Meaningful Conversations with Annyse

What if AI’s greatest gift is the chance to slow down?

In this episode, Annyse talks with Gigi Karmous-Edwards, one of the water sector’s leading voices on AI. Their conversation moves from bold living and acceptance to the courage it takes to break up with busy. Gigi shares how AI could give us time back for connection, creativity and presence. She also explains how it could help close the digital divide between large and small water utilities.

In this episode:

• Why Gigi asks “What would the cavemen do?” before every big decision
• The delayed flights that taught her to listen and let go
• Why rest, not hustle, is where creativity comes from
• Five priorities for AI in water utilities
• Gigi’s advice if you’re feeling unsure about AI

About Gigi Karmous-Edwards
Gigi Karmous-Edwards is CEO of Karmous-Edwards Consulting, advising water utilities and technology companies worldwide on digital transformation and AI. She led the technical work on the Water Research Foundation’s project on AI for the global water sector and founded the SWAN Digital Twin Work Group.

Mentions in podcast

• GenAI course for Water Utilities: https://members.theh2otower.org/store
• SWAN Conference - SWAN 17th Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal - SWAN Forum
• Book: Zen and the Heart of Happiness - Zen and the Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss | Goodreads
• Flourishing Work Alliance - About the Flourishing Work Alliance
• AWWA Water Conference - 2027 Schedule-at-a-glance - American Water Works Association
• BlueTech Forum 2026
• The Role of Generative AI (GenAI) for the Global Water Sector - The Role of Generative AI (GenAI) for the Global Water Sector | The Water Research Foundation
• Water Environment Federation - Water Environment Federation: The Water Quality People
• Moonshot Missions - Non-Profit Water Systems Consulting | Moonshot Missions
• The Water Tower - Home - The Water Tower
• Eckhart Tolle - Home - Eckhart Tolle | Official Site - Spiritual Teachings and Tools For Personal Growth and Happiness
• Strive Market - https://www.thriverestaurantgroup.com/about
• White paper from WRF 5321 research https://www.waterrf.org/research/projects/role-generative-ai-genai-global-water-sector
• Paper published on Security for Water Utilities with GenAI: https://www.wateronline.com/doc/ai-is-already-entering-the-water-sector-here-is-how-we-use-it-without-losing-control-0001 

Ahead of Series 3, Annyse sits down with Laura Gallindo, our very first guest, for a full-circle conversation recorded on a retreat with friends nearby. This time, Laura holds the deck. Annyse draws "Power." Laura draws "Peace."

In this episode:

• How a hesitant idea for a podcast became, two series in, a project Annyse now moves through with real confidence
• What power looks like when women hold it and care for the whole, not just a corner of it
• Why abundance, not competition, keeps showing up across these conversations 
• Peace is what power looks like when it's nurturing rather than forcing
• Why the calmest person in the room is often the most powerful 
• The case for water already holding the Power card 

"The most powerful person in the room is the calmest person in the room."

Series 3 launches in October.

The World Is Full of Nice People Trying to Do Nice Things - Ana Carolina Maganha de Almeid on Water, Green Lands & the Human Work

About this episode

What does the future of water actually require of us? In this episode, Annyse sits down with Ana Carolina Maganha de Almeid for a conversation that moves from a single card ("Mystery") to green landscapes, the power of community, the wave of regulation coming for Europe's water, and a deceptively simple insight: the hardest problems we face aren't technological - they're human.

Ana brings the precision of a microbiologist and the optimism of someone who keeps looking for the people doing things right. The result is a conversation that's clear-eyed about the challenges and genuinely hopeful about the people rising to meet them. By the end, you may find yourself wanting to go and find the good work happening near you and ask how it got started.

About the guest

Ana Carolina Maganha de Almeida is a senior regulatory and environmental consultant. A biologist with a PhD in Microbiology from Trinity College Dublin, she is an expert in EU water and environmental law and runs her own consultancy supporting clients with regulatory strategy and compliance intelligence - helping them prepare for upcoming water and wastewater legislation.

Originally from São Paulo, Ana studied biology in Brazil before continuing her research journey in Germany and then Ireland, where she completed a PhD in drinking-water treatment and spent eleven years before moving into industry.  She is now living in Italy and is passionate about translating biology into work that is genuinely useful for people and companies - the place, as she puts it, where science gets to be used. 

