Igniting passionate water professionals toward a stronger AWWA community

Kara Cunningham was interning at Loudoun Water in Virginia in 2021 when she first heard of American Water Works Association.

“My mentor, Brad Schmitz, told me I had to get involved — that it was a community of amazing people and incredible opportunities,” she said. Then, during weekly meetings with water professionals who connected with Loudoun Water interns, she heard AWWA mentioned again — and again and again.

By the fall, when she returned to campus at West Virginia University, she was hooked. She joined AWWA and attended her first Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE) in 2022, where she received the Vernon D. Lucy III Scholarship from SUEZ to support her undergraduate studies in civil engineering.

Around that time, she began wondering how she could connect more WVU students with the AWWA community.

Among the civil engineering pathways available — transportation, construction, and others — water was rarely represented among student clubs or at career fairs on campus. “We had all of these student orgs at the university and none of them were specifically focused on water,” she said. “And I was like, ‘We see the gap, let’s fill it.’”

She connected with her professor, Emily Garner, who was already involved with AWWA. “I asked her, ‘What do you think about having a student chapter on campus?’”

And so it was born — the WVU Student Chapter was fully active by fall of 2022, just one year after Cunningham first came to know AWWA.

“We started with four officers and a few friends who we knew would join,” she said, “and we now have about 20 regularly active members with 50-plus on our email list.”

They host regular events that help students interested in water understand the breadth of careers in the sector and to deepen their expertise and knowledge, including HydroLink, an annual networking event. They also aim to encourage participation in broader AWWA events, including conferences.

With the student chapter now on solid footing, Cunningham moved into the vice chair role — in part, so she could focus on her graduate studies. She’s pursuing a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering, and in the last two years, she’s received two additional Water Equation scholarships — AECOM Scholarship and CDM Smith Thomas R. Camp Scholarship.

“These scholarships have allowed me to connect with outstanding professionals and grow my network,” said Cunningham, who also received an Outstanding Young Professional Award this year.

She will graduate in May and aims to work with water utilities — while maintaining her AWWA involvement, of course.

“I really value service and community,” Cunningham said, “and I have found such an amazing community within AWWA. Like I always say: These are my people.”