Water's True Cost

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Bridge Michigan

Join Bridge Michigan and Circle of Blue for a discussion of the region's aging water infrastructure.

Bridge Michigan invites readers to join us from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on May 11 for a Zoom discussion about the state and region’s decrepit water infrastructure. In this hour, we'll look at Michigan's water funding and maintenance issues play out in cities big and small, as well as at the tap for water customers.Bridge Michigan environment reporter Kelly House and Circle of Blue’s Brett Walton will moderate a discussion with Tim Neumann, executive director of the Michigan Rural Water Association, Bonnifer Ballard, executive director of the Michigan Section of the American Water Works Association, and Ninah Sasy, policy and planning director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.Speaker biographies:Tim Neumann: Tim is the Executive Director of Michigan Rural Water Association and has been
 with Michigan Rural Water since June of 1999. When he started with MRWA in
 1999 he was the Chief Financial Office and became Executive Director in January
 2007. He received both a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree and also a Master in
 Business Administration Degree from Central Michigan University. Mr. Neumann
 has also completed Michigan Society of Association Executives Academy of
 Association Management program. Tim oversees the administration and
 management of the day-to-day operations of MRWA. These duties include
 overseeing an Association that operates on a $2.2 million dollar budget with 5
 federal programs and internal operations. He also oversees the legislative
 objectives of the association, enacting the goals and objectives of MRWA Board of
 Directors and interacting with a ten-member board of directors. Mr. Neumann has
 expertise in accounting, finance, governance and management.

Ninah Sasy: Ninah Sasy currently serves as the Policy and Planning Director with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Within this role, she is responsible for leading strategic alignment of the Department’s Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Strategy across state agencies and throughout Michigan.
 
Ninah has managed several statewide public health, environmental health, and emergency response initiatives. Most recently she served as the inaugural Chief of the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate. While in this role, she served as a conduit to align state, local, and community efforts to support communities impacted by water quality issues. She also led interagency response efforts to ensure that resources were aligned for a greater impact in communities. Before assuming this role, she was the Executive Director of the Michigan Infrastructure Council. Throughout her nearly 20-year career, she has gained experience in continuous quality improvement, project management and strategic planning. Her diverse career working for several State agencies has equipped her with the background knowledge to understand the importance of bridging our regulatory, policy and funding efforts to support health communities. She has also built a network of stakeholders, in multiple sectors, to help develop comprehensive responses to issues impacting Michigan communities. She brings her public health background coupled with her experience leading efforts to support water equity and infrastructure planning to her role as MDHHS Policy and Planning Director.

Bonnifer Ballard: 
Bonnifer Ballard is the Executive Director of the Michigan Section of the American Water Works Association (MI-AWWA). Ballard is responsible for implementing the organization’s strategic plan and works closely with the Board and other leaders on identifying and responding to emerging issues. Under her leadership, MI-AWWA has transitioned from a traditional association model to a more modern structure that offers both micro- and macro-volunteer opportunities, and has worked closely with leadership to move to a hybrid Carver-Tecker model of governance.

She was formerly with the American Nuclear Society where she served as Director of Communication and Outreach as well as Director of the Center for Nuclear Science and Technology Information. In her role there, Ballard was responsible for internal and external communications, policy communications, chapter relations, professional division relations, fundraising, and member recognition. 

Ballard has been in nonprofit management for more than 20 years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Cleary University and a Master’s degree in Leadership Development from North Central College. She is a U.S. Navy veteran.

Ballard is married to her husband, Todd, and they have two children, Adam and Erika. She enjoys riding her motorcycle and walking her dogs, Moe (a golden retriever), Balou (a yellow lab), and Nala (a goldendor).

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Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center- Education Room

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Water's True Cost

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