NJ-AWRA Past Presidents Meeting and Water Leadership Forum

NJ-AWRA Past Presidents Meeting and Water Leadership Forum 

Come join us for our annual Past President's meeting where we invite all of NJ-AWRA's past presidents to review and discuss proposed initiatives of the current NJ-AWRA President. This year, we will also have key individuals from National AWRA join us to share insights on National's strategic direction. See below for meeting description and speaker bios.

Date: Thursday March 18, 2021

Registrants will be emailed the virtual meeting link prior to the event.

The American Water Resources Association is proud to be celebrating 58 years of history in the year of 2021. For many long-time science and engineering associations, 2020 was a difficult year as we adjusted to our new normal and figured out strategies to still bring our members the experience and benefits, they have come to expect from their AWRA Membership. COVID-19 and major other environmental shifts in 2020 also provided an opportunity for the leadership of AWRA to evaluate our offering and thinking about the future of the organization in a “COVID-19 – Next” framework. We hope to share our thinking with you during our time together as well as the lesson we have learned along the way. 

Dresden Farrand is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) where she is using her talents and expertise to make innovative and strategic changes to AWRA’s 56 year old association model. Prior to joining the AWRA team, Farrand was the vice president of membership and chapter development for the Independent Electrical Contractors Association (IEC), a national trade association, where she created strong new sources of revenue and organizational growth. Her other association successes include building programs and services, increasing membership and fostering high performing teams that put members at the center of their work. She is a certified association executive (CAE), and holds a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s degree in public policy from St. Louis University.

Scott Kudlas is the president of AWRA and  Director of the Office of Water Supply at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). He was instrumental in the development of Virginia's first State Water Resources Plan and has led efforts to reduce declining groundwater levels from historic over allocation. Scott's 31 year of experience as an environmental planning professional has focused on a variety of areas including economic development, land use, water quality, and water quantity. An AWRA member since 2007, Scott's passion is in promoting shared visioning through collaborative processes, fearless transparency, and using models to inform policy and management decisions.