IWA Webinar - Making Your Mark Early: Building Influence and Career Pathways

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening everyone and welcome. My name is Chelsea Haywood and I'm delighted to be your moderator for today's IWA Women in Water webinar, Making Your Mark Early, Building Influence and Career Pathways. Many of us begin our careers wondering how we can make a meaningful impact before we have a leadership title, years of experience, or formal authority. The reality is that careers in water are rarely linear and influence isn't something that suddenly appears with a promotion. It's built through the work we do every day, the relationships we develop, the opportunities we choose to pursue, and the confidence to contribute our ideas. So today's webinar is about exploring exactly that. We'll hear from women at different stages of their careers, each with a unique perspective on how they have navigated challenges, built credibility, expanded their networks, and created opportunities for themselves and others. Uh, but before we begin, there's a bit of housekeeping to go through. So, next slide, please. So, this webinar will be recorded and made available on demand on the IWA Connect Plus platform with relevant information. The speakers are responsible for securing copyright permissions for any work that they will present of which they are not the legal copy copyright holder and the opinions, hypotheses, conclusions or recommendations contained in the presentations and other materials are the sole responsibility of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect IWA opinion. Next uh so throughout this webinar there will be um a Q&A session uh and so we want to encourage you to please use the chat box or the Q&A box uh to send through any questions that you have for the panelists next one. So we'll begin uh this webinar with our speaker presentations followed by a panel discussion. Um, so like I said throughout the the presentations, please feel free to submit your questions using that Q&A or chat function and we'll do our best to answer as as many of the questions as we can during the panel discussions. Uh, next uh but before I hand over to our speakers, I'd like to take a moment to introduce the IWA women in water program under which today's webinar is being delivered. The program was established to build on the momentum of the women in water initiative launched at the IWA World Water Congress in Toronto with the aim of creating a strong and lasting global community that extends well beyond the congress itself. It brings together women and allies from across the water sector to connect, share experiences, learn from one another, and support women's leadership at every career stage through ver webinars like today's uh networking opportunities and events at the World Water Congress. The program aims to foster a more inclusive and supportive profession. The program also explores how we can advance action, resilience, and prosperity in the water sector, recognizing that inclusive and well-designed water and sanitation systems create better outcomes and greater opportunities for women, girls, and communities around the world. Uh so, next slide, please. Uh in Glasgow, there will be a range of activities and initiatives. Uh we're ensuring that the the congress is gender inclusive. Um in the leadup we are hosting a series of webinars like this one. Uh and during the congress with there will be a connection hub uh different social and networking activities uh a buddy system as well as other women in water con content um presented throughout the congress. Next slide please. Um so without further ado like I mentioned we have uh many wonderful women um from different career stages joining us today. Uh we have Monica, Logan, Hardy, Katarina as well as Emily um who will be sharing uh insights from their careers on how they uh made their mark early. Uh so without further ado, I will hand over to Monica to start her presentation. Hi everyone and thank you for joining us today. I'm Monica and I work with National Water and Suridge Corporation Uganda. I'm also a young water professional from Uganda and an IWA and ground force youth action for SDG6 fellow. Last week the United Nations released the SDG6 report on water and sanitation 2026. I quote, "Water is increasingly seen as a super connector linking climate action, food systems, ecosystems, health, economic development and resilience across the entire sustainable development agenda. Thus, there is need for integrated water resources management. So, as women in water, I would like us to all know that we make a major contribution wherever we are working. If you're working in finance, if you're working in accounts, are you an engineer? Are you working in water quality?" We all make a great contribution to achieving SDG6 targets. However, progress is possible and happening, but it hasn't reached some of the people. For example, my mother in the village does not have water at her home. I do not sleep well at night knowing this hasn't yet been made possible because of infrastructure challenges. question is how are you as women in the water sector contributing to accelerate implementation so that water and sanitation goals become a reality for all by 2030. Next slide please. I'll shortly take you through my journey and be as realistic as possible and honest. I started out my career right after high school. I got a job in hospital. I was working in Zambia hospital at the patient's reception and I realized that toilets are dirty. Even in a private hospital, sanitation is poor and usually there is no water or occasionally there is no water. So in whatever sector someone is working, we all need water. And as women, we face the challenges of not having water most because we need water when you're on your period. You need water when you give birth. that children need water or else they will have explosive diarrhea and so on. So after working in the hospital I joined the university and in the university I got an internship at the national water and sewage corporation. How does this come about? I did not even know I got the internship until a colleague that is now with the world bank let me know that oh Monica I saw your letter at national t corporation you were given an internship placement point I want to emphasize is as women in water we need to keep our connections and we need to maintain the friendships and the networks that we make because opportunities usually come through our networks then shortly after I had finished my internship I went back to school to the university I had a colleague who had visited from Germany and he knew a colleague from Germany that was working at the construction site of the same company national water. Now I had not been to this new site the bugaloving sur treatment plant but this colleague said oh I have an engineer that is managing the site do you want to visit? I said yes. So when I got there this gentleman talks me into joining the sector because this is sanitation. I had only worked in water. So he told me about biogas, waste management, resource recovery and I pick interest. So as women in water still I emphasize that you need