The Water Entrepreneur

Jen Millard

Jennifer Millard is the CEO and Co-Founder of mainelove, an independent water brand made in Maine that is helping drive innovation within the state’s growing water economy. Drawing on decades of experience in consumer goods, retail, technology, revenue growth, and business development, Jennifer is focused on creating new approaches that connect sustainability with economic opportunity.

At mainelove, Jennifer has helped pioneer a unique water-in-cans model built around distributed manufacturing. By working with Maine brewers and utilizing existing production capabilities, mainelove creates opportunities for local businesses to participate in the water economy while supporting a more innovative and sustainable approach to manufacturing and distribution. Her work reflects a broader vision of positioning Maine as a leader in water innovation while creating meaningful economic opportunities within local communities.

Prior to co-founding mainelove, Jennifer served as Managing Director and Digital and Technology Practice Lead at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, where she advised enterprises, private equity firms, venture capital firms, and investors on growth strategies, digital transformation, M&A, and portfolio development.

Her career also includes executive leadership roles across technology, commerce, loyalty, and consumer-facing businesses. Jennifer served as Chief Revenue Officer at Dosh prior to its acquisition by Cardlytics and as Chief Revenue Officer at Upside, where she worked at the intersection of machine learning, artificial intelligence, brick-and-mortar commerce, and consumer engagement. Earlier, she served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures and held global business development leadership roles at Mastercard following its acquisition of Truaxis, where she had served as Chief Revenue Officer.

Jennifer’s extensive retail and consumer experience includes leadership positions with Zoom Systems, McMillan Doolittle, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brown Shoe International, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Sears. Across these roles, she has developed deep expertise in go-to-market strategy, revenue generation, retail operations, innovation, organizational growth, and building businesses at different stages of development.

Jennifer earned her B.A. in American Studies from Colby College and participated in Stanford University’s d.school Innovation Program, with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. She has also studied business and finance at the Wisconsin School of Business and received an honorary master’s degree from Colby College.

Today, Jennifer brings her diverse background in consumer products, technology, innovation, and business strategy to the water sector, where she is focused on demonstrating how entrepreneurship and creative business models can strengthen local economies while advancing a more sustainable future for water.

Alysen Africano-Nila

Alysen Africano-Nila is a business development strategist, consultant, educator, and municipal leader with more than two decades of experience spanning transportation, energy, water, real estate, banking, and public service.

Since 2020, Alysen has worked as a Business Development Strategist and Consultant, advising organizations across the transportation, energy, and water sectors. Her work focuses on developing strategic opportunities, building relationships, and connecting organizations with the people and resources needed to move initiatives forward.

Alysen has also served the community of Highland Beach, Florida, as Vice Mayor since 2018, bringing her professional experience and community-focused leadership to local government.

Prior to her work in consulting and public service, Alysen spent more than a decade as an educator with the Palm Beach County School District. She also worked as a real estate broker and instructor, specializing in oceanfront and Intracoastal properties throughout Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Highland Beach.

Earlier in her career, Alysen held leadership positions in residential lending and underwriting with NCB Bank and Citibank Private Bank in New York, including roles as Vice President of Residential Lending and Assistant Vice President of Residential Lending Underwriting.

Alysen earned her Bachelor’s Degree, summa cum laude, from Dowling College. Her diverse background across business, education, finance, real estate, infrastructure, and public service gives her a unique perspective on building partnerships and advancing initiatives that serve both organizations and communities.

Justin Roush

Justin Roush is an Associate Professor of Economics at Xavier University’s Williams College of Business and the founding Program Director of Xavier’s Master of Science in Water Utilities Management, known as MS H2O. The program is the nation’s first master’s degree specifically focused on water utilities management and was created to equip current and future water professionals with the leadership, management, business, and analytical skills needed to navigate the increasingly complex challenges facing the water sector.

Roush brings an interdisciplinary perspective to the water industry, combining his background in economics with a deep interest in environmental issues, sustainability, risk, and public policy. Through his work at Xavier, he operates at the intersection of academia and practice, helping connect emerging water utility leaders with the economic tools, analytical rigor, professional networks, and industry knowledge necessary to make informed decisions about one of the most essential and consequential sectors of the 21st century.

