Hi!
I am a very active Illinois Section AWWA member, having launched the mentoring (past chair) and women in water committees (current chair), and serving as past chair of the outreach committee, and also active on the diversity and member inclusion committee with AWWA.
I am conducting graduate research through my MBA program. I am hoping that you will share my research introduction and survey links below with your membership via email, newsletter, social media, or other means. The more responses I have, the better the data will be. Below my signature line is the information I’d like to be shared.
Thank you so much for your consideration!
Brianna Huber
Executive Director, Her2O
Chemist, City of East Moline Water Filtration
MBA student, Western IL University
Let’s build the future of water!
Hello fellow water professionals! My name is Brianna and I entered the water industry six years ago, taking a position as chemist and assistant department head at a municipal drinking water utility. This is my first position in an industrial blue-collar male-dominated sector, and my first position as a manager. It didn’t take long for me to realize how differently men and women can think and function at work, and that there are very few women in water…I felt like an island, so after 1.5 years I decided to do something about it.
I am proud to say that I recently founded and am executive director of Her2O™ (pronounced Her 2-oh) International. Our vision is for women to be equitably involved in the management of water in every corner of the globe. While Her2O™’s primary focus is women in water, we understand that to truly be equitable, we must examine and address issues for men in the water industry as well. Conducting research to understand and support women and men in water is one of Her2O™’s primary objectives. Being a graduate student at Western Illinois University provides the perfect platform for me to jump-start Her2O™’s research program. This study will fulfill one of the requirements to complete my Master of Business Administration degree in the Department of Business and Technology.
I invite you, the women and men of the water industry, to help Her2O™ by participating in this ground-breaking research! The goal of this survey is to better understand women and men in the U.S. water sector, the unique challenges they face, the experiences they have had, and how educational institutions and industry employers can better manage (recruit, integrate, support and retain) women and men in water. The survey will only take about 20 minutes of your time.
I understand your time is precious and valuable, and when you complete the survey you can choose to be entered into a drawing to receive one of 25 Amazon gift cards, ranging from $15-$50!
Your participation is truly important, valued and will have a positive impact on women and men in the U.S. water industry!
Please help me maximize the impact this survey tool will have by forwarding this email and survey link to EVERY person you know that is working in the U.S. water sector (with the exception of those working in bottled water; this survey is not intended for bottled water industry employees).
In order to best understand the unique challenges of women and men in the water industry, I have designed similar, but slightly different versions of the survey tool.
Women click this link to participate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/52DL8BR
Men click this link to participate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5GHH9SW
For questions about this research, please email [email protected] or [email protected].
Our website, www.her2o.org, is currently under construction, but we hope you will bookmark it for future exploration. To learn more about Her2O™ International now, please follow us on Facebook @her2ointernational.