to keep your networks and connections while building your career even before you join the water sector. The career is built wherever you are. You don't have to formally get the letter for you to get serious about getting what you want. Then after that, after my internship and after this visit to the plant, I remember that during my internship, I had a very good supervisor who was already working with National Water. And because I worked really hard, I used to work late. I used to stay late to finish any work that was available. I remember there was a project called the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project. Now, I was so determined that there was a time they were going to the field to monitor the lake. They monitored the water quality of the lake. occasionally. So there was a time they left me behind. I took a taxi and delivered myself to the site which is far away from where I stayed. I think that this really stayed with my supervisors at work and they were really nice people. They kept encouraging me. So I kept on hoping to join the sector later that is even before graduation. Then later I graduated in environmental science at Mccary University. Then after graduation there was no job. So as a young woman in water it is not obvious that you're going to join the field. You have to work towards what you want. So you have to keep on seeking the opportunities and determined to contribute to the sector. What did I do when I finished university? I requested someone near home to join their office. I was looking for a job and I was desperate. So the gentleman says we do not have jobs at the moment. But the person that was cleaning the office fell sick. I said, "No, I can clean the office." So, I joined this office as someone cleaning. I'd already gotten my degree in environmental science. This impressed the person so much that they recommended me to someone in an office that was nearby. They said, "Hey, there is this graduate. She's very hardworking. She can do this and this." So, I went to see this gentleman. But when I saw this gentleman, they were running a freight company. They said, "No, someone that did science says you have no business working in a freight company, but I know someone on the board of National Water that I can talk to to see if you can rejoin National Water because you said you in turned there." When this person was reached, they said, "No, the company doesn't work that way. We advertise if we need people to join. So, let the person wait and join when there is an advert." Luckily the same person reached out when an advert for quality control officers. So that is how I applied. But even when I applied, it wasn't obvious. I didn't get the job right away. I had to wait one year for one year and a half. But eventually I got in. Thank God. Then when I [clears throat] joined the company, I right away joined the young water professionals program that is run by IWA. And through this program, I met I met a mentor. I remember she had gone to Toronto and won best poster. How do I meet her? We had run campaigns for the young water professionals committee and I was really enthusiastic. So when she came for the event, she came looking out for me. She said, "Who is Monica? I want to meet this person. When she met me, she said, I want to mentor you because I have not seen someone this energetic. So that is how I met my first mentor. So I need to emphasize that joining the professional networks is very important for women in their early career because the people are going to guide you. There are so many things that my mentor has connected me to so many opportunities and she still guides me every day that I am at work. Next slide please. So leadership begins before the title. Leadership starts with contribution and not a title. As a woman in water or as a young water professional seeking to grow in the sector, you do not need to first get a title. You do not need to first get a title, but you can bring initiatives that will benefit others and that way you'll be seen and grow. Next slide, please. But first of all, you need to be really good at your job. You need to have the technical expertise for you to be seen and to be trusted with bigger opportunities. Next slide, please. So growth happens beyond your job through professional networks. I already said this and there are very many global opportunities. For example, the IWA presents opportunities for young women in the sector. for example, the IWA and Grant force youth action for SDG fellowship, the IWA leadership program, and there are several IWA specialist groups that young women can join to work with other people across the world in the sector. Next slide, please from local to global engagement. So local excellence can open doors to regional and global leadership opportunities. I'm saying this, you have to do well locally for you to be seen globally. So do the best that you can at your job. A simple cheat code for young women that I can give you is do whatever it takes to become excellent at your first few jobs. The people you work with will open doors for you. Next slide, please. Visibility. Become visible through offering service to others and not just visibility for yourself. Offer service and that way and that way you can be seen. and make use of networks for example LinkedIn. Next slide please. So a call to the women in water. The water sector needs the talents ideas and leadership of young women. So if you're already working in this sector and you can mentor a few ladies below you please help them teach them. There are very many opportunities out there and we can all shine. Next slide please. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Monica, for for sharing those insights. And you you touched on some really good points and tips there. And I particularly liked um how you talked about making a contribution no matter where you work within the water sector as well. I think that's really important. Um so we will go on to Haddie now to provide another young water professional perspective. >> Thank you, Chelsea. Can you hear me? Correct. Okay, great. Uh, hello everyone. My name is Hadit Gindo. I am an environmental engineer uh by profession um and co-founder and president of an organization called Afro uh which is a women led organization based in Mali. I [snorts] also am um co-chair of the IWA chapter in Mali that was recently launched and I was part of the first cohort of the fellowship that Monica talked about during her presentation. So today I want to share about the story behind um building the platform I needed and the title of my presentation. I think it all started with me recognizing a gap that I experienced personally as a young uh water professional and deciding to build a platform through which other young professionals could gain real responsibility um and demonstrate their expertise in a safe uh space. So early in my career I was fortunate to participate in trainings uh networking conferences um and international conferences. These opportunities were valuable and they exposed me to new ideas, new perspectives um and possibilities. Granted that I come from a from country and um knowing that you know the um ability to speak