 2021, Roy Hesemann was appointed as the Cedar Rapids Utilities Director with oversight of Water, Wastewater, Solid Waste and Recycling.

In 2009, Mr. Hesemann became Plant Manager for the City of Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF).  WPCF treats all waste-water flow and loading from the City of Cedar Rapids and many of the surrounding communities, including high strength waste from 8 major industrial customers using aerobic and anaerobic processes.

From 2001 to 2009, he managed the City of Cedar Rapids’ two traditional lime softening, settling and filtration water treatment plants with a total capacity of 65 MGD.  For a year and a half prior to his appointment as water plant manager, he served as a project engineer for the Water Department, dealing primarily with source water issues.

Before joining the Cedar Rapids Water Department, Mr. Hesemann spent 14 years as a general manager, project manager and sales engineer in the well drilling and water supply construction field.

Mr. Hesemann is a licensed Iowa well driller/pump installer, and holds Iowa DNR Grade 4 licenses in water treatment, water distribution and wastewater treatment.  In addition to his duties for the City of Cedar Rapids, he serves on several professional trade organization committees and is an Adjunct Instructor at Des Moines Area Community College.

Roy Hesemann received a B.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia.

Matthew (Matt) Holmes has served as CEO of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) since 2020, following more than 20 years with the organization. He began his career supporting small, rural, and tribal communities in New Mexico, helping modernize utility systems and ensure access to safe drinking water. Over the years, he advanced from grassroots efforts to state and national leadership roles.  As CEO, Matt reports to a volunteer Board of Directors representing 50 State Rural Water Associations and over 30,000 water and wastewater utilities nationwide. He oversees programs that deliver on-the-ground technical assistance in regulatory compliance, financial sustainability, workforce development, utility management, source water protection, and more—benefiting over 80,000 water professionals annually across all 50 states, tribal nations, and U.S. territories.  Previously NRWA’s Deputy CEO for six years, Matt managed national operations and led the Association’s disaster response coordination. In 2017, he spearheaded the development of Department of Labor–approved National Guideline Standards of Apprenticeship, helping launch numerous registered apprenticeship programs for the water sector workforce.  Matt holds an M.A. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of New Mexico and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Arizona. A native of Los Alamos, New Mexico, he is an Eagle Scout, lifelong outdoorsman, and holds certifications in avalanche rescue and rifle marksmanship.

Andrew Homer is an environmental lawyer and a Partner in Kelley Drye & Warren LLP’s environmental practice.  Andrew represents clients in litigation, administrative proceedings, permitting, and compliance related to federal and state environmental laws and regulations. He handles high value environmental litigation and enforcement actions for both institutional plaintiffs and defendants, and regularly advises clients on business transactions and agreements with environmental components. In addition to his experience in two top U.S. law firms, Andrew spent several years as in-house counsel for the largest investor-owned water utility in the country.

Andrew’s full bio, including publications, presentations, awards and recognition, and representative experience, are available at: https://www.kelleydrye.com/Our-People/Andrew-W-Homer.

Rik brings extensive knowledge of the intersection of utilities and public policy as well as the inner workings of a national trade association. He carries a wealth of legislative and legal experience to the role and has been instrumental in helping the organization embark on an aggressive state and federal legislative strategy.

Hull joined NAWC in 2018 as the Executive Vice President of Strategy & External Affairs. He previously served as an advisor to FERC Commissioner Rob Powelson where he provided legal, policy and strategic guidance on issues related to the Commission’s oversight of wholesale energy markets, natural gas pipeline siting and oil pipeline rates. Prior to that, he served as Chief Counsel to Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman.

Hull spent nearly a decade at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), serving in the Commission’s Law Bureau before being hired by then-Commissioner Powelson, appointed in June 2008, as his lead counsel. Mr. Hull advised Powelson on all major legal and policy issues before the Commission, notably during his tenure as Chairman from 2011 to 2015. Mr. Hull played a key role in helping to develop Pennsylvania’s markedly successful water regulatory climate. Hull began his career working for a law firm specializing in utility and environmental law.

