Member Portrait: Leila Goodwin - The Serendipity of Life

Originally printed in the Fall 2016 issue of NC Currents magazine.

When Leila Goodwin retired from her position as Water Resources Manager with the Town of Cary in September 2015, she left a gap that was hard to fill. “I left at a time when there were some other staff changes,” she recalls. “So I indicated that I would be willing to help out by transitioning and making my institutional memory available.”

That institutional memory and industry experience is considerable, built on a career that started after Goodwin graduated with a Masters in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985. At the time, she had no idea she would be spending the next 30 years working in water and wastewater.

Applying for a variety of jobs, she accepted a position as a Project Engineer with CH2M Hill (now CH2M) in Gainesville, Florida. “The joke forever afterward was that I interviewed them as much as they interviewed me,” she laughs. “I clicked with the people there and the projects sounded interesting so I took the job.” Because her work mainly revolved around water supply, she became involved in the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

After 10 years in Gainesville, she transferred to the Charlotte office where she began to work very closely with one of the clients, the Town of Cary. Beginning to feel a little “burned out” with consulting, Goodwin was ready for a change. Unbeknownst to her, the Town of Cary was in the process of creating a Water Resources Manager position.

Seeing the posting, she noticed that the description was a perfect match for what she was already doing for them as a consultant. “I told myself that I either need to apply for this or never complain again,” recalls Goodwin.

The position involved planning and regulatory work related to water resource management, including issues of water supply and wastewater treatment. The focus was less on day-to-day operations and more on long-term strategy and the big picture. “Nobody will know if I did my job well until 2020 or 2030,” notes Goodwin, only half-joking. “That’s all a part of working in long-range planning. You don’t immediately see the results of what you spend your time on.”

Because her work included long-term planning for wastewater treatment, she decided to join the Water Environment Federation (WEF). Her participation was overdue. When she was still working for CH2M Hill, one of her Charlotte colleagues was Joe Stowe, an industry legend and a big booster of the NC AWWA-WEA. “He said, you need to get involved,” recalls Goodwin.

When she first started volunteering with the NC AWWA-WEA, there was no Water Resources Committee or a committee that focused on long-range, general water management issues. Instead, she joined the Government Affairs Committee.

Then in 2005, John McLaughlin started a Water Resources Committee and asked Goodwin to join. “I was thrilled that there was finally a committee for what I spend most of my time on,” recalls Goodwin. From vice-chair, she became the chair, at the same time continuing to serve on both Government Affairs and Water Reuse committees. She has also served several times on the Nominating Committee.

Goodwin was instrumental in reviving the Water Resources Committee last year, after it was temporarily disbanded. “We’re planning a portion of an afternoon session at the Annual Conference,” she notes, adding that the committee’s work also supports the Confluence Conference. “Confluence is all about resource planning and management.”

Then, in 2014, Goodwin was appointed by Governor Pat McCrory to the North Carolina State Water Infrastructure Authority (SWIA), created by the North Carolina General Assembly to assess and make recommendations about the state’s water and wastewater infrastructure needs. “That is one of the highlights of my career,” she says, adding that SWIA consolidates multiple state and federal funding programs for water and wastewater infrastructure under its purview. “Part of our task is to try to streamline and better leverage that funding.”

Over the past two years, the SWIA has modified the point system for assessing applications and tried to cut through some of the red tape. Goodwin notes that she has learned a great deal about how projects are funded as well as how differences in size and geography affect utilities. “What causes utilities to be in a position to need grant funding in order to operate or do a special project?” asks Goodwin.

She has also worked on a small sub-committee, consisting of three of the nine SWIA members, with the goal of creating a master plan for water and sewer for North Carolina. Addressing the need for utilities to become more proactive in managing and financing their systems, the plan will focus on three areas: 1) aging and critical infrastructure; 2) attaining long-term viability; and 3) ensuring utility revenues provide appropriate infrastructure funding levels. Completion of the first draft is expected before the end of this year, after which it will be released for public comment.

Goodwin has also found that being on the SWIA has broadened her interests. Last year, at the NC AWWA-WEA National Conference, newly retired, she went to a session on ‘how to communicate with you board’ to learn how to be more effective in her new volunteer role. She was also able to leverage the leadership training offered to NC AWWA-WEA chairs.

“Now I always have my ears open to what will help further the Authority’s work,” explains Goodwin. “I spoke to Dave Saunders about the Academy and whether there is some collaboration possible.” One of the things the Authority has identified as important is tapping into existing training and education resources rather than trying to create new programs.

There are many organizations with similar goals, notes Goodwin. “What we want to do is to leverage these resources to meet some of the needs we have identified,” she says, adding that these partnerships are still at the exploratory stage. “There is synergy when so many organizations are aiming at the same goals.”

That synergy is something she has experienced on a personal level from her involvement in a broad range of organizations. Along with AWWA and WEF, Goodwin is a member of the American Water Resources Association and the Society of Women Engineers.She also served in a variety of leadership positions for the American Public Works Association. “From a management point of view, being involved in leadership roles for multiple organizations was a real benefit at work,” she reflects.

Since October 2015, however, Goodwin has been ‘mostly’ retired. In her spare time – even as a retiree, she does not have a lot of that – she practices and teaches yoga at a local studio.