English just opens doors and opens resources uh for us um in Mali. So but I kept seeing the same pattern in Mali. Young professionals were invited to participate um in conferences and activities um but they [clears throat] were rarely given the pen and by being given the pen I mean the power to shape an idea to do the work and being trusted to produce knowledge um and carry on activities professional activities. So there were closed circles. Access to opportunities often um dependent on already being connected to someone. As Monica also talked about, there were also fragmented pathways. You will still attend events, but you don't know where to start. You don't know how to make your dreams come true. And of course you've heard of tokenism, how uh youth visibility becomes more important than actually involving young people in the processes. Next slide please. So that gap is one of the reasons why we created Afro. Um we wanted to create a platform where young professionals could do more than just um attend events, advocate for uh youth enga engagement. We wanted them to actually organize events uh research, train and be hands-on. And that's why the A in Afro stands for action. And under action, we create spaces uh for young people. For example, during a national symposium on citizen science that we organized um last month, young people were at the heart. They defined the teams. They conveyed the people that they wanted and they were a able to pull off um a national event that was very pertinent in the water sector in Mali. And this tells a lot about the sector um and the older generation as well um that have ideas about what young people um can or cannot do. So under the F of Afro there's also form which means training in in French and we train students we train young professionals in soft skills in you know getting a proper CV um getting well prepared for interviews um also how to communicate with confidence on LinkedIn but also uh through our Afro activities students and community members are at at the heart of our research and action based um uh monitoring water quality monitoring um experiences. So the R in Afro uh stands for research and our uh GMAN project is our highlights um funded by IIC Delft in the Netherlands and again it did place the students and the community members at the heart of the research on water quality on the Niger River. So uh making communities participate effectively in um research activities, collecting evidence, discussing findings, it makes them feel more valuable and um um bring in some more locally uh led solutions to the challenges we face um currently. So for us again I would like to go back to the metaphor of uh giving young people the pen. It means that you also provide them the opportunity to produce something uh for which they could be accountable for. Um as young people we long uh uh we advocate for being given the opportunity but we also have to be able to maintain and be accountable for our actions. Next slide please. Um again before I actually uh talk about the next topic I wanted to also emphasize um that it's not always uh how do you say it's not always green and the the um the struggle is still there. the barriers still remain and yes we've uh been able to achieve so many um so many things but then at the same time we're still challenged to publish our work for example and this is partly because of our composition with a bunch of young people uh doing research and uh we are curtainized uh scrutinized by um you know more experienced people in the sector and this is also a reality that we need to face. Um so if we decide to make our mark, we need to be prepared um that there are barriers and I I want to also emphasize that. But then um Jim Mansa became the clear uh example of how we can actually apply research and innovate in the approach of working with communities. So when we started a project, we could not just simply say that um Afro was credible because we were passionate. We were new people coming in the sector as a group of young people that wanted to research in a different way and we could already see criticism. I've se I've been in rooms where I pitched the idea of citizen science to the national directorate of hydraulics and they just looked at me like this young girl is crazy. She thinks she knows a lot. Um but um I can proudly say that we're still working with them and we're currently trying um a pilot site and slowly but surely they opened up to the idea. So we should not be afraid to take bold steps and actually talk to people and make them listen to what we have to say. So um we organized focus groups in fishing communities in Bamako and um two communities in uh Nishair. The community spoke about what they were observing for example pollution, plastic waste, declining fish population and the changes that happened. Um they also talked about their traditional knowledge um that they have traditional practices that they have of treating water and uh we conducted field campaigns across six sites in Bamako and we measured water quality parameters um pHidity and dissolved oxygen and what uh was quite innovative with that is that we combined that with the community's traditional approaches and made the synthesis of not just scientific results that we attain but also um the background that comes with the scientific findings to give um the whole picture of the communities and um what's more important with that is also that after getting all these results we went back to the communities to disseminate the results of the research but also of um the focus groups that we had And um one of the community members told us that projects come and go, but this was the first time that the team returned to share the results with them. And this I wanted to really emphasize on um because this was an initiative that the creativity of young people um made happen basically and um because we did things differently because we got together we wanted to explore new ways. we were able we were able to impact the communities differently. So this was a le um a leverage for us for the discussions we had also with the um people that are more experienced in the sector and the fact that we were also not just uh collaborating amongst each other as young people. who were also associating um expert researchers in the field that also um helped. Next slide please. >> Hard sorry I don't I hate being the one who has to speed things along but if you don't mind so we can make sure we get our other speakers in. Thank you. >> Yes. All right. Um no worries. So again our communities really okay I'll be really short and to the point because I think this is the most important aspect and it is that yes we are part of networks we are trying to build we are trying to be visible but we need to also make sure that after we've done um all the work that there is another generation happening uh sitting there and um taking the lead. And what I've also seen in young professional networks is that um we have a group of people that start doing a bunch of things and then it just slowly slows down and everything is gone. And this is because we didn't build a generation. We didn't transmit the knowledge. And unfortunately that's