As Director of MS H2O, Roush has been instrumental in designing and developing a graduate program specifically tailored to the needs of today’s water utility professionals. The program focuses on the management and leadership challenges unique to water utilities while providing students with a broader understanding of the economic, operational, financial, regulatory, and strategic forces shaping the industry. His work reflects a recognition that the future of water depends not only on engineering and technological innovation, but also on strong leadership, sound economic decision-making, effective management, and the ability to understand and communicate the value of water infrastructure.

Roush’s research spans environmental economics, behavioral economics, and public economics, with his recent work increasingly focused on the economic dimensions of water utility risk. His interests include insurance, risk mitigation, and consumer preferences surrounding water. He is particularly interested in understanding how economic incentives, risk, and human behavior influence decisions related to water and infrastructure. His broader research background includes work examining risk-taking, insurance, and social preferences from a behavioral economics perspective, as well as research into the environmental decisions of firms, including emissions decisions.

In addition to his leadership of MS H2O, Roush serves as Director of Xavier University’s Economics, Sustainability, and Society (ECOS) Program. The ECOS program prepares students for careers in corporate, nonprofit, and public-sector sustainability by bringing together economics, environmental issues, policy, and practical business applications. As director, Roush advises students, develops enrichment and networking opportunities, and maintains relationships with the business community. The program prepares students to contribute to data management and reporting, economic decision-making, cost-benefit analysis, and sustainability operations while developing a strong understanding of environmental issues and policy.

Roush joined Xavier University in 2019 as an Assistant Professor of Economics and became an Associate Professor in 2026. Prior to Xavier, he served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Georgia College from 2015 to 2019 and as a Visiting Instructor of Economics at Centre College. His academic career began at the University of Tennessee, where he served as both a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant. As a teaching assistant, he taught Intermediate Microeconomics and Principles of Economics, while his research work included projects with the National Defense Business Institute and research conducted under Dr. Marianne Wannamaker.

Roush earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville in 2015, with fields of specialization in Environmental Economics, Public Economics, and Experimental Economics. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from Centre College in 2010.

Throughout his career, Roush has focused on using economics to better understand complex real-world challenges. His work in water represents a natural extension of that approach: water utilities face decisions involving infrastructure investment, financial sustainability, risk management, public policy, consumer behavior, and long-term resource planning. By bringing economic analysis and business leadership into conversations about water, Roush works to help utilities and the professionals who lead them better understand the risks and opportunities shaping the future of the industry.

His work through MS H2O also reflects a broader commitment to building bridges between higher education and the water sector. Rather than preparing students solely for academic careers, the program is designed around the realities of the water profession and the needs of the people responsible for managing critical water systems. Through education, industry engagement, and professional networking, Roush is helping develop a new generation of leaders equipped to address the economic, organizational, and sustainability challenges facing water utilities.

Roush’s combination of economics expertise, academic leadership, sustainability experience, and commitment to the water sector positions him at an important intersection of water, economics, infrastructure, leadership, and public policy. His work is helping advance the conversation around how water utilities can better manage risk, make strategic investments, build organizational capacity, and prepare for the challenges of the future.

Congressman Mike Levin

Congressman Mike Levin is proud to represent California’s 49th Congressional District, which includes North County San Diego and South Orange County.

Currently serving his fourth term in the House of Representatives, Mike is a member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, where he serves on the Subcommittees on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies. Throughout his time in Congress, more than thirty-two of his bills have been signed into law by presidents of both parties. 

Mike was raised in South Orange County and attended local elementary and junior high schools. He spent his high school years at Loyola High in Los Angeles, and went on to study at Stanford University, where he served as the Student Body President. Upon graduation from Stanford, Mike served as a Coro Fellow and then attended Duke University School of Law.

Prior to being elected to Congress in 2018, Mike fought for climate action while working as an environmental attorney. He also served on the board of the Center for Sustainable Energy and co-founded Sustain OC, helping accelerate the transition toward more sustainable power generation and transportation alternatives.

