Talking Under Water Episode 49: The Importance of DE&I to the Water Industry

Talking Under Water · Episode 49: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the Water Sector

In this month’s episode of Talking Under Water, hosts Lauren Del Ciello, Katie Johns and Bob Crossen discuss ASDWA releasing a state implementation framework for lead service line inventories, as well as upcoming water-focused social media events to participate in.

Finally, the interview this month is with Donnell Duncan, associate vice president for Arcadis, and Megan Yoo-Schneider, client-account leadership for Accenture. Together, they co-chair Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Johns spoke with Duncan and Yoo-Schneider about the WEF committee’s initiatives and goals, the importance of DE&I to the industry and how age plays into DE&I.

Next month marks our 50th numbered episode of Talking Under Water. In honor of the big 5-0, we want to hear from you. Send us your favorite water jokes for consideration for the March episode cold open intro (also in honor of World Water Day!) and get in on the action with us. Email us at [email protected].

Show Notes:

Timestamps:

Cold open | 0:00
Host introduction | 0:44
Episode summary | 1:00
Celebrating 50 episodes of Talking Under Water Podcast | 1:45
ASDWA State Framework for Lead Service Line Replacement | 2:58
National Groundwater Awareness Week | 3:50
Interview introduction | 5:10
Interview starts | 5:37
Water Environment Federation Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee | 6:08
WEF DEI Committee initiatives | 7:34
Action items for municipalities to become more reflective of their communities | 11:54
Why diversity, equity and inclusion are not mutually exclusive terms | 18:20
How age and generational gaps influence DEI efforts | 21:47
Advice for starting a holistic approach to DEI | 25:24
How the water industry has changed with heightened awareness of DEI | 28:07
Why DEI is important to the industry at large | 31:58
Housekeeping | 38:13
End | 41:20

Announcements:

WQP: We’re about to announce our 2022 WQP Industry Icon at the start of March, so stay-tuned for that great coverage and subscribe for alerts at wqpmag.com/subscribe.

WWD: Nominate for WWD Young Pros at bit.ly/wwdyoungprosnomination. Nominations close in March, but it is never too early to recognize the rising stars in your organization. And check out our weekly video interviews at bit.ly/wwdweeklydigest.

SWS: SWS is now accepting nominations for its Young Pros and Industry Icon. To submit nominations, visit https://www.estormwater.com/nominations.

About the Podcast

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Water & Wastes Digest (WWD), Water Quality Products (WQP) and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, point of use, point of entry, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts for WWD, WQP and SWS. New episodes of the podcast are released on the third Friday of every month. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] or engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.