also happen what happens between generations because the more experience when they retire they don't give us all the information and often time we have to start from scratch and we need to break that uh tradition. We need to pass over um the relay to other people that are um less experienced and that can take on um the lead. That means sacrificing a lot of our time and effort into mentoring and really being able to communicate uh communicate and um um provide expertise as well if needed. Last uh slide. So for me uh gaining visibility and advancing individually is one aspect of career success. I'm not going to dismiss it. It's really important. But I've seen um again like I said so many initiatives go silent when the most motivated um individuals were no longer active. So for us young professional groups and even um co-founder of organizations or even young people started just starting it is crucial to ensure that when we move on to other responsibilities because we will do that we've made an impact um in the sector by coaching other people and transmitting um the knowledge that we gain and the experiences that we gain from trying to fight the system. So thank you very much for your attention. And um just wanted to finish with uh a last sentence that when we talk about holding the pen and making your mark early, it is also about building the courage, space and opportunity um for others to write the future with you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. I really love that analogy of of giving young people the pen. So thank you very much. And before we go on to uh Katarina, I just want to remind everyone um if you have any questions for any of our speakers to please um make sure that you um get those into the Q&A box. Um so I will hand over to Karina now. >> Thank you Chelsea. Uh first question, can you hear me properly? >> Yes. >> Perfect. Okay. So uh first of all, thank you um for inviting me. Also thank you to Monica and Hardy for the great presentation so far. Uh my name is Katrina Schilling. I'm the secretary general of IWD. Um we are a membership based association of uh water utilities, water utility associations and other stakeholders in the Danube region. So in Europe um it's basically a smaller sister association of IWA. We also have very strong bonds with IWA and the memorandum of understanding. Um and uh I will also share a bit how IWA brought me actually to my current um position. I don't have any slides. Um I just want to share basically my journey of professional development with you that is now more than two decades long already. So I'm by far not a young water professional anymore but I used to be one and um I love to say actually one of those early birds um when the whole young water professional program actually started within um IWA. So today I would like to talk about uh the importance of professional engagement beyond formal roles or beyond work profiles, work positions um let's say and um to take um or to to tell you to highlight the key message of my talk already up front um I think my own experience shows that careers are often not linear and u many of the most meaningful opportunities come from saying Yes, at the right time. Um, they come from getting involved, building relationships beyond, um, your formal job description. So, uh, with that, let me jump into like my early career. Um, after obtaining my masters in in biology, I started to work as a research assistant at the Vienna University of Technology. Um I also obtained my um PhD there and um there we had I can really recall we had a team meeting at a point um back in I think 2004 or 2005 and my professor at the time Helmut Cro who then became after all the president of IWA and who was super um excited about the new young water professional program um of of IWA. He basically asked who would like to build a young motor professional chapter in Austria. So we are based in Austria. Um who would like to build that? And you know I mean I was looking at my colleagues there around the table and a lot of them were like looking at the floor um saying like I'm not here. I don't want to get involved. No additional work. And I just thought I mean this sounds great. This sounds super excited exciting. I want to do this. raised my hand without thinking about it just out of I don't know intuition or whatsoever and this is how everything um started and um yeah we started then to build up the first one of the first young professional chapters in Europe I think even globally it's still there um I mean what what Hardi just mentioned the idea of like moving from generation to generation of young border professionals was actually not an easy task ask. Um, but we managed also 20 years after to to have the the YWP chapter um um being alive um which I'm particularly proud of. And um I also got engaged on an international level. I joined the World Water Congress in 2006 in Beijing um and and joined the YWP activities there. And then I mean that was a lot of luck actually. Uh we also had the 2008 world water congress in Vienna and there we thought as YWP chapter hey um we would like to get engaged there and um we actually created the first young water professional lounge [snorts] at the world water congress. Um it was a chill out area for YPS to meet um with a with an agenda throughout the week. People loved it. Even the seniors came in because they thought wow nice place to chill out. Um and you know by doing all of that by being engaged also in the gender development etc. um obviously IWA headquarters thought I might be suitable to become um the chair of the international young water professional committee um which is now the emerging water leader steering committee. Um, by that time I think there was just one chair before me. Um, Michael Story if I'm not mistaken. Um, and yeah, as again I said yes. Um, I had no clue what I was like signing up for actually. They didn't brief me a lot. Um, but I just thought that's an incredible opportunity, so let's take it. Um, and I became the chair from 2008 to 2010. And again, it all started actually at the World Water Congress in Vienna because they put me on the closing panel together with like four or five other people um to talk from the YP perspective. Um they told me basically the evening before I still can recall it. I was by that time I don't know 28 29. I was frankly speaking scared to death. Um it was my first experience like that talking in front of I don't know 2,00 2,500 people. Um but yeah it was a great opportunity and I somehow managed. Um so as you can see um by becoming engaged in IWA I mean this um opened a lot of doors. Um these opportunities exposed me to people and discussions that I would not have encountered through my regular job alone. And um I think for young professionals this kind of participation in professional associations can accelerate learning and open doors that might not be visible from within your organization. So the key takeaway basically from this story is don't underestimate the value of getting involved early even in volunteer roles. Um in addition or next point I would like to share is that being the chair of of of young professionals on an international level opened