A Path Forward Together

Abstract

It's common to call a strategic plan “visionary,” but this time around it feels almost prophetic. On August 18, the 61-member AWWA board of directors adopted its new 2025 Strategic Plan. It's fascinating that the development of this plan began in advance of two monumental events in our society—the first being the impacts of COVID-19 on health and business conditions and the second being a revived societal drive to address racial inequality. Our Strategic Planning Committee and board members were seemingly prescient when they crafted elements of the plan that clearly speak to AWWA's role in both of these societal events. As a result, AWWA's new 2025 Strategic Plan aspires to the right objectives at the right time. The 2025 plan renews the legacy of AWWA's vision of a better world through better water as well as our mission of providing solutions to effectively manage water—the world's most vital resource. This plan bolsters three important themes that address the impacts of COVID-19 on the water community and steps we can take toward better diversity and inclusion. First, technology has never been more essential in meeting the needs of water professionals. This is true not just because we are a mobile society, but also because we all still need access to technical knowledge and human networks when we are sheltering in place and cannot travel. AWWA has been investing in technologies that share training videos, publications, educational programs, and more. Most recently, we have also invested in an online conference platform; in fact, our first virtual conference, called Virtual Summit, will be held September 23 and 24. The goal is to get these technology tools into the hands of all water professionals so they can access the technical knowledge they need and connect to others no matter where they are. Second, while advancing diversity and inclusion is a core principle for AWWA, it is more than that in the 2025 strategic plan. The plan lays out a strategic objective that AWWA will advance a culture of diversity and inclusion that is reflected in AWWA leadership and member experience. On multiple levels, the importance of this objective cannot be overstated. With the help of AWWA's Diversity and Inclusion Committee—a committee reporting directly to the executive committee of the AWWA board—I have confidence that we will make significant strides in fulfilling this objective. Third, the plan highlights the need to strengthen the public's trust in water. A recent AWWA/Morning Consult survey carried the good news that 77% of adults say the quality of their tap water is excellent or good, but we know that this sentiment is not evenly shared across all income and racial demographics. While the overall statistics are encouraging, AWWA's president Melissa Elliott points to the fact that “the survey underscores that there is still a lot of work to do to earn trust among Black and Hispanic water consumers and among people with low and middle incomes.”