The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) Board of Directors recently named Suzanne R. Coffey, P.E., as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the state’s largest water and wastewater authority. Coffey, who has been serving as Interim CEO since August 2021, was selected as a part of a nationwide search that drew more than 90 candidates.
“The Board selected Ms. Coffey based on her depth of leadership reflected in her responses to the Board’s questions, her extensive knowledge of the regional system and its operations, as well as her commitment to customer service at all levels,” said Jaye Quadrozzi, Chair, GLWA Board of Directors.
Prior to being appointed Interim CEO, Coffey served as Chief Planning Officer for GLWA, a position she also held at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department before the Authority was established in 2016. In her capacity as Chief Planning Officer, Coffey championed GLWA’s efforts to bolster the utility’s asset management capacities, capital improvement program execution and analytics, and led long-term planning efforts such as the Wastewater Master Plan. She also was the executive sponsor for the Authority’s robust Member Outreach Program. Coffey also spent more than a decade at the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office, where she served in a variety of leadership roles, including as a Chief Engineer.
“I am thankful to the Board and humbled by their confidence in my ability to continue to lead GLWA as its next CEO,” said Coffey. “While we certainly have challenges ahead of us, I look forward to using my decades of operational and technical experience to continue to optimize the performance of the regional system to the greatest benefit of our member partner communities. I am especially excited to continue my public service along-side the dedicated and talented women and men of GLWA who work tirelessly each day to ensure that the people of southeast Michigan are provided with water of unquestionable quality and our natural resources are protected through our environmentally sustainable wastewater treatment.”