another I mean a couple of doors. I became observer at the board of IWA. I also joined the strategic council and the general assembly um as as a YWP observer representative. Meanwhile, these are different roles, but at that time it was like all under one head basically. Um, and that gave me another uh great opportunities. I was able to listen to experienced leaders. I observed decision- making processes um especially on the board and I learned how influence is built and um actually also the board meetings I learned that most of the most important um um discussions are not actually taking place during board meetings but after um at the dinner at the bar wherever and um I mean it's that exposure and that learning that basically helped me also to uh get to this position where where I am now in in leading um also a membership based association. Um so what I would like to point out with that is that some of the most impactful learning experience were informal and unstructured and they just happened simply through being present. Meanwhile, IWA has a lot of really great opportunities and structured learning opportunities like the LEAP program etc. By that time that was not the case but just being exposed helped me um so much and and and um I learned quite a lot. Um just uh two more short points um just letting know Chelsea because of the time um the importance of building visibility and recognition. I think early in our careers we often feel that we need formal leadership and formal leadership title before before we can make an impact. My experience was actually the opposite because through IWA activities I was able to contribute um take initiative and become visible within the sector long before holding a professional senior position in my daily life job. Right? So visibility comes from consistent contribution and [clears throat] not only from hierarchy. So again key takeaway leadership starts with participation, proactiveness and initiative and not with a job title. Um and finally I just would like to emphasize the power of professional networks. Um I mean I think or I hope you have already seen how much IWA has contributed to my career development. Um but yeah, it's one of the most important lessons that I've learned is that a strong professional network is essential. Um a network doesn't only provide knowledge but also opportunities, mentors, collaborators, support and finally also friends. Um and I found uh quite a few um and I think essential is also that um being part of a professional network is not only about paying your membership fee. Um, investing time in your network is investing time in your future. And keep in mind that the professional network is only as strong as your willingness and effort to invest into it. Um, and finally, constant investment pays off in the long run, and it still does for me. Even though I'm not a young professional anymore, um, I'm still part of IWA. I'm a fellow by that time. um I had the opportunity to join different um committees, working groups, whatsoever. Um and um I'm still getting opportunities like this to to speak to you. So I think it really pays off and and really my advice for you would be um get engaged in a community and I mean you're already there basically because you're joining that this network or this this webinar um to to move your career forward. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much Katarina. It's really interesting to hear how you've um been able to get involved in in different IWA initiatives and and be able to get that leadership experience before actually having any formal leadership roles. So, thank you very much. Uh and last not but not least, I will hand over to Logan. Hi everyone. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. It's evening here in Malaysia. I hope everyone's uh weather out there is um good. It is truly truly an honor to be here with all of you uh passionate young water professionals. I hope uh my name is Logga Va. I'm a senior executive at the National Water Services Commission in Malaysia. Uh today I'm going to share a little bit of my personal journey as well like the others. uh not because it's extraordinary but just because it's it it actually demonstrates um the key points that I want to bring to the table today uh about leadership and about you know one opportunity and it's always about one challenge and one courageous decision at one time and uh let me also reiterate that the future of water is not about only about gender it's it's not only about male or female but it is about ensuring that we harness the best talents available. So we all as we always say you know women must be empowered to lead innovate and influence decision and that's why we are here as well you know we it's like a women help women kind of uh program I hope and [snorts] uh when we speak about innovation we always think about um you know artificial intelligence AI digital twins smart utilities but one of the greatest opportunity to innovate is um something much simpler at least in Asia which is always forgotten. That's why my title is gender inclusive innovation is the water sector's biggest untapped resources because you know the simple thing in innovation that we can do is we ensure everyone's voice uh especially young professional especially women's voices is heard valued and empowered. Next slide please. Since I'm representing the National Water Services Commission, so I'm just going to quickly give you an um intro. Uh uh National Water Services Commission SPAN we call it in short is the single uh water regulatory body uh which governs uh through u economic, technical and social aspects of water supply and cate services in Malaysia. Our mission goes beyond regulating utilities. It is about ensuring sustainable resilient generation. Um I think uh why I'm sharing about span is uh in Malaysia to you know the time that I entered span 10 years back there is even a prerequisite for us to you know join span to as a workforce you need to have at least five to six years of experience because as a regulator you should already have some kind of um experience some kind of um uh lead at during that time that that was the perception So you know um that is uh why you know being in span is like uh you are working for one of the highest authority for water services in Malaysia and uh pretty happy about that. Next slide please. Next slide please. Right. So my journey with IWA has um quite many of you also shared. Um my first um you know uh interference with IWA was in 2008 that is 18 years ago two decades like how Katrina shared um and it was IWA conference in Newcastle University where I did my masters and uh during that time IWA meets the students in each university to uh get you know people to join the YWP and I think one of the best decisions I've made in to join IWA at that point of time. So that's been 18 years there. I was also sitting exactly where many of you are today and uh excited, slightly nervous and wondering where my career would take me. And um I never imagined that um after years I have now I think uh mentored at least 10 to 15 young water professionals so far uh internationally even at a national YWP uh level and then become