20th Anniversary Symposium Schedule

Time
7:30 am	Networking Breakfast Included with registration
8:30 am	Welcome Guy Voss WCDA President \| Vice President & Collaborative Project Delivery Director, HDR Barbara Martin Executive Director, Water Collaborative Delivery Association Mickey Conway Chief Executive Officer, Metro Water Recovery
8:45 am	Opening Session The symposium’s opening session features keynote speaker, Brent Darnell. As a pioneering figure in the construction industry, Brent has spent over two decades helping AEC professionals master the human side of leadership, leading transformative programs across more than 20 countries. Brent’s opening keynote explores the importance of human connection in collaborative delivery and how better communication, trust, and emotional intelligence don’t just build better people—they help deliver better projects, together. Brent Darnell Owner, Brent Darnell International
10:00 am	Networking Break
10:30 am	20 Years of Lessons Learned: WCDA Past Presidents’ Panel Encompassing a broad spectrum of delivery models, collaborative delivery, including construction management at-risk (CMAR), fixed-price design-build (FBDB), progressive design-build (PDB), design-build-operate (DBO), and public-private partnerships (P3), brings project stakeholders, such as utility owners, designers, contractors, technology providers, equipment suppliers, and operators, together earlier in the project process, a model which can support innovative, efficient, and sustainable solutions for communities. These sessions provide a roadmap to the collaborative delivery process, sharing best practices, real-world utility experiences, and actionable insights. Through a blend of moderated dialogue, interactive discussion, and targeted learning, this topic highlights two decades of water sector progress, lessons learned, and critical resources. Moderator – Daniel S. Augusti, PE, DBIA, GC Executive Vice President, CPH Consulting, LLC Mark E. Alpert, PE, FDBIA WCDA 2006 President\| WCDA Executive Director (2014-2024) \| President, Integrated Delivery Solutions \| Retired, CH2M Hill Leofwin Clark WCDA 2016 President \| Education Director, Water Collaborative Delivery Association Steve Gates, PE, BCEE WCDA 2018 President \| Retired, Brown and Caldwell Larry Johnson, PE, DBIA WCDA 2020 President \| WCDA Education Instructor \| Retired, HDR / MWH Peter M. Kinsley, DBIA WCDA 2011 President \| Executive Vice President and COO, Haskell Marlea Tichy, PMP WCDA 2023 President \| Director of Business Development – Water Market Leader, Haskell
12:00 pm	Networking Lunch Included with registration
1:00 pm	Risky Business: Managing Risk & Contracts in Collaborative Delivery Risk is a term we hear a lot when it comes to our industry, but what does it truly mean as it relates to our projects? Cost? Schedule impacts? Number of potential bidders? This session aims to address the relationship between risk, contracts, and project outcomes. We will go through the basics of how contract models affect risk, the various types of risk and management strategies, as well as real-world case studies of how these factors can impact our projects. We’ll review key drivers that affect those day-to-day outcomes and review resources to help you navigate the world of risk and contracts and achieve the desired outcome for your projects. Moderator – Jessica Adams-Weber, PE WCDA Contracts Committee Chair \| Vice President & North Central Region Water Business Development Director, HDR Moderator – Jonathan Tristao, PE, Assoc. DBIA Vice President, Tanner Pacific Gerard P. (Jerry) Cavaluzzi Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Risk Officer, Kennedy Jenks Paul Franke Shareholder, Polsinelli PC Howard Lum, PE, SE, ENV SP Design Section Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Trisha Roth, CPPB, Assoc. DBIA, MSTM Procurement and Project Delivery Specialist/PPM IV, King County Wastewater Treatment Division
2:30 pm	Networking Break
3:00 pm	Planning Smarter Together: Budgeting & Cost Certainty in Planning and Project Delivery Have you ever been left scratching your head and wondering, “Why is this project over budget? What could have been done better to align project budget and cost?” If the answers to these questions are yes, then get ready for an impactful conversation. This engaging session features diverse perspectives from utilities and project stakeholders, unpacking budgets from start to finish—including how capital improvement plan budgets are created and how project budgets are managed throughout the collaborative delivery project life cycle. Presenters will explore how early stakeholder engagement, decisions, assumptions, and estimating methods influence project outcomes and how the collaborative project delivery process can support improved collaboration among utilities and project partners, leading to earlier identification and resolution of challenges and greater cost certainty. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and practical strategies to reduce surprises and better align budgets with real-world project costs. Moderator – Cristina J. Ahmadpour, MELP Managing Director (Americas), Isle Utilities Kyle M. Kruger, PE WCDA Best Practices Committee Vice Chair \| Implementation Leader, Garver Jeremy D. McVey, DBIA Sr. Director – Project Development, Haskell Nicole Poncelet-Johnson, PE, CWP, MBA Operations, Construction & Water Science Leader, City of Fort Collins Aditya Ramamurthy, PE, PMP, FIAM SVP & Director, Utility Business Development, Raftelis
4:30 pm	Transition to Gala Ballroom and foyer will be closed during this time as we set up for the gala.
