We're talking about the Black Water Professionals Alliance

I was privileged to talk with Nicole Brown V.P. of the Black Water Professionals Alliance.? This interview was originally supposed to be a video but at a conference with over 25,000 participants….?

It was loud.?

To save your ears, the video has been transcribed and simplified for clarity.?

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your journey as a water professional.?

I’ve been in the water industry for about 27 years, from the beginning I started as an engineer. Over time with my desire to know people and my skills, the role transformed into a client development role. Now, I do a lot of community outreach, bringing the problem to the people, working together to find solutions, and most importantly having them understand it.?

Using this mindset we, the board, have initiated this with the Black Water Professional Alliance.? We looked around and saw the need for Black water professionals to gather, commune, network, share opportunities, and grow.?

How did BPWA come about?

Actually, the board was very intentional about creating a non-profit, making sure we could be sustained and that we could make something different.? Something for us, by us.

Can you give us an overview of BPWA? What is it about and who is it for??

I look at it in two different ways.

First, we need to recruit more black professionals into the water industry and second, we need to retain those that are already here.?

Many people I have known throughout my career have left. They said things like “This is not my space” “I don’t feel comfortable here” or “My voice isn't heard or appreciated”.? In the end, we lost that talent which is a loss for all of us.?

My goal and BPWA’s is to put our arms around those in our community, to let you know you belong here, and to strengthen you so we can do more while we’re are here. The hope is to influence the next generation by showing them that, yes water is a career and that they can make money and support their community.?

Community is an underlying theme and value for BPWA, and I have heard of one group in particular. Can you talk about Sistem?

Oh yes.

Sistem is an organization I kind of created after realizing many people were coming and asking me to be their mentor. The hurdle is I always say yes, because I don’t know how to say no, but honestly, I don’t have the time. I ended up creating a peer mentoring group and we talk about everything from technical things like PFAs to skincare. We as sistas, we gotta talk and share our community, it’s my favorite call of the week because I come as I am knowing that I will be met with nothing but love and support.

Now this is the type of programs we'd like to have in BPWA. It's not official yet, but it is an example of the type of groups we want within our community. Groups that celebrate the multifacetedness and diversity within our community.

Last but not least can you tell us what the next 12 months look like for BPWA??

Next year we plan to roll out our website. Currently, BPWA is a LinkedIn page, but we are expanding.? We plan to add new board members and start some committees in the spring.

We want to focus on communications and marketing. We need to get our voice out there, not just as BPWA, but the community as a whole. We need those who have a voice and can share our message.

Likely this can look different depending on the need.? It may be a regional focus. I’ve met people from Georgia who have a different set of items that they would like to focus on.? We can't be cookie cutter, though we are national the goal is to be a place for the diverse, regional, and communication needs of the whole industry.???

We need everyone's voice but don’t come just to talk.

If you are going to come, come with it. Bring us your ideas, and plans, and come up with something to do.? We need communicators, podcasts, white papers, writers, vloggers.??

Another area where we are looking for the community to be involved is strategy. We have started discussions about a potential conference, and networking events, something we can build on from year to year.?We need to build a house, a community that has space for everyone, and to do that we need people to step up to the plate.?

If you are interested in leading a committee, or simply finding where you can support this community please reach out to [email protected]

Want to join Sistem? You can find the group here : We are Sistem?

Want to join BWPA as a member or an ally? You can find the group here :https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/12489775/