What we cover

• Why Ana chose the "Mystery" card and how the colour green became the heart of the conversation
• Water protection as the protection of green lands on the surface and underneath
• What Ireland's National Federation of Group Water Schemes reveals about community stewardship of water
• Why communities (and the leaders within them) have to be cultivated
• Ana's path from biology in São Paulo to regulatory strategy in Europe
• The EU urban wastewater legislation raising the bar for utilities - PFAS, pharmaceuticals and beyond
• Why the real barrier to progress is human, not technological
• The communication gap in science and how evidence gets blurred with fear
• Where Ana's optimism comes from: best-in-class work, and the humans behind it
• "The leaders of tomorrow are the ones who can foster community."

Mentions

• National Federation of Group Water Schemes (Ireland) - Home - National Federation of Group Water Schemes
• EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive - Directive - EU - 2024/3019 - EN - EUR-Lex
• CUWA - California Urban Water Agencies
• PFAS - PFAS Explained | US EPA
• Secondary water treatment - Secondary Treatment - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• Ecotoxicology - Ecotoxicology: Overview - HSE
• Circular economy - The Circular Economy | CIRCULÉIRE

What would it take to make sure everyone – everyone - has access to safe, clean, affordable water? In this episode, Annyse sits down with Wendy Broley for a conversation that moves from a single card drawn from a deck ("Hope") to the future of water, the limits of control and the kind of leadership the next chapter will actually require.

Wendy's throughline is disarmingly human: the hardest problems in water aren't only technical - they're relational. Solving them means stitching back together a system we deliberately broke into pieces and that takes vulnerability, trust and the willingness to show up as our whole selves. By the time the recording stopped, it felt less like an interview and more like two friends thinking out loud. We suspect you'll feel the same.

About Wendy 

Wendy Broley is Executive Vice President at Brown and Caldwell, where she leads the firm's private sector business unit after previously serving as Chief Technology Officer. A licensed professional engineer with a background in drinking water and reuse planning, engineering, and operations, she has spent 25 years working with municipal and private sector agencies to build more diverse, resilient water portfolios through alternative supplies and integrated "One Water" planning.

Wendy is also Executive Director of the California Urban Water Agencies, where she's helped shape state water policy on reuse, One Water, affordability, and accessibility. She was a Co-Principal Investigator on the Water Research Foundation's Blueprint for One Water, advancing One Water thinking into the culture and operations of water organizations.

What we cover

• Wendy chose the "Hope" card and why hope is action, clarity, and vision rather than something soft
• The Hopes & Fears practice for teams, and why naming hopes and fears out loud changes outcomes
• Control as a source of tension and how hope redirects that energy toward shared movement
• "What got us here is not going to get us there": why the water industry's past successes won't solve its next problems
• One Water - reconnecting the fragmented governance of water, wastewater, and stormwater into a single interconnected cycle
• How the California Urban Water Agencies built unity among 11 agencies around one shared vision
• Water as an economic engine and the workforce development opportunity hiding in plain sight
• The "And" in leadership - holding your own role while lifting the whole organization
• Why slowing down and defining the problem beats defaulting to speed
• Two-way doors, treating decisions as experiments and seeing mistakes as data
• Authenticity over persona and the myth of control that keeps us small

Memorable quotes

"What got us here is not going to get us there."

"The solutions aren't just technical - they're relational, they're regional, they're about connection and trust."

"A mistake is just data, and we are just learning."

"Creating room for people to just be calms the collective nervous system."

Resources & links

• Brown and Caldwell - Home - Brown and Caldwell
• California Urban Water Agencies - California Urban Water Agencies
• Water Research Foundation, Blueprint for One Water - Blueprint for One Water | The Water Research Foundation
• UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation) - Goal 6: Water and Sanitation - United Nations Sustainable Development

Guest: Melissa Meeker, CEO, The Water Tower 

About this episode

What does it look like when a 35-year water industry veteran finally steps fully into her power and decides to use it to change everything? In this episode, we sit down with Melissa Meeker, CEO of The Water Tower, a nonprofit water innovation centre in Georgia, to talk about workforce transformation, community healing, women in leadership, and why water might just be the most powerful force for human change we have.

Melissa chose the Power card and what unfolded was a conversation about what becomes possible when we stop pretending we don't have any.