As a Member of Congress, some of Mike’s top priorities are combating climate change, protecting our natural resources, and capitalizing on the economic benefits of a sustainable energy future. He has led legislation to transition the United States to zero emission vehicles, ban new offshore drilling along the coast of Southern California, responsibly develop renewable energy on public lands, and much more. He is a Vice Chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), the leading House caucus focused on issues related to environmental protection, climate change, and clean energy.

Throughout his career, Levin has been a passionate leader on environmental protection, clean energy, and combating climate change.

Shannon Knee is the Founder and CEO of Cetos Water, overseeing the commercialization of the TSSE technology.

Shannon brings deep expertise in commercializing products and technologies through her career as a private and public markets investor at Goldman Sachs’s Principal Investment Area, Glenview Capital and Cornell Capital. Through these roles, she was responsible for deploying over $1.5bn of capital across the industrials, healthcare, and media and telecom landscapes, driving significant value creation through active collaboration with management teams. Prior to Cetos, she operated an independent consulting firm helping growth companies commercialize their best-in-class products across the tech, consumer, and health & wellness landscapes. Shannon also worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, advising large institutional clients on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and strategic financial planning strategies.

Shannon has a BSE with concentrations in finance and management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where she held distinctions as a Joseph Wharton Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar.

Congressman Jim Costa represents California’s 21st Congressional District, encompassing Fresno and Tulare counties. A senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, he has played an instrumental role in shaping the 2008, 2014, and 2018 Farm Bills, forging bipartisan partnerships to strengthen food security, support agricultural producers, and invest in rural communities.

A dedicated advocate for the San Joaquin Valley, Congressman Costa has led efforts to secure reliable water resources and advance critical infrastructure investments, including projects such as the B.F. Sisk Dam, Friant-Kern Canal, and Sites Reservoir.

As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Costa is committed to promoting democratic values and advancing U.S. interests abroad. His extensive international engagement has included visits to Ukraine, Armenia, and the Middle East, where he has worked to strengthen diplomatic relationships and support global stability.

Prior to his service in Congress, Costa spent 24 years in the California State Legislature, representing the San Joaquin Valley in both the California State Senate (1994–2002) and California State Assembly (1978–1994), building a distinguished record of public service focused on agriculture, water policy, economic development, and infrastructure.

Jennifer Pierre 

Jennifer Pierre
General Manager, State Water Contractors

Jennifer Pierre serves as General Manager of the State Water Contractors (SWC), a statewide nonprofit association representing 27 public water agencies that receive water from California’s State Water Project. Collectively, these agencies provide water to more than 27 million Californians and irrigate approximately 750,000 acres of farmland.

With more than 20 years of experience in California water policy, Delta management, and water supply planning, Jennifer leads the SWC’s efforts to advance reliable, sustainable, and affordable water supplies for communities throughout the state. She is recognized for her commitment to collaboration, science-based decision-making, and balancing water management objectives with environmental stewardship.

Prior to joining SWC in 2017, Jennifer spent 14 years with ICF International, where she served as a Principal and led complex water supply, restoration, and planning projects throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its tributaries. Her expertise includes State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations, environmental compliance, ecosystem management, regulatory policy, and stakeholder engagement. Throughout her career, she has successfully guided multidisciplinary teams of engineers, hydrologists, biologists, and policy experts in developing technical analyses, environmental documentation, and water resource solutions.

Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology and Management, with an emphasis in Conservation Biology, from the University of California, Davis.

Dave Stuckenberg

David J. Stuckenberg, PhD, MPS Co-founder, President, COO, and Vice Chairman of the Board

Dr. David Stuckenberg is a globally recognized
strategist, technologist, and American industrialist
shaping the future of national security, critical
infrastructure, and innovation. Named a “Young
Disruptor” by NATO and described by senior U.S.
military leaders as “the George Kennan of this
century,” he has also been called “a National Treasure”
by the Director of the CIA. He is recognized a U.S.
leading water industry executive and advises local,
state, and federal governments on water security and
infrastructure resilience.

Dr. Stuckenberg’s career bridges government, industry,
and academia. He has managed nuclear treaties,
advised senior policymakers, and founded deep-tech
startups that influence defense, sustainability, and
infrastructure modernization on five continents. His
research and strategies have directly shaped U.S.
defense policy, military basing, and critical infrastructure initiatives. A sought-after speaker, he has delivered keynotes at the UN, NATO, NASDAQ, Chatham House, King’s College London, The White House, and CES.

