IWA Women in Water Award for Leadership and Leadership Development
(Given in memory of Hei-Jin Woo)
The IWA Women in Water award acknowledges and celebrates leadership of women in the field of water. Through this award, IWA seeks to recognise females working in the field of water who through their demonstrated leadership have had a significant positive impact on the development of the industry. The award showcases an individual’s excellence in leadership as demonstrated by outstanding initiatives, impact of work and inspiration to others. With this award the IWA seeks to encourage greater participation of women into the field of water and hopes to motivate more women to pursue leadership positions within the sector. The criteria are:
• Demonstrated leadership within the sector which has had a positive impact in the advancement of water management
• Demonstrated contributions towards the development of future leaders
• Demonstrated contributions towards IWA and/or other water-related groups, Associations or institutions
• Open to all women working in the water industry. Awardees need not be an IWA member
Evaluations will be made by the Women in Water Advisory Committee, with decision presented to the IWA Honours & Awards Committee for approval.
This year we have introduced a new online nominations system on the IWA website to simplify the nominations process. If you wish to submit a nomination for the Women in Water Award then please click here to begin the nomination process.
The deadline for receipt of nominations is 1 June 2012.
Current Award Holder
Ms. Cassilda Teixeira de Carvalho
Ms Teixeira is being honoured through this award for leadership and leadership development in the water industry. Ms. Teixeira is a widely known and highly respected figure in Brazil, South America and internationally through IWA. She is a drinking water treatment specialist within the utility community of Brazil and long time Director of the Water Quality Committees of both ABES and AIDIS.
Thirteen years ago, Ms Teixiera conceived and launched one of the most significant utility programmes in Brazil – the Brazilian Award Programme for Water and Sanitation Management called PNQS. Tied to a utility benchmarking system also developed by Ms Teixeira, this program has resulted in competition for excellence in many areas of utility management in Brazil. The consequences have been transformational for Brazil’s leading utilities. Ms Teixeira’s exceptional leadership was endorsed by Brazil’s water industry through her election as the current president of ABES, Brazil’s principal water association, and through her service on the IWA Board of Directors during the period 2008-2010.