Mr. Hull earned his bachelor’s degree at Millersville University of Pennsylvania before graduating as valedictorian from Widener University School of Law.

Jill Jamieson is a globally recognized leader in infrastructure finance and public-private-partnerships (P3), having worked extensively in the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia for a wide variety of public and private sector clients. With nearly 30 years of experience managing transactions and advising public sector clients in all activities relating to alternative finance and delivery program development, specific areas of expertise include P3/P4 program development; structuring and implementing asset optimization and monetization / value-capture strategies; and P3 transaction advisory assistance.

Successful transaction experience encompasses work across multiple infrastructure sectors including water civil works [inland waterways, irrigation, water supply, dredging, flood risk management, ecosystem restoration], energy [generation and distribution], water utilities [water/wastewater treatment, desalination, water recycling, etc.], transport [airport, port, road, rail, LRT, parking and multi-modal], social infrastructure [hospital infrastructure, government buildings], higher education [student housing, mixed-use campus developments, central plant/utility, parking, resiliency and gateway developments], environment, tourism, real estate and urban development, with a total capital investment portfolio of well over US$18 billion.

Ms. Jamieson currently advises a wide range of federal, state, and local public authorities across the US and the globe and is frequently called on by both the Executive and Legislative branches on issues relating to provide expert assistance. She has also served on the Board of the National Council for Public Private Partnerships and on the Advisory Board for the United Nations PPP Specialist Centre. Her professional background includes investment banking, law, and management.

Jorianne Jernberg is the director of the WIFIA Management Division.  In this capacity, she is spearheading the implementation of a federal infrastructure bank at EPA – overseeing the origination, underwriting, negotiation, and monitoring of loans to support water, wastewater, and stormwater projects around the country.   

Jorianne joined the WIFIA team in 2016 and has been the program director since the first loan closing in 2018. WIFIA’s portfolio now includes 140 loans representing $22 billion in WIFIA financing that promotes $48 billion in critical water infrastructure investment.  Prior to joining EPA, Jorianne served as the head of risk management and financial operations at the TIFIA program within the Department of Transportation where she was responsible for a team conducting a wide range of financial, programmatic, and credit functions.   

Jorianne has both an undergraduate and graduate degree from Cleveland State University.  

Adam Krantz is currently CEO of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), where he has served in a number of positions since May 2001. Mr. Krantz directs an unparalleled team in Washington, DC, that advocates on behalf of the nation’s public clean water agencies on an array of regulatory, legislative, legal and communication initiatives. NACWA’s goal is to maximize the influence of the nation’s public clean water agencies and to broaden the awareness of the vital role they serve in ensuring clean and safe water for all.

Prior to his position at NACWA, Mr. Krantz was an associate editor/reporter at Inside Washington Publishers where his work focused on covering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s, Congress’s and the federal court system’s national water quality initiatives. Before entering the environmental arena, Mr. Krantz worked as an attorney in the Washington, D.C. law firm, Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky on litigation matters.

Mr. Krantz served as the President of the Federal Water Quality Association and also served as the first Vice President of the Clean Water America Alliance (now the U.S. Water Alliance). Mr. Krantz also serves on the Board of WFX (the Water Finance Exchange) and has degrees from Columbia University in New York City, the American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., and the University of Chicago. He is a member of both the District of Columbia and Maryland Bar Associations.

Mr. Liu is currently the Manager of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Water and Wastewater/State Revolving Fund (“SRF”) Group – top-ranked in both the water/wastewater industry as well as the SRF industry.  As a member of the Municipal Department’s management team, Mr. Liu also manages the department’s Student Loan Group and co-leads the department’s Housing Group.