speaker serve as program committees chair international forums speak at international forum so many many other things. When I joined in 2008, I was that was the rarest dream I would have had. Right? So none of this happened overnight. Every conference I attended, every volunteer role I accepted, every conversation I initiated became another building block for my professional journey. So I started somewhere and uh I think uh one of the most important thing is being consistent about it. So uh since um 2019 I have also joined the water regulators forum of IWA which is a yearly annual event and it is only it's a closed group network only for regulators. So since I joined spend I've been in the regulators forum and last year I've also chaired the regulators forum program committee um which happened in Bangkok last year in December. So my first message for all the young opportunities that begin simply by showing up. So just show up and start somewhere and you know we will never know where we are going to. Right. Next slide please. Yeah. So I've got three um main um uh the next three slides are the main points that I want to put forward. I think this is like you know putting the aspirational words into a technical diagram. So the first one is um the biggest misconception about leadership it it starts with the title. I think all the other speakers have already spoken about it. So I just want to reiterate that you know the early influence we want to make does not come from waiting for the permission. So when we have an idea or you know we we want to share about something we don't have to wait for anyone's permission. It it it really the early influence and through leadership it comes from how we um you know actively occupy the intersections of credibility, consistency and courage put forth our ideas. You know uh whether you are an engineer or a scientist or a regulator or a researcher, you already have the ability to lead. So everyone is a leader actually. But just by pushing forth a little bit and showing up and you know raising your concerns in meeting you know speaking up sharing your ideas and it it doesn't stop by only speaking up and sharing your ideas but it is also very important that we follow through with volunteering for projects. You know sometimes your title change not because you lead it's the other way around. It's it's you know the title change because you lead. not the other way around. So for example, my dissertation in 2008 was on climate change in uh Newcastle University in the UK and uh since then I have been very interested about climate change and what it does especially for the water industry and since I am back I have been trying to put this idea forward in span for the past 10 years and of course you know in the early days I was much much junior we have uh thanks Chelsea I I took note of that. So we have a lot of seniors who are very interested about the water industry, how we regulate them, how we set KPIs, but no one wasn't interested too much in climate or you know GHG management reporting but consistently I put this forward and you know three years back or three and a half years back they decided oh climate is really important now we need to have an ESG and sustainability division. So um you know we need to do reporting we need to do GHD management not only for spend for the industry as a whole and um you know that's how I became one of the leading person in the team which pioneered ESG not spend for Malaysia pioneered the initiatives for you know all the other uh utilities as well. Next slide please. Okay, since I only have one minute, I'm going to just go through all the this. I think someone said um you know, is visibility really important? Something like that. But I really think that visibility is is a strategic requirement that you know, you build credibility and continuously generate new avenues for impact. It it's not about just being visible. This is me, you know, I can speak. It's not that. But then the visibility actually it open doors for us and it it uh creates the credibility metrics for ourselves and the relationships are very valuable you know as much as um the technical expertise I think uh networking and creating relationships are very valuable in the career. Next slide please. And you know one of the interesting parts uh that I wanted to speak about and I think you know Katherine did speak about this it's about you know um structural disruption and this is what's really needed because in the past it it's just like climate change right uh let me put this you know as an example rather you know in the past we calculated every engineering uh expertise or every calculation was based on some historical data projected for the future And that's how we calculated. If anyone of you know hydrarology and hydraulics, you know this is how calculations were made. But um now it is totally different. We can't take the historical data and project for future with only those data. The projection needs to include a lot more other things and the uh the way we think has to be different. So I think this is the era of disruption. It's a lot of things going um disruption in the way that you know there is a lot of restructuring there is a lot of u you know difference made when we are um you know doing even the technical jobs and this is an opportunity for us because this will help us to become the leaders in the specific matter. It can be a small matter. So throughout my career, organizational restructuring and changing responsibilities often push me outside of my comfort zone. And this kind of disruption is going to push you outside your comfort zone. But I think this is the best opportunity for you to take and uh make it a something which is really worthwhile. Next slide, please. And yeah, I think all these key takeaways, we've already heard it from all the other speakers, so I won't repeat them. You know, just stay curious, integrity and accountability, collaborate, networking, courage, proactive, being resilient. You know, we will fail. So, fail fast and then learn faster and grow stronger. That's what I always tell my uh mentees. Next, I'm coming to end the end of my presentation. So this is a forum we had in 2026 in Malaysia, women and water because this year's United Nations um you know um slogan is uh women and I think the water sector has made through tremendous progress. Today we see more women leading utilities, conducting research, shaping policies and driving innovation. So this is all worth celebrating but there is still work to do and I think women still remain under represented in uh senior technical and executive leadership positions. It is a strategic advantage to um you know for us at this point of time that you know there is a lot of uh talks on women empowerment. So um it's the future of water depends on all of us and you know it's just not women or men. I'm not very favorable in saying you know one gender needs to be superseded by another. But I think it's about all of us working together. That's why in during the forum that we had in Malaysia, we had actually many males helping us out and because um you know we thought it is important to be inclusive. It's not only about women. And