Emerging Leader Program Development Survey

Since 2021, WaterNow has presented our Emerging Leader Awards on an annual basis. The Emerging Leader Award is dedicated to celebrating and advancing mid-level professionals from backgrounds under-represented in the water utility space, who are poised to take on leadership positions in the coming years, and includes a stipend which supports awardees in their professional development. We see the Emerging Leader Award as an opportunity to support  water leaders of tomorrow and foster an inclusive and truly sustainable generation of leaders.
 
In order to further that goal, WaterNow is developing additional programming to support Emerging Leaders, providing them with the resources and tools they need to thrive as leaders in their workplaces and communities. This survey is intended to inform our decision-making process as we design the new Emerging Leaders Initiative. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of the following questions.
Section 1: Demographics

In order to help us best understand the results of this survey, please tell us about yourself and your organization.
1.What is your name? (optional)
2.What is your email address? (optional)
3.Where is your utility located? (City, State) (optional)
4.Which best describes your role within your organization?(Required.)
5.Is your utility publicly or privately owned?(Required.)
6.What is the approximate service population of your utility?(Required.)
We collect the demographic information below because the Emerging Leaders program is designed to identify and support future leaders from diverse backgrounds, and understanding who is responding to this survey will best support this goal. At the same time, we recognize that many people are not comfortable providing personal information, so please share only as much as you deem appropriate. All questions below are optional.
7.How long have you been working in the water industry?
8.Which best describes your gender?
9.Do you identify as transgender?
10.Which describes you? Choose as many as apply.
Section 2: Program Content
11.When you think about the kinds of support and programming an emerging water utility leader might benefit from, which themes below strike you as most important? Please select up to 5.(Required.)
12.What types of skills would you most like to build, or think would be most important for Emerging Leaders to develop? Please select up to three.(Required.)
13.Please use the space below to provide any additional context and information on your selections above.
Section 3: Delivery
14.Which formats would be most valuable to Emerging Leaders in engaging with the themes presented in the previous question?(Required.)
15.Please use the space below to provide additional context and thoughts about your selections above. What additional support would you or other Emerging Leaders need to participate fully in a professional development cohort?
16.We expect that support from an Emerging Leader’s employing utility will be key in ensuring that they are able to participate in cohort activities while continuing to fulfill their duties at work. What if anything can we do to make our programming worthwhile for participants’ employers, as well as the participants themselves (e.g. employer sign-off, sessions outside of working hours, outreach to Emerging Leader’s utility leadership, etc.)?(Required.)
17.Finally, please share any other thoughts and insights that might support us in implementing this Emerging Leaders program.
Thank you so much for your time! As a reminder, Emerging Leader Award nominations for 2023 are still open–if you’d like to nominate yourself or a promising mid-level staff member at your organization, please visit our Emerging Leader Award page here.