Lauren Roth Venu

3Rwater, Inc. was formed in 2019 to increase access to water management solutions. Founder Lauren Roth Venu is an ecopreneur, a TEDx speaker, and a published author, who is passionate about developing innovative, nature-based solutions to build climate resiliency. While doing her undergraduate at the University of Colorado at Boulder in water resources, she became more aware and concerned about the human footprint on the earth’s resources and the pollution entering into the planet’s water and food systems. During her last year, she underwent a research project where she discovered nature-based solutions- the power of sunflowers in their capacity to break down radioactive materials. This was a breakthrough moment and after graduation, she went on to work for the Bioneer, Dr. John Todd, inventor of the Living Machine technology – an engineered natural treatment system that treats polluted water and produces clean water. Later in 2006, after further study in indigenous Hawaiian water management practices, taking a deeper dive into climate science and receiving her MSc in Oceanography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa she formed Roth Ecological Design International (REDI). REDI develops water resource and climate adaptation strategies, green infrastructure design, and delivery of innovative solutions for onsite water reuse for new and redevelopments. While at REDI, she worked with a diverse array of clients from developers, educational institutions and the public sector where it became apparent that there needed to be a more efficient way to identify stormwater capture opportunities, collect data to measure the value of distributed infrastructure and use metrics to support meeting water management goals, funding and policy development. From there 3Rwater was born and Follow the Drop emerged as a multi-faceted stormwater tool and data center to help both utilities and their communities build climate resiliency. She deeply believes that activating local communities in stormwater management practices and regenerating natural systems in urban spaces will be critical for climate adaptation and mitigating the effects of increased urbanization and climate change.

Russell Schindler

ALBERT “RUSSELL” SCHINDLER, P.G.

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Over 37 years of experience developing, implementing and managing a wide variety of environmental projects and programs including; soil and groundwater remediation projects using various types of remediation, implementation of chemical, liquid waste, hazardous waste, and solid waste management programs and procedures, hydrogeological investigations, industrial regulatory compliance audit programs, sewer and water system needs evaluations, level I and II environmental (ASTM) property assessments, asbestos inspections and remediation, and mold inspections and remediation.
Developed and patented the money saving Enhanced Dissolved Oxygen Technology (E-DOT®) System, a ground water remediation/treatment system, which is becoming widely used across the country.
Developed and patented the Multi-Arrayed Vacuum (MAV®) System, which is an effective and
revolutionary free product recovery system. Also has a patent pending on the Per-Petual® System, a simple and effective hydrogen peroxide injection system for soil and ground water
remediation/treatment and most recently developed the SampleServe.com data management and reporting software application.
CERTIFICATIONS
Professional Geologist #PG-000309-G, Pennsylvania
Certified Underground Storage Tank Professional #103, Michigan

EDUCATION
B.S. Earth Science, 1987, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
ALBERT

Peter Yolles

Peter Yolles is the managing partner at Echo River Capital, a venture capital firm that he founded in 2021 to invest in software-enabled water and wastewater technologies that improve human health, the environment, and climate resilience. With an MBA from Yale School of Management and a Master’s Degree in Water Science, Management and Policy from Yale School of the Environment, Peter has over 30 years of experience in the water industry as an impact investor, entrepreneur, operator, and advisor.

Peter’s mission is to support founders and entrepreneurs who are developing innovative solutions for the water sector, such as data analytics, AI, IIoT, wastewater treatment and reuse, and decarbonization of the water cycle. Peter shares his strategic and operational expertise with emerging companies to help them achieve ambitious growth and impact. Echo River Capital is a certified B Corporation and is recognized by ImpactAssets 50 as a preferred Emerging Manager.

With 30 years of experience in the water industry, Peter is a passionate impact investor, entrepreneur, operator, and advisor. Peter founded and led Echo River Capital (www.echorivercap.com), a venture capital firm that invests in software-enabled water and wastewater technologies that improve human health, the environment, and climate resilience. Echo River Capital is a certified B Corporation and is recognized as an ImpactAssets 50 Impact Fund.

Some of Peter’s talks, panels and presentations include: SXSW, Sustainable Water Investment Summit, WaterSmart Innovations Conference, American Water Works Association, UN Climate Summit, UC Berkeley Haas, UCSB Bren School, Dominican University, Stanford GSB, University of San Francisco, and Yale School of the Environment.

Max Spanier

Former Marketo AE turned GTM Recruiter – Helping Hiring Managers Achieve Pipeline Goals #𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗠𝗮𝘅

Max Spanier is the owner of Sloane Staffing.