the last slide please. So I conclude with this thought. When I attended my first IWA conference in 2008, I never imagined standing here today. Someone invested in me. Someone encouraged me and someone gave me opportunity. And you know it's not all the time. Someone did at some time but then I didn't stop. So I'm saying the same thing to you. You don't need to be a leader to make a difference. You start by leading yourself and moving forward. Thank you. Sorry, Chelsea. I took a few minutes extra. >> You're okay. Thank you very much, Logan. Um, and thank you to all of our speakers. If I can ask you to all please um, put your cameras on now. And in the interest of time, I'm just going to go to kind of one all-encompassing question and challenge you all to provide a bit of a lightning answer. try and stick to 30 seconds if possible, but we'll see how we go. Um, so this question is for all of you. Imagine a young woman entering the water sector today. What should she focus on in her first five years to maximize both her impact and her opportunities? Uh, so we'll go in the order of the presentations. I'll go to Monica first. Thank you, Chosen. I think the best thing I could tell a young woman in her first years of her career is to ground hustle in the water sector. Build important networks, understand the system, connect with whoever you think will help you or is somewhere that you admire to be in the sector. Thank you. >> Thank you Monica and Haddie. >> Well, I wanted to say networking. I just want to say that like when I started I didn't know anyone in the sector and knowing that the network that I have right now if I had it earlier I would you know go go to the sky. So I would really emphasize on the networking and being out there not being shy to ask questions and uh reaching out to people. >> Great. Thank you Katarina. Yeah, very much um along these lines I have to say um about about networking. I mean my advice is rather simple. Get involved, make yourself visible, invest in relationships, invest in your network. Um and don't wait for the permission to contribute. Um I think that's super important. I mean you can start super early. Um I think what is important is that if someone gives you the opportunity, take it. Um say yes at the right time. Um and you can start shaping the future of your career and also of the water sector from day one on. Thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you. And finally, Logga. >> I think what I said last in my last site, fail. You just need to attempt more, right? The more you attempt, the possibilities of you failing is also more. But just it's okay to fail. You know, there is no right and wrong and it's it's not like you have to pass all the time. So you might fail, there might be you know great ideas but there might be ideas which didn't work but then you know it's all experience. So if you can um you know have the courage to take everything as an experience a failure will take you to the success. So um don't be afraid of failures. Don't be afraid to attempt because you're afraid to fail. Just attempt and then you fail. It's okay but some sometimes sooner or later you will succeed. Totally agree. Thank you very much everyone. Um and and thank you for those who did submit questions through the Q&A and I can see that our um our speakers have been answering some of those questions and they can continue to do so as we wrap up over the next few minutes. Um but before we do wrap up, I want to hand over to Emily uh to give you all a bit of insight into what to expect uh in Glasgow later this year. Thank you, Chelsea, and thank you to all the presenters so far. That was really interesting to hear your journeys as someone who's pretty new into the water sector and starting out in their career. So, hi everyone. My name's Emily Brenner. I'm a specialist graduate at Scottish Water. I've been working at Scottish Water for nearly two years now and since September, I've been part of the team who are helping to support the host country program of events for the IWA World Water Congress and exhibition. Uh this is one of the biggest uh international water events uh in the world which IWA runs every two years. The last one took place in Toronto back in 2024 and this year it's coming to the Scottish events campus here in Glasgow. Hence why Scottish Water are taking such a leading role. So if we go on to the next slide, I've pulled together a kind of wheel to give you a whistle stop tour of what you can expect at the event. If we just click one more time, it will give you some more detail on these aspects. So the technical program is the workshops and presentations and technical submissions which make up the congress itself. Uh you will need to purchase delegates pass to access the full conference program. Uh we've got technical tours also. So these are immersive experiences to take delegates away from the SEC and showcase the very best of Scotland's innovative water and wastewater technology. H tickets for technical tours can only be purchased alongside the delegates pass. So, you'll need to have the conference pass to uh buy the technical tour tickets. On top of this, we've had 11 tours approved by IWA, which was really, really great. And you can see these on their website just now. You can see the promotional material we've pulled together for these with our flagship tour being a trip to Lock Cat uh to ride the iconic steam ship, Sir Walter Scott. So, Lock Cat for context is Glasgow's main source of w drinking water and has been since about 1859. So there's a lot of history up there and you can learn more about the water quality sensors that are also used on up there and attached to the boat. The next next aspect is the Glasgow summit. H so a paper has been drafted and sent to the UN addressing the need for further investment in sustainable development goal six uh to close the water and sanitation gap. The aim of the summit is to discuss this paper further, pull together some practical case studies on how we can make this happen. So it's not just talk, we want action. Um and this will be uh followed on by the UN water conference happening in December. We also have four UKled forums. Uh these are all based on the overarching Congress themes. H registration is on a first come first serve basis and you can register your interest now for these on the IWA Congress website. We have a very exciting social program that we're pulling together here at Scottish Water. will be hosting a cultural evening at Kelvin Grove Art Gallery and Museum H which will demonstrate traditions and heritage across the four home nations. H tickets again can only be bought with a delegates pass similar to technical tours. Uh and Scottish Water is also leading on a fringe program to engage with the local community. So this will include a street fair. We're commissioning a mural to show the journey of Glasgow's water coming from Lock Catherine down. And we'll also be doing a primary school competition. And so a school competition with young kids. The last uh aspect is the exhibition. So I think this is probably uh the most relevant to you you guys as an audience. Um it's made up of lots of different organization and