In this episode, we cover

• Why so many leaders spend their careers not quite owning their leadership and what shifts when they finally do
• The difference between Big “L” and little “l” leadership, and why the little l matters most
• How The Water Tower is transforming lives through non-traditional workforce recruitment in the water sector
• The systems-level vision: connecting water utilities, social services and community health into one self-sustaining cycle
• Women in water - the post-pandemic leadership gap and what it's really telling us
• Why language is generative, and how naming new kinds of roles could change who steps into them
• Melissa's one piece of advice for every young professional just starting out

Guest bio

Melissa Meeker is the Chief Executive Officer of The Water Tower, a nonprofit water innovation centre based in Georgia. With more than 35 years of experience in water resources management, Melissa has worked across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, with a focus on water supply diversity and resilience through alternative sources including reuse, stormwater, and desalination. Her expertise spans public policy, regulation, innovative technologies, workforce development, and public engagement.

Quotes from this episode

"Water is a purifying factor - so why can't we use it to give people a fresh start?"

"School cannot be all things to all people. We need different ways to serve people with different perspectives if we want to create the world, we actually want to live in."

"Language is generative. It generates the future. When we get clear about that and talk about things out loud - that starts to matter."

"Do it. Even before you feel ready."

Resources & links mentioned

• The Water Tower
• ReSoLve 
• Philadelphia Workforce Hub 

A conversation with Carolina Garcia, Co-Founder & CEO, Myzelio

Episode summary

In this episode, we sit down with Carolina Garcia - sustainability leader, Antarctic explorer, and founder of Myzelio - to explore what it really takes to drive transformative climate and nature action. Carolina draws on nearly a decade at AB InBev, four years at the WWF and her work building Myzelio to make a bold argument: the planetary crisis we face is, at its root, a spiritual crisis of disconnection. And the antidote is not more alarming data - it’s wonder, trust, and love.

About Carolina Garcia

• Co-Founder & CEO of Myzelio — embedding on-demand teams that execute, finance, and scale climate, nature, and circularity solutions across value chains.
• Nearly 8 years at AB InBev, including leading the global 100+ Accelerator and serving as Global Director for Nature.
• Almost 4 years at the World Wildlife Fund, contributing to climate advocacy and international negotiations.
• Homeward Bound Fellow (Antarctic Explorer) and Aspen Institute First Mover Fellow.
• Recognised as one of the Women of the Future Initiative’s 50 Rising Stars in ESG
• One Young World Ambassador and leadership team member of the Mundo Común foundation. 

What we cover in this episode

• Carolina chose the “Trust” card and what moving at the speed of trust actually means in practice.
• The planetary crisis as a spiritual crisis: how disconnection from nature is driving systemic collapse.
• Why the apocalyptic narrative is counterproductive and what to do instead.
• How Myzelio reignited wonder in a PepsiCo strategy session before touching a single KPI.
• The concept of refugia from ecology and how it applies to human communities and organisations.
• Daughters for Earth: what 24 women protecting seven ecosystems taught us about dispensable leadership.
• Dissolving the hero paradigm and why that is freeing for everyone, regardless of gender.
• How Myzelio operates as “a practice of the future, in the present”: self-organised, non-hierarchical, and trust-led.
• Mythical time, outrageous joy, and why work does not have to feel like a box of scarcity.

 Key concepts mentioned

• Planetary boundaries — humanity has breached 7 of the 9. Scientists now refer to this as the Anthropocene era.
• Refugia from ecology: geographical areas where species survive periods of severe environmental change. Used by Mundo Común as a metaphor for communities that hold and regenerate possibility.
• Islands of Coherence - spaces where people can breathe, reimagine, and reconnect before re-entering the noise of the system.
• The hero paradigm - the dominant leadership model of the indispensable, all-knowing individual at the top. Carolina argues we need to dissolve this to unlock collective, regenerative leadership.
• Mythical time - Carolina’s concept for those experiences where time seems to expand, everything flows, and the work is joyful. A signal you are doing the right work, in the right way.
• Speed of trust - the idea that when trust is genuinely present, transformation accelerates. Carolina contrasts this with the transactional, extractive mode most organisations default to 

Podcast mentions

• Myzelio 
• Anthropocene geological era - What is the Anthropocene and why does it matter? | Natural History Museum
• Holocene geological era - Holocene epoch | Causes, Effects, & Facts | Britannica
• University of Derby – Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds - 

In this episode of Meaningful Conversations, Annyse speaks with Victoria Edwards - former concert pianist, founder of FIDO Tech, and CEO of K622 Tech. Victoria is using acoustics and AI to revolutionise how we detect and manage water loss, and she brings one of the freshest perspectives in the global water conversation.