As a National Security Advisor at the U.S. Department of State, he helped establish global peacekeeping frameworks. Prior to this, he led and directed a Joint Chiefs of Staff Task Force that unified more than 150 organizations—research leading to a Presidential Executive Order. He is regarded as a leading authority on compound risks, gray zone conflict,
and hybrid warfare.

A Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, he advanced decentralized water technologies and served as a U.S. Air Force Strategic Policy Fellow—representing the top 0.001% of officers. Today, he is Chairman
of the American Leadership & Policy Foundation and a Council Member at the Council on Global Competition and Innovation.

An accomplished inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Stuckenberg has co-founded multiple technology ventures and served as President, CEO, and COO. His strategies have been adopted by organizations including Deloitte, Citi, and BP, and recognized by Oracle and leading international universities. He has judged NATO’s Innovation Hub and mentors founders in defense and emerging tech ecosystems.

With over 90 patents to his name, TIME Magazine named three of his inventions the “Best of 2025.” A decorated combat pilot with over 150 special operations missions, he continues his service as a Colonel in the Air National Guard.

Dr. Stuckenberg holds a Ph.D. in International Affairs and Strategy from King’s College London, an M.S. in Politics from The George Washington University, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Central Missouri.

Janet Anderson

Janet Anderson, PhD, DABT
Principal Scientist & Practice Director, Health Sciences
Board-Certified Toxicologist | Austin, Texas

Dr. Janet Anderson is a board-certified toxicologist and human health risk assessor with over 15 years of experience advising federal agencies, municipalities, and private industry. As a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology, she specializes in chemical risk management, site-specific risk assessments, public health policy analysis, regulatory compliance, and advancing corporate environmental and public health stewardship.

Dr. Anderson is internationally recognized for her expertise in unregulated and emerging contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4-dioxane, and microplastics. With a strong foundation in evaluating both emerging and legacy chemicals, she ensures that scientifically robust, defensible methodologies inform regulatory and corporate decision-making processes.

A sought-after speaker, Dr. Anderson regularly presents at scientific conferences, trade association events, regulatory forums, technical webinars, and community stakeholder meetings. She is also an experienced testifying expert in litigation matters involving toxicology and human health risk.

Currently, Dr. Anderson serves as Principal Scientist and Practice Director for Health Sciences at Exponent, where she leads toxicology and human health risk assessment initiatives, drives strategic growth, mentors the next generation of health scientists, and collaborates across disciplines to deliver high-impact solutions to clients.

In addition to her consulting work, she serves on the Board of the Water & Health Advisory Council. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Anderson held leadership roles at GSI Environmental Inc. and Integral Consulting Inc. She began her career in public service, working as a toxicologist for the United States Air Force and as a biologist and postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she contributed to chemical toxicity assessments and managed emerging contaminant programs.

Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Cincinnati and her B.A. in Biology from Wittenberg University.

Rob Kursinski

Rob Kursinski is a distinguished atmospheric and space science expert with over four decades of experience spanning academia, government research, and private industry. He currently serves as Chief Scientist at PlanetiQ, where he leads scientific strategy and innovation in satellite-based atmospheric sensing and weather intelligence.

Prior to joining PlanetiQ in 2015, Kursinski was Chief Scientist at Moog/BroadReach Engineering, where he advanced remote sensing technologies and atmospheric measurement systems. His work builds on a long and impactful tenure at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he spent 20 years as a Research Scientist contributing to pioneering developments in GPS radio occultation and atmospheric science.

Kursinski also held a joint professorship at the University of Arizona in Atmospheric Sciences and Planetary Sciences, mentoring the next generation of scientists while conducting influential research from 2000 to 2011.

He holds a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the California Institute of Technology, a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Music Theory. He also completed specialized studies in microprocessor hardware, software, and digital signal processing through UCLA Extension.

Known for bridging scientific research with real-world applications, Kursinski has played a key role in advancing satellite-based weather observation technologies that improve forecasting accuracy and global climate understanding.