Notes from Anastasia Denton's Presentation

Anastasia Denton is a graduate from the university and is sharing her career journey and lessons learned.
She welcomes questions about her current role, infrastructure, and sustainability.

Anastasia is from Bay Minette, Alabama, a small town 30 minutes from Mobile.
She was the valedictorian of her high school class and started at South in 2014.
She initially considered music but chose civil engineering.

Involved in marching and concert band.
Active in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), holding positions such as secretary and vice president.
NSBE provided leadership skills for job applications.
Connections made at South are still relevant in her current work, including collaborating with Dr. Kevin White.

Graduated in 2018 and entered the water industry.
Initially interested in structures but pivoted to water/environmental space.
Dr. Kevin White connected her with her first job at Arcadis as a Water Engineer 1.

Worked at Arcadis, a large global company (30,000 employees) but in a small Mobile office (6 employees).
Focused on asset management, helping utilities maintain infrastructure assets and build sustainable practices.
Worked in business advisory, optimizing utilities' cost resilience and operational competitiveness.
Involved in people management from a business perspective.
Participated in the design of a new $400,000,000$ wastewater treatment plant in Jackson County, Mississippi.

Transitioned to Volkert, a smaller firm (3,000 employees) headquartered in Mobile.
Focused on drinking water and wastewater design, bid, build, and construction.
Gained experience doing CAD work from start to finish.

Volunteered with the Water Environment Federation (WEF), a professional organization focused on advancing the water industry.
Volunteered with Unleash, partnered with WEF and the United Nations, to address the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Led an innovative hack event focused on wastewater challenges in the Black Belt Region.

Characterized by a lack of access to adequate drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
Direct piping of waste onto the ground is not uncommon.
The soil is rich and dark but has low permeability due to clay content.
Historically, the area was known for plantations, leading to economic disparity after slavery.
Septic tanks are common but often fail due to the soil's lack of permeability.
More than $2,200,000$ Americans lack access to adequate drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

Transitioned to Moonshot Missions due to its alignment with personal values.
Moonshot Missions is a nonprofit organization composed of water industry professionals.
The founder, George Hawkins, is the former CEO and general manager of DC Water.
Hawkins founded Moonshot to help lower-income, lower-resource communities achieve their goals.
Moonshot works with communities to identify gaps in infrastructure, management, and finances.
They co-create pathways to close these gaps and connect communities with synergistic organizations, cost-free assistance, and experts like Dr. Kevin White.

Moonshot worked with Pritchard, Alabama, an economically distressed community with underinvestment in water and wastewater infrastructure.
The utility was under receivership due to mismanagement of funds and financial challenges ( $\$60,000,000$ in unpaid funding).
Moonshot engaged with the community and conducted alternative analyses for governing the utility.
They recommended consolidation with Mobile's water system (MAWSS).
The judge did not accept the recommendation.
ADEM (Alabama Department of Environmental Management) supports the consolidation through financial supplementation.
A $20,000,000$ grant application was submitted to the EPA.
Partnerships were made to secure money from Congress.