Victoria drew the Endurance card and what unfolded was a powerful discussion about what it truly means to be a custodian of water, why real collaboration needs a commercial backbone, and how the sector must urgently reposition itself as the most compelling career destination on the planet.

In this episode we cover:

• Why "custodian" is a more powerful framing than "owner" and what it demands of all of us
• How FIDO built catalytic communities around stressed watersheds, including the Colorado River Basin
• Why commercial constructs are not a compromise — they are the engine of lasting impact
• AI in water: the difference between a precision tool and "Wikipedia on steroids"
• The talent crisis in water and the seatbelt law analogy that reframes how we solve it
• Why everyone knows the price of oil but almost nobody can tell you the cost of water

About Victoria Edwards: Victoria Edwards is the Founder Emeritus of FIDO Tech and CEO of K622 Tech. A winner of the Earth 05 Prize and member of the UK's Future Fifty, she specialises in innovative models for accelerating technical responses to the water crisis and building cross-sector catalytic communities at scale.

Mentions 

• Fido Tech - FIDO AI: Advanced water leak detection and management
• Colorado River Basin / FIDO initiative - Meta launches AI water program in Farmington, NM 
• Water neutral - What Is Water Neutrality?
• Water positive - Definition –
• Slow water movement - Erica Gies – Slow Water — by Erica Gies
• Maya civilisation and water  - Technology, Rainwater, and Survival of the Maya
• Digital Twins - What Is a Digital Twin? | IBM
• AI Hallucinations - What Are AI Hallucinations? | IBM 
• Quantum AI - Quantum AI: What it is and why it matters | SAS Ireland
• Bluey cartoon character - Bluey Characters | Learn More About Your Favourites!| Bluey Official Website

What does it mean to be truly wise about water? In this episode, host Annyse speaks with Cindy Wallis-Lage, a long-career water sector leader, about indigenous knowledge, the danger of solving the wrong problem, and why water needs to become a want — not just a need.

Cindy chose the Wisdom card and from that single image of waves and flowing water, an expansive conversation unfolded. Drawing on her experience as a former president at Black & Veatch Water and decades working across the sector, Cindy challenges some of the water industry's most embedded assumptions: about how we solve problems, who we invite to the table, and what relationship we want to have with water at all.

From the One Water movement and tribal community knowledge to the importance of vulnerability in leadership, this episode weaves together systems thinking, indigenous wisdom, and a powerful reframe - what if we stopped treating water as an entitlement and started treating it as something worth truly desiring?

Show Notes 

• US Water Alliance – Vision for a One Water Future - US Water Alliance
• True root cause analysis - What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA)? | ASQ
• 5 Whys - 5 Whys - What is it? | Lean Enterprise Institute 

Cindy L. Wallis-Lage, Retired C-Suite Executive

Cindy Wallis-Lage has served in the water industry for over 39 years through a combination of her work at Black & Veatch and service to public, private and non-profit industry organizations. Throughout her career, her focus has been on helping public and private entities successfully develop, enhance and manage their water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure via a variety of solutions and delivery methods.

Prior to her retirement, she served as Executive Director, Sustainability and Resilience for Black & Veatch to accelerate an enterprise-wide focus on sustainability and resilience solutions to support clients in the water, energy and telecommunications markets. Previously Wallis-Lage served as the President of the company’s global water business between 2012 and 2021 where she was responsible for the leadership and management of the company’s global water business. She also served on Black & Veatch’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors from 2012 until her retirement.

Currently Ms. Wallis-Lage continues to engage in the water industry by serving as a board member for several companies and co-leading ReSoLve, a non-profit focused on empowering and retaining women in the water industry.

Using her position, passion and knowledge, she is a champion of the Sustainable Development Goals and seeks to educate how holistic systems thinking can provide the needed long term human infrastructure to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability goals.

About this episode

What happens when a sector becomes so good at its job that it makes itself invisible? In this episode, Annyse sits down with Nicole Brown, a nationally recognised water leader, equity champion, and founding Vice President of the Black Water Professionals Alliance, for a conversation that is equal parts practical and profound.

Nicole brings 27 years of experience in the water sector to a question that goes far deeper than infrastructure: how do we build a new story for water - one rooted in abundance, reverence, and belonging - and who gets to be part of telling it?