Mr. Liu specializes in water and wastewater financings. For numerous municipal issuers throughout the U.S. including the City of Chicago (wastewater), Denver Water, DC Water, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, Philadelphia Water, Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District and Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, among others, Mr. Liu has completed program and debt restructurings, bank direct placements, green bond financings as well as developed debt policies and modernized bond indentures.  He also advises water issuers on various matters including public-private partnerships, program start-ups, asset loan sales, consolidations and divestitures.  Additionally, Mr. Liu is a well-recognized national expert in SRF financings, a highly leveraged form of pooled financings in the water/wastewater sector.  He has specialized in this sector since the inception in 1989 and has served as senior manager on over $22 billion for 24 SRF programs throughout the U.S.  Mr. Liu’s extensive experience in SRF includes its program development and inaugural financing, program leveraging and deleveraging, capacity analysis, restructurings, analytical and cashflow analyses, private placements and resolving US EPA matters.

Mr. Liu frequently speaks or moderates at national, regional and local water conferences as well as within the firm on a variety of water matters.  He previously served as the Interim Chairman to U.S. EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board and led workgroups and co-written papers on a variety of national and regional water financing topics and matters.  He also served as an active board member to the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities and the co-lead for the firm’s employee affinity group.

Mr. Liu received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in Finance and Economics and his B.S. from the University of Maryland in Accounting and Economics.  He is also a Certified Public Accountant (inactive status).

Benjamin Loveday is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with over 25 years of experience in both public and private sector civil engineering. He graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Public Administration from the University of Virginia.

For the past 17 years, Mr. Loveday has worked for Spotsylvania County in various roles, ultimately serving as the Assistant County Administrator of Community Operations since 2018. In addition, he is the Director of Public Utilities, responsible for providing potable water and wastewater services to the residents of Spotsylvania County.

In 2018, Mr. Loveday joined a county-wide initiative to attract major data center development to the region, which resulted in over $30 billion in data center investments in Spotsylvania County. Currently, he is collaborating with several leading data center owners to design and construct more than $400 million in Level 1 Reuse Water treatment and infrastructure that will be owned and operated by the County’s Department of Public Utilities.

Tracy is Executive Director, Government Affairs, for the American Water Works Association (AWWA).  He was an independent consultant and served as Interim President of the U.S. Water Alliance and national Source Water Protection Coordinator for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities.  He is also an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University School of Law and Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College.  He was Principal with The Cadmus Group, Inc., an environmental consulting firm, from 2004 to 2014.  Mehan served as Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001-2003.  He served as Environmental Stewardship Counselor to the 2004 G-8 Summit Planning Organization (2004).  Mehan also served as director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (1993-2001) and as Associate Deputy Administrator of EPA in 1992.  He was director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from 1989 to 1992.  Mehan is a graduate of Saint Louis University and its School of Law.  Mehan served on the Water Science and Technology Board and now the Committee on the Mississippi River and the Clean Water Act for the National Research Council of the National Academies.  He was also an independent expert judge for the City Water Conservation Achievement Award program (2006 & 2011) sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and its Urban Water Council.

Mehan is a member of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and a regular book reviewer for ELI’s flagship publication, The Environmental Forum.

Mehan serves on EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board as well as the boards of the U.S. Water Alliance and the Great Lakes Observing System.  He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Environmental Policy, School of Public Affairs, American University and a past member of the board of the Potomac Conservancy (2006-2014).

Executive Director Chris Meister leads the Illinois Finance Authority (“IFA”), a self-funded State agency that does not rely on any appropriation of taxpayer or ratepayer funds to support its operations.  IFA is a nationally recognized conduit issuer in the tax‑exempt financing market, issuing tax-exempt private activity bonds to facilitate the funding of eligible projects by borrowers that create long-term economic value in communities throughout Illinois. Since 2009, the IFA team under the leadership of Executive Director Meister has attracted more than $45 billion in private capital to Illinois by issuing bonds to finance hospitals, healthcare systems, continuing care retirement communities, universities, PreK-12 schools, student housing, museums, cultural institutions, and water infrastructure through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s State Revolving Fund Programs.  IFA aligns its finance products and programs to attract private capital to create jobs, fight climate change, and reduce the cost of debt on the people of Illinois.  In 2021, Governor Pritzker named IFA as the Climate Bank of the State pursuant to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.

Executive Director Meister served as a member of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board (“EFAB”) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency between 2016 and 2022.

