Transformative Water Leadership Academy

To qualify for TWLA, at this point in your career you must have:

• 3-10 years of full-time work experience, including at least two years of water-related work (preferably at a water utility or a related field).
• Supervisory and/or Management Experience. Past experience supervising people in your current professional, volunteer, or community work. Or your experience may include management of projects, programs, committees, and contractors.
• Availability to attend TWLA sessions and events. During this 10-month program, participants must attend 90% of the following in-person and online events. (Preliminary schedule below. Dates and times may change.)
  • 2 in-person sessions, each lasting 3 days. These will require travel. Costs for travel, lodging, and food costs must be covered by participants or their employers — but some financial assistance may become available.
  • 6 virtual sessions. Each 3-hour session will include 2 lessons, each lasting 90 minutes.
  • 4 small-group virtual meetings. Each 90-minute online meeting will be facilitated by a coach/mentor.
• Access to a computer and broadband internet. TWLA includes online sessions and online coursework that require a reliable, robust broadband connection.
• 2024 Pricing Structure (Utility Population Served / Tuition)
  • < 10,000 = Free
  • 10,001 – 50,000 = Free
  • 50,001 – 100,000 = $1,000
  • 100,001 – 1,000,000 = $1,500
  • > 1,000,000 = $2,500
  • N/A (other Org) = $5,000

Other Utility Leadership Opportunities:

• Interested in additional utility leadership development? Current and up-and-coming water and wastewater utility CEOs, general managers, senior managers, and upper-level management may be interested in the Water & Wastewater Leadership Center, a collaboration between AMWA, AWWA, NACWA, WEF, and NAWC.

Every participant in each TWLA cohort must deliver:

• Capstone project. You will design and complete a project based on sustainable community leadership principles learned at TWLA. This project should address a problem, need, or opportunity in your organization or community. Estimated work time: 40-60 hours.
• Presentation. Each participant must present what they learned from TWLA. This can happen at an event/conference, or by writing an article for a publication. Your presentation or article need not focus on TWLA, but it should clarify the value of what you learned from the TWLA experience.

When completing the TWLA application, you will be asked to provide the following information:

Your resume. Please prepare/update your resume and upload that file (Microsoft Word or pdf) as directed when completing your online application. Your resume should include this information:

• Education. Where did you attend school, and during which years? List diplomas, degrees, or certificates received. (Note: a college degree is not required to participate in TWLA. Online education programs should be included.)
• Work experience. List organizations, job titles, and dates each position began/ended. Please include full-time jobs as well as temporary or internship positions. You must show at least three but no more than 10 years of full-time work experience, including at least two years doing work related to water.
• Volunteer/community experience. List work you have done on a volunteer basis, either for a nonprofit or community organization or program, or informally (such as pitching in to help with grassroots community efforts).
• Leadership experience. For your current job or volunteer/community work, describe your responsibilities for supervising or leading people. You may also describe other life experiences where you’ve led or supervised others.

Personal information. To assess the diversity served by TWLA, you’ll be asked to supply information about your race/ethnicity and preferred personal pronouns, as well as other basic personal information.

• Confidentiality: Individual personal data will not be shared outside the program. Only aggregate information about participants will be supplied to meet federal grant requirements.

Questions to answer. Please write a brief answer (150 words or less) to each of these questions:

• How did you learn about TWLA?
• Who has been a transformational leader in your life? What qualities did they have, and how did they influence you?
• How do you hope TWLA will support your career path and goals?
• What positive change would you like to see (or help make happen) in your organization or community?
• What does this quote by futurist and author Charlene Li mean to you? “Leaders create change. If you are not creating change, you are not a leader; you are a manager.”

DEADLINE: Applications are now closed. Applicants will be notified whether they have been accepted into the program.

If your application to participate in TWLA is accepted, you must register for the program. You will be asked to provide the following information and documentation to fully enroll in TWLA.

• Letter of support from your employer. Since TWLA represents a substantial time commitment, we will need to know that your employer is aware of and supports your involvement in this program. This letter must come from either a senior manager/executive in your organization or from your direct supervisor. This person must be willing to complete two brief online surveys about your progress at work: before starting TWLA, and after completing the program.
• Professional or personal reference. Please supply contact information (name, title, email, phone) for someone who can speak to your past performance or accomplishments — either on the job, or in your volunteer/community roles. Your reference cannot be a relative. They must complete two brief online surveys about your progress (before starting TWLA, and after completing the program).
  • IMPORTANT: An email will be sent to your reference person with instructions to complete the recommendation and surveys on your behalf. However, it is YOUR responsibility to follow up with this person to ensure that they submit their reference and complete both surveys. If your reference does not use email, we will contact them by phone — and it is your responsibility to ensure that they respond.
• Signed agreement. You must agree, in writing, to honor the time commitment, attendance expectations, and other TWLA program participation requirements.