Kathy Bates is the current Program Coordinator and Instructor for the Environmental Health and Water Quality Technology program offered at Milwaukee Area Technical College-Mequon. She has been instructing courses in water and wastewater treatment, hazardous materials, and environmental chemistry for 18+ years that includes specialized course development and delivery of on-site training in both the wastewater industry and public health sector. Prior to coming to MATC, Kathy was employed in both private and public sector roles in the areas of water treatment, field monitoring, sample collection, laboratory analyses, and regulatory compliance, to name a few. She keeps current in water and other environmental issues. In 2013, Kathy was the first Wisconsin graduate of the Water Environment Federation - Water Leadership Institute. She has previously served on Wisconsin’s Waterworks Association Educational Committee. Kathy is the past president of Wisconsin’s Chapter of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers. She volunteers to help others learn about the importance of water, the environment, and food through community events, guest speaking, and newspaper articles. In 2010, Kathy and one of her students organized and participated in Milwaukee’s 1^st Walk for Water event. She is committed to helping her students and graduates succeed in their chosen career.  Kathy enjoys the water so much that she even was a volunteer crewmember on the Sailing Vessel Denis Sullivan. She assisted in water sampling and monitoring, using underwater robotic equipment, data collection, reporting and many of the other operations of the ship. 

Yvonne McCaskill is the Coordinator of the Century City Triangle Neighborhood Association, a resident-led, all volunteer, grassroots organization whose goal is to organize and sustain vibrant communities.  One of the strategies toward that goal is to promote environmental stewardship, justice and equity in underserved communities. Century City TNA is located in the 30th Street Corridor, a former industrial area of Milwaukee.  Green and Blue infrastructure strategies are being implemented to increase the triple line benefits to the area. Prior to her commitment to advance environmental justice Yvonne retired from Milwaukee Public Schools as a district level administrator, with thirty years of service that followed ten years in the private sector.  Following tenure at MPS, she continued to be committed to her passion of developing people.  While working as an educational consultant/trainer and facilitator with the Efficacy Institute, she facilitated professional development opportunities in many school districts around the country.  Her life-long mission has led to her current goal; to mobilize the services of community resources, that have a common mission and commitment of improving the quality of life for the residents of underserved communities.  She received her undergraduate degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master of Arts in Education with a focus on School Administration from Marion University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.  She is a 2016 Milwaukee Business Journal’s Women of Influence recipient.  Active in her community, Ms. McCaskill has, and currently serves on several non-profit and community Boards, volunteers in her church and various community/educational institutions.

Aaron Saeugling is the Water Systems and Projects Manager, and serves as the Chief Innovation Officer, for Milwaukee Water Works.  In his role, Aaron focuses on special projects designed to advance the efforts of the utility.  Previously, Aaron served under resourced neighborhoods as a community social worker and policy professional for many years.  He partnered with communities, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies to determine new ways of accomplishing their goals and desired outcomes.  Aaron’s experience brings both an understanding of the realities that underserved communities face, as well as methods of strategically addressing those obstacles.  Aaron received a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Iowa, a mater’s degree in Community/Policy Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Kevin Shafer became Executive Director at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) in March 2002. Prior to this, he served as MMSD’s Director of Technical Services since October 1998. In his current role as the Executive Director, he is responsible for the overall management, administration, leadership, and direction for MMSD in meeting short- and long-term goals and objectives; coordinates the establishment of strategic goals and objectives and their approval by the Commission; oversees the development of policies and operating plans; and represents MMSD to its customers, bond rating agencies, and the public. Prior to joining the District, Kevin spent 10 years in private industry with an international engineering firm in Chicago and Milwaukee, and six years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth, Texas. Kevin received a bachelor’s degree in Science and Civil Engineering with a specialty in water resources from the University of Illinois in 1982, and a master’s in Science and Civil Engineering from the University of Texas in 1988.

Lamont is a native of Milwaukee and avid coffee consumer. He has notable experience working in nonprofit and higher education student programs. More recently, he managed performance reporting for a public/private workforce development collaborative funded by the Social Innovation Fund. In his current role, Lamont conducts civic engagement activities and assists development of equity-focused strategies for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Lamont's academic background is in Economics, Political Science, and Public Policy, earning degrees in all three fields from UW-Madison.