country pavilions including the UK pavilion. Uh I think women in water will also be taking a stand here. Um it's also home to the operations challenge and the early career immersion days. So if we move on to the next slide, I've got more details on both of these things. So, I've just pulled together a quick list of opportunities which I think are particularly relevant for young water professionals at the congress. Like I said, the first is the exhibition space. This is the free aspect of the event. You can register for free online on the the IWA website. Registration isn't open yet, but it will be very very soon. So, please keep an eye out for that. Um, it's a great place to just chat um and network and create connections across different industries within the UK and global water industry. Um so yeah really really recommend you go and have a look at that and register for that and come up to Glasgow if you can. Within it like I said within the exhibition space is the UK uh pavilion. So this will sit in the heart of the exhibition and represents all 16 water companies within the UK and is sponsored by our biggest supply chain partners. Um what's really exciting about the UK pavilion this year is it's been led by four uh young water professionals across the UK. Um and they've aimed to create a really comfortable, easygoing space where you can network um and chat with different people. As I mentioned earlier as well, we'll have the early career immersion days. So these are taking place uh within the UK UK pavilion and also the wider exhibition space and it's designed to give young water professionals the chance to step into the global water arena. Um so essentially you'll be tasked uh as a knowledge building task where you'll choose a theme um identify a problem relating to that theme by chatting to different exhibitors and uh come up with an innovative solution to combat that. Uh there's more details um on the terms of engagement available on the UK pavilion website and registration for the early Canoe immersion days will be opening shortly as well. Um, just for context, I'm going to include the links in my my last slide, so you'll be able to take a picture of that and and look further into it. Um, we've also got the operations challenge, which like I said is taking place in the exhibition space. So, it says, "Teams of three can participate in a crisis simulation, um, which requires the use of digital skills to mitigate the situation. This operations challenge is quite unique compared to previous years in that it's traditionally a drilling and tapping competition, meaning participants usually need a very specific skill set. However, making it digital opens the door for a much wider pool of candidates. H So I do encourage you to have a look at that which you can do. You can register now on the IW Congress website for that also. Um but the numbers are quite limited for this. So um I would encourage you to register as soon as you can. Uh so the last two um opportunities I've outlined here are IWA programs. I don't have as much knowledge on this as it's not part of the host country activity, but we do have an emerging leaders forum. Um, so it's an open platform for young W professionals to connect with their peers from around the world. The forum is a place to share professional experiences and highlight the critical responsibility of Young W professionals working on solutions for the future. Uh, there's more information on that on the Congress website. And we've got a world water camp also taking place that IW are leading on. Um, so this isn't within the Congress itself. It's more of an event running alongside the Congress, but it will still be in Glasgow. There's more info on that on their LinkedIn page, which I've included a link on there. And I also think they've put a post up with a website that they've created to provide more information. So if we just go over onto the last slide, um, thank you for listening. I hope this has been helpful and it wasn't too much of an information overload. I do appreciate there is a lot going on, but I just wanted to summarize at the end some of the opportunities which I think um will be particularly um of interest to to you. Um, please see the links there that I've included for the Congress website and also the UK Pavilion website. um at the Bilian website gives you kind of a better summary I would say on the host country program. The Congress website is good and gives you a lot of information. Um and you can register for things on there, but I would encourage you to look at our UK pavilion website also. Um and it'll give you further information on everything I've touched on today. If you do have any further questions, please use the Q&A chat like Chelsea has said. Um and thank you again for listening and I hope to see you all there in Glasgow. Thank you very much, Emily. And I'd like to thank all of our wonderful speakers for sharing their experiences today. Um, so openly and honestly. I think your insights have have shown us that there's no single path to building a successful career in water. Uh, but there are definitely some common principles that that came up there and that can help along the way. Uh, I'd also like to say a big thank you to everyone who joined us today and contributed questions. uh it conversations like this are a really important part of building a more inclusive and supportive water sector. So if today's discussion has inspired you, I encourage you to stay connected through the IWA women in water program, the young water professionals community and the many opportunities IWA provides to connect, volunteer, and continue your professional development. Um and speaking of, we've got a few uh events coming up. So within the women in water program, we do still have a couple more webinars within this series. On the 19th of August, um there will be a webinar focusing on indigenous women guardians of water. And then on the 2nd of September, um a webinar to really dive into the details of the women in water program and what to expect in Glasgow. Next slide. [clears throat] There's various other uh webinars and events coming up as well. Uh the strategic trenchulus rehabilitation technologies for water loss reduction um is coming up on the 21st of July. Uh next uh there's a there's also a YWP regional call focused on the uh Europe region on the 24th of July. Next uh of course uh the World Water Congress and exhibition uh being hosted in Glasgow from the 4th to the 8th of October this year. And next and then shortly after that uh in November is the digital water summit um to be held in Istanbul. Uh and of course uh if you are not already an IWIA member, highly encourage you to get involved so that you can make the most of of the networks and events and opportunities that IWA has to offer. Um so if you are um signing up as a new member there is a discount on offer um with the code available there on the slide um available until the end of this year. And I think that brings us to the end. So thank you very much again. Thank you for bearing with us as we went a bit over time. Um and I hope you all have a wonderful day or evening wherever you are in the world. Thank you very much.