6:00 pm	WCDA 20th Anniversary Gala Reception & DInner Emceed by Ernie Maschner, WCDA 1st Vice President, and Kelly Farace, WCDA Communications Committee Chair. "Dress to impress" and join us for an evening of cocktails, music, dinner, and recognition of our founding members and past presidents. Let's all raise a glass to celebrate 20 years of WCDA!

Time
7:30 am	Networking Breakfast Included with registration
8:30 am	Day 2 Keynote Kick off the symposium’s final day with a session that sets the tone for collaboration, innovation, and impact—setting the stage for a day that looks beyond project and process to the leadership elements essential for successful teams, organizations, and the communities they serve. Eleanor Allen, CEO of the Flourishing Work Alliance and Catapult for Change, opens the second day of the symposium. Eleanor is a seasoned CEO, business leader, and professional engineer with a passion for helping organizations, leaders, and teams reach their potential and thrive. Her keynote explores what it truly means to flourish at work, why it matters for technical organizations, and how it translates into stronger decision-making, effective leadership, and improved project and organizational outcomes. Eleanor Allen CEO, Flourishing Work Alliance
10:00 am	Networking Break
10:30 am	Stronger Together: High-Performing Teams for Collaborative Delivery A successful collaborative delivery project depends on more than contracts, risk registers, and budgets; it depends on effective teaming and a high-performing project team. This session explores what it takes to create high-performing teams, both within an organization and among all project stakeholders. Panelists will address the importance of teamwork across organizational and contractual boundaries, the evolving role of owner advisors, and strategies for engaging procurement partners as key collaborators in the process. Through sharing real-world experiences and practical insights, this discussion will examine how teams maintain alignment as projects move from planning through delivery. Moderator – Courtney Dantone, DBIA WCDA Education Committee Chair \| Business Development Manager, Water - Florida, The Walsh Group / Archer Western Construction Amelia Celoza Asst. Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder Dave Lewis Owner Advisor, Direct Discharge Consulting Sally Magee, PE, PCC President, Magee Leadership Solutions, Inc.
12:00 pm	Networking Lunch Included with registration
1:00 pm	Ready or Not? Building Organizational Readiness for Collaborative Delivery Is your utility ready to deliver a successful collaborative delivery project? This session explores key outcomes from WCDA’s research into utility readiness factors driving project success—people, process, and tools—and describes how utility owners can prepare, assess, and align to address readiness gaps and facilitate successful collaborative delivery project implementation. Join this session for an interactive panel of utility leaders as they share how they assessed and strengthened readiness within their organizations, coupled with WCDA experts providing practical frameworks and guidance to help attendees consider their organization’s readiness and position their teams for success. Participants will leave with clear, actionable steps to maximize project success and deliver better project outcomes, together. Moderator – Michaela Rempkowski, PE, DBIA WCDA At-Large Director \| Sr. Director – Water \| National, McCarthy Building Companies Chad Merrill Capital Projects Manager, King County Wastewater Treatment Division Sherman Papke, PE Chief Technical Officer, Metro Water Recovery Ofelia Rubio Water Distribution Resiliency and Technology Manager, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Shannon Spence, PE Director, Project Management Office, Prince William Water
2:30 pm	Networking Break
3:00 pm	Closing Session: The Future of Collaborative Delivery Wrap up the symposium with an inspiring, forward-looking discussion featuring water sector leaders who are shaping the next era of collaborative delivery. This keynote session brings together visionaries from across the sector to explore what's ahead and how we can continue partnering to build better projects, and a more sustainable water future, together. Barbara Martin Executive Director, Water Collaborative Delivery Association John Albert Deputy Chief Executive Officer, American Water Works Association Will Brannon Business Development Manager, U.S. Pipe Michael Deane Chief, Clean Water State Revolving Fund, US Environmental Protection Agency Michelle Green, PE, DBIA WCDA 2024 President \| Vice President – West Design-Build Lead, Jacobs Chuck Sinclair, PE Director of National Business Development, Garney