Andrianne Payson serves as Executive Vice President, Legal and General Counsel of Veolia North America. In this role, she serves as legal advisor to the executive management team and oversees the company’s legal, insurance and risk management functions. Andrianne also serves as Data Protection Officer for the United States and leads the company’s privacy team. Previously, Andrianne was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of SUEZ North America, and served as secretary of its board of directors and Chief Ethics Officer.

Prior to joining Suez, Andrianne was a partner and the United States Co-Chair of the energy-power generation practice group at an AmLaw 50 firm. In this role, she represented energy industry clients, including utilities, project developers and equity investors, on a variety of infrastructure projects and M&A transactions in the U.S., Africa and the Caribbean.

In addition to her legal experience, Andrianne is a Certified Public Accountant and was previously an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she audited investor-owned utilities in New York and Connecticut.

Andrianne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in public accounting from City University of New York and a Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School. She currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at Cornell Law School.

Bruno Pigott serves as the Executive Director of the WateReuse Association.  The Association is the nation’s only trade association solely dedicated to advancing laws, policy, funding and public education about recycled water.    Bruno served as the Acting Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA from 2021-2025.  As Acting Assistant Administrator, he served as a Co-Chair of the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force.  Prior to that he worked at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) from 2000-2021.  He served as the Commissioner of IDEM from 2017-2021.  In that capacity, he also served as a Commissioner on the Great Lakes Commission and a Commissioner on the Ohio River Basin Sanitation Commission.  He worked in a variety of positions in IDEM’s Office of Water Quality, including Chief of the SRF program, the NPDES Compliance Branch, the NPDES Permits Branch and the Assistant Commissioner.  Bruno’s goal in life was to be the right fielder for the Detroit Tigers, but somehow he was overlooked by the scouts.  He holds a Masters Degree from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a BA from Michigan State University.

Kishia is a dynamic force in the global water sector with 27 years of experience in both the public and private sectors across the U.S. and London. She leads a team of 1789 strong and manages the day-to-day operations of the largest water utility in Maryland – the 8th largest in the country – and ensures water and water resource recovery services are safely provided to 1.9 million customers throughout a 1,000-square-mile service area. WSSC Water has a combined operating and capital budget of $1.8 billion, and a six-year capital program of 4.8 billion. Kishia served on President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council’s Subcommittee for Expanding Workforce Development. She currently serves on the board of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, (formerly as President), representing over 400 clean water agencies across the country; the Water Research Foundation’s Board of Directors; and the Baltimore Water Task Force.

In May 2023, the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers honored her with the Industry Icon Award.

Diana Rodriguez is a sustainability, trade and public policy professional with 15 years of experience driving policy results within government, private sector and think tanks. Expertise in trade finance, financial regulation, and ESG. Demonstrated ability to execute global policy initiatives to advance business priorities and to forge vital partnerships with policymakers, multilateral institutions, corporations, and trade associations to drive policy results. Fluent in Spanish and conversational in Portuguese.

Ms. Slabaugh is a licensed professional engineer with 18 years of experience managing drinking water planning and design projects. She currently serves as the U.S. Water Planning Director at Arcadis, where she helps water systems assess, optimize, and develop water resources while navigating existing infrastructure, regulatory requirements, and future needs. She also has extensive experience in regulatory and policy development, having served as a trusted technical advisor to AWWA, USEPA, and multiple state agencies on a range of drinking water issues.

As a former Associate Regional Counsel for EPA Region 4’s Office of Regional Counsel (ORC), Stephen brings more than 12 years of government experience to Beveridge & Diamond. At EPA, Stephen led all legal aspects of complex environmental cleanups, enforcement and compliance actions, and emergency responses throughout the Southeast. He served as lead counsel for hundreds of matters related to nearly all major environmental statutes, including the Comprehensive Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund), Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and Oil Pollution Act (OPA), among others. He now uses this experience to effectively and efficiently navigate environmental issues facing his clients.

Education

• Auburn University (B.A., magna cum laude) o Political Science
• The University of Mississippi School of Law (J.D., cum laude)