Max started his business because his former customers struggled to find talent. While working for Adobe, during his meetings with potential new clients, and every one of his customers asked the same question: “This product is great, but do you have anyone in your network that can manage the platform? We’re not sure if we’ll be able to effectively run your software.” It was then that he discovered one of his biggest challenges in my field: the actual recruitment and hiring of people with a marketing technology background.

Sloane Staffing is now a white glove recruitment service that specializes in making the perfect match between companies who are having challenges finding talent and candidates who aren’t necessarily looking for jobs. Max works with many clients nationwide that leverage Marketo, which are roles can be tough to fill and are in high demand (over 600 new Marketo positions were posted to LinkedIn last month alone.) Some of the roles he places include Directors of Marketo Practice, Directors of Digital Marketing/Demand Gen (with emphasis on Marketo), Marketing Operations Managers, Marketo Architects, etc. At Sloane Staffing, Max and his team are more than just a hiring agency, they are partners.

Inês Lousinha Ribeiro Breda

Inês is the Host of Finding Water Podcast and the Senior Manager of Global Partnerships and Alliances at GRUNDFOS.

Inês is passionate about all things water and on a mission to make a splash in the industry.
She has a strong background in water treatment and a focus on building strategic partnerships.
Inês Lousinha Ribeiro Breda’s professional profile:

Finding Water Podcast Host
In the Finding Water Podcast, Inês explores various water-related topics, from treatment innovations to climate challenges, through insightful conversations with water industry experts.

Senior Manager of Global Water and Climate Partnerships and Alliances at GRUNDFOS
Currently based in Denmark, Inês is responsible for cultivating strategic partnerships and alliances at GRUNDFOS, a prominent player in the water sector.

Water Advocacy
Secretary of the Young Water Professionals Steering Committee, Inês actively supports the development of young water professionals on a global scale. She worked on creating a sponsorship program to enhance the YWP network’s long-term strategy in Denmark as treasurer of the national board.

Water Treatment Expert
In my previous role as Product and Process Manager at Silhorko-Eurowater A/S, Inês drove innovation in water filtration technology and provided support to subsidiaries worldwide. In addition, she holds a Ph.D. in Manganese removal in drinking water biofilters, complemented by a specialization in Data Science from Johns Hopkins University.

Whether you’re interested in water treatment, climate resilience, or simply curious about the Finding Water Podcast, feel free to reach out!

Tom Kennedy

Tom Kennedy has been working in the public and private areas of water and wastewater since the late ’80s in various capacities. His primary experience is in the management of water and wastewater agencies with detailed experience in all aspects of these organizations. If you ask around, you will learn that Tom is focused on innovative solutions to tough problems. In California, Tom has a great deal of experience in matters regarding Local Agency Formation Commissions. He has served on the San Diego LAFCO Special District Advisory Committee since 2015 and has successfully managed several reorganizations.

Kennedy Water Consulting provides a wide range of services to a diverse group of clients. Work is focused in California but also spans around the world through engagements with the Asian Development Bank and United States Trade and Development Agency with projects in Samoa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Uzbekistan. KWC is an affiliate member of the San Diego Chapter of the California Special Districts Association as well as CALAFCO. Work focuses on all aspects of water and wastewater management with emphasis on information systems, water treatment, water operations, and non-revenue water.

Specialties include: Water and Wastewater operations, water system and employee performance management, organizational development, non-revenue water management, LAFCO matters, membrane treatment plant design and operation, management information systems design and implementation, GIS , public policy development, and most importantly delivering value to my customers.

Robbert Lodewijks

Robbert is an enthusiastic entrepreneur, who is cheerful, social, and gets excited about challenges related to managing innovations and people. He loves to use his mechanical engineering background and interest in innovations within a more people-orientated leadership role. With a Masters degree in Business Administration, a lot of learning experience at Acquaint, the chance of starting my own business (HULO) together with companions has been a great step in my carreer. 

Thanks to a targeted way of working within teams, he can achieve good results. He is always taking responsibility and is not afraid of a challenge. He has a passion for organizing and (working with) people, where my communication skills come in handy. Besides that, managing innovations and thinking on a strategic level and converting this to more tactical and operational approaches is one of his skills. The chance to show these aspects in reality at Acquaint is fantastic. This fast-growing young and innovative company offers fun and interesting challenges. 