What we explore in this conversation

• Why Nicole chose curiosity as her word for right now and what it means to choose forward motion over steady state
• The water sector's "invisibility problem" — how decades of operational excellence have disconnected the public from the value, the wonder, and the careers behind their tap
• The scarcity mindset that runs through water conversations and why Nicole is intentionally refusing it
• Robin Wall Kimmerer's The Serviceberry and what an economy of gratitude, reciprocity, and community could look like in the water space
• What it means to be a steward of water and why abundance and reverence are more connected than we think
• The Black Water Professionals Alliance, the Fairmount Water Works, and the power of exposure in building the next generation of water professionals
• Why constructs don't need to be destroyed - they can be dissolved, and something better built in their place

A moment that stayed with us

"The water sector has done a great job at being invisible. We've been so good at what we do that we've made water seem like magic - and when something seems like magic, people stop asking how it works."

About Nicole Brown

Nicole Brown is the Area Growth Lead for the Water Sector at GFT, where she helps utilities align innovation with meaningful public engagement. She is the founding Vice President of the Black Water Professionals Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to workforce equity and community connection in the water industry. In 2024, she received the WEF Mentorship Award for her dedication to growing the next generation of water professionals.

Show notes 

• The Serviceberry – Robin Wall Kimmerer - Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Black Water Professional Alliance Philadelphia - Black Water Professionals Alliance - Home Page
• Philadelphia Fairmount Water Works - Fairmount Water Works – Discover. Connect. Act.
• Epigenetics - Epigenetic Inheritance of Trauma Across Generations: A Review of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Epigenetic Mechanisms, Challenges and Implications for Today’s World | OxJournal

Guest: Kristen Atha | Director of Columbus Water & Power, City of Columbus

About This Episode

In this episode, Annyse sits down with Kristen Atha, Director of Columbus Water & Power for the City of Columbus, a leader who thinks in generations, leads with her whole self and is quietly doing some of the most important infrastructure work in America right now.

Appointed by Mayor Andrew Ginther in May 2022, Kristen leads an organisation of over 1,400 employees and provides essential water, power and water reclamation services to more than 1.5 million customers across Central Ohio and 26 suburban partners. She brings 25 years of engineering consulting expertise to a public sector role at one of the most pivotal moments in her region's history.

This is a conversation about legacy, leadership, humanity and what it truly means to build for people you will never meet. We also learn what being a mother of triplets has taught Kristen about leadership and it is one of the most beautiful stories we have ever heard on this podcast.

We think you will leave this episode wishing Kristen was your boss — or maybe even your mum!

The Big Idea

What if the most important decision you make today won't be fully understood for 50 years?

That is the question at the heart of this conversation. Kristen and her team think about legacy every single day, not as an abstract concept, but as a living, breathing responsibility that shapes every infrastructure decision, every partnership and every dollar invested in Central Ohio's water future.

What We Cover In This Episode

The Clarity Card: Kristen chose the Clarity card and saw in it a stream flowing through a field, a watershed with muddy edges. It sparked a powerful reflection on what clarity means in her work: clarity about water sources, about responsibility, about the legacy her team is creating right now for future generations.

Building for People You'll Never Meet: Columbus is growing at extraordinary speed. Semiconductor investment, data centres, AI and population growth are transforming the region. Kristen takes us inside what it means to plan a $1.6 billion water treatment plant while keeping legacy and humanity at the centre of every decision.

Slowing Down to Speed Up: When Kristen arrived as Director, the organization was in a difficult place post-Covid. Rather than racing forward, she slowed down, grounding her team in the history, care and incredible DNA of the organisation. It was counterintuitive. And it was exactly right.

The Triplets Story: Kristen is the mother of triplets. When her son struggled to breathe after birth, placing him between his two sisters was all it took. She carried that story into her leadership, because we all need each other's presence to feel safe, to function and sometimes literally to breathe.

Everything Happens Through People: A profound exploration of what it means to build cohesion in a team, stitch the past to the present and knit both to the future, consciously and intentionally.

The Circular Water Economy: Kristen's team is exploring how recycled wastewater can serve incoming industries, protecting the drinking water supply for residents while enabling economic growth. In the Midwest, this conversation was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Writing a Playbook That Doesn't Exist Yet: There is no template for how cities handle the water demands of AI and data centres. Kristen and her team are projecting into the future and making educated decisions that will become the new normal for growing cities around the world.

Widening the Responsibility Circle: How Kristen has broadened decision making beyond the utility, inviting in partners, developers and community organisations to share responsibility for stormwater, infrastructure and affordability. Why it is