Kicking Off the 2025 Water Leaders Program
We’re excited to kick off another inspiring year of Water Education Colorado’s (WEco) flagship leadership program—the 2025 Water Leaders Program! Since its inception in 2006, this program has welcomed more than 260 alumni into a growing statewide network of passionate and skilled water professionals.
In Colorado’s complex and evolving water landscape, the Water Leaders Program equips emerging and mid-career professionals with the leadership skills they need to drive sustainable, forward-looking solutions. The 2025 program officially launched this April.
This year, WEco is once again partnering with Stephanie Scott of Scott Solutions LLC and Ashley Seeley of Excellence Advantage to deliver facilitation and coaching for this transformative experience. The Water Leaders curriculum develops a pipeline of emotionally intelligent, adaptive leaders from across the water sector—individuals who are enhancing the effectiveness of their organizations and strengthening the broader water community.
We’re honored to announce that Dan Graeve, Research Analyst with the Colorado Legislative Council Staff, has been awarded the inaugural Greg Hobbs Memorial Scholarship—named in honor of the late Justice Greg Hobbs, a founding member of Water Education Colorado and a passionate advocate and educator of Colorado water law.
Though the program spans just five months, the insights, tools, and relationships gained create a lifetime of impact.
We’re proud to introduce the 2025 Water Leaders class—please join us in celebrating these dedicated professionals as they take their leadership to the next level in service of a stronger water future for Colorado!
2025 Water Leaders Class
- Adam Prior – Chief Engineer/Deputy Director, City of Greeley
- Amanda Hill – Senior Program Officer, Gates Family Foundation
- Annie Berlemann – Fountain Creek Watershed Project Manager, Colorado Springs Utilities
- Dan Graeve – Research Analyst, Legislative Council Staff/ Greg Hobbs Memorial Scholarship Recipient
- David Schiowitz – Senior Scientist I/Durango Water Resources Team Lead, SGM
- Diane Roher – Principal Engineer, Hazen and Sawyer
- Fern Beetle-Moorcroft – Project Manager/Hydroecologist, HRS Water Consultants
- Jared Heath – Senior Watershed Specialist, City of Fort Collins Utilities
- Jen Stephenson – Water Quality Department Manager, Northern Water
- Kayla Ranney – Colorado Water Supply Management Business Class Lead, HDR
- Lindsay DeFrates – Deputy Director of Public Relations, Colorado River District
- Matt Stockton – Water Resources Administrator, City of Thornton
- Mickey O’Hara – Freshwater Project Director Southwest Colorado, The Nature Conservancy
- Michael Lawlor – Urban Water Quality Program Coordinator, City of Boulder
- Nathan Phelps – Associate Engineer, Schnabel Engineering
- Nate Pearson – Assistant Director for Water Policy and Policy Advisor to Governor Polis, Colorado Department of Natural Resources
- Ryan Dalton – Water Resources Analyst I, Pueblo Water
- Taylor Winchell – Climate Adaptation Program Lead, Denver Water
- Tracy Emmanuel – Colorado Water and Natural Resources Business Unit Lead, Otak
- Tyler Gilman – Operations Manager, Mount Werner Water & Sanitation District
Read more about this class in the 2025 Water Leaders professional biographies.
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