With his experience at Acquaint, Robbert founded the company HULO together with three companions. Its mission is to make a big impact in the water industry by doing things differently and saving 10,000,000,000,000,000 Liters of clean drinking water by detecting leakages.

Since knowledge is becoming more and more important for water companies, HULO tries to convert knowledge to those water companies. With innovative research-backed algorithms we detect, localize and quantify leakages based on real-time flow and pressure data. 

We don’t like black-box software solutions, HULO is ‘giving water knowledge’.

To learn more, please visit https://hulo.ai/

Andrew and Teisha Vandekop

Andrew Vandekop, Inventor | CEO 

Andrew began his career in robotics engineering and sold his first patent at age 29. He’s been in new product development his entire career and has applied these skills to three additional patents. During the time he spent field testing the Well Water Finders prototype, he served as a founding team member of a telecom start-up that went public on the NYSE in 2006.

Teisha Vandekop, Founder | COO

Teisha created Well Water Finders as a way to share the technology with landowners – to help them determine if they have sufficient groundwater under their property to drill a water well and then giving that information to a water well driller. She has spent the last two years working with commercial developers, water well drillers and landowners to determine the groundwater potential for properties. Prior to this, she spent several years as an executive vice president at one of the world’s top PR agencies, executing new product introductions for Fortune 100 companies.

Well Water Finders is a portfolio member of Austin Technology Incubator – the deep tech incubator at The University of Texas at Austin. ATI is the longest active technology incubator in the United States and has helped numerous entrepreneurs effectively commercialize their breakthrough innovations and compete in the global marketplace. Notable achievements:

Steve Cavanaugh and Drew Blackwell

Steve Cavanaugh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cavanaugh & Associates, P.A.

When it comes to engineering, Steve Cavanaugh believes building a solid, firm foundation is critical to the long-term success of both people and infrastructures. A creative visionary with an unshakeable dedication to environmental stewardship and preservation, Steve combines the principles of an entrepreneur and innovator, with those of faithful servant to others. 

“The preservation of our natural resources is critical for future generations, whether in North Carolina or elsewhere in the world. At Cavanaugh, we are not just engineers simply building for the sake of growth. We are stewards of innovation—for our children and the children of the world,” says Steve. “Whether it’s finding a better way to build massive water distribution systems, or simply finding a leak in a town’s water line, it’s our privilege, not just a job.” 

From its founding in 1995, to today’s full-service engineering, surveying and utilities service company with headquarters in Winston-Salem and full service offices in Asheville and Wilmington, Cavanaugh & Associates, P.A. is a company where everyone looks to achieve the highest possible standards and solutions.

Specialties: NC State Water Infrastructure Commission, Water Audit Taskforce Chair, Asset Management Taskforce Chair, US Congressional assistant for Superfund Reauthorization Review , Program Manager for NC Rural Economic Center’s Water 2030 O&M Task Force 

Experience includes: AWWA Water Audit and Leak Detection, dams, and animal waste management systems

Drew Blackwell, Director of Water Efficiency at Cavanaugh & Associates, P.A.

With more than 18 years experience in water resource management, Drew’s focus and passion continues to grow in helping water utilities save water and reduce costs through water loss control programs. During this time, Drew has had the opportunity to work one-on-one with utilities to design their non-revenue water management programs to administering state and regional water loss control training and technical assistance programs based on the American Water Works Association (AWWA) M36 methodology. 

Drew has been fortunate to work with more than 15 states and provinces; with an appreciation that just like every water system is different, so are the drivers, state policies, and requirements where they are located.

Drew is the Secretary of the AWWA Water Loss Control Committee.

Asaf Pras

Asaf Pras is the co-founder and CTO of DataPond. He leads the development of AI-based water quality sensors to monitor e fecal coliforms and other pollutants in drinking water sources. DataPond’s sensors use a novel method that applies a deep neural network model to give a binary answer for the presence or absence of fecal coliforms, using a minimum of water quality and geographical parameters that can be measured in real time with low-cost and in-situ equipment. This method can reduce the time gaps between routine lab testing and improve drinking water quality and safety, addressing the SDG 6 targets.

Asaf Pras is a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Engineering at Tel Aviv University, where he conducts research on water quality modeling and analysis under the supervision of Prof. Hadas Mamane. Asaf has a strong background in data science, machine learning, and deep neural networks, as well as a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Earth Sciences, with an emphasis on Environmental Studies. Asaf’s goal is to find, develop, and test innovative ways to better and quickly understand what is in the water, except for H2O.