Dear Board and Commission Members,

This is a meaty one, and I appreciate your time in reading it. I have a lot of great news to share. Given that I’ll be on sabbatical when most of you read this, I wanted to make sure you have a full picture of where WPI stands as we head into a busy summer.

A thank-you to the Board

First, to the Board specifically — thank you for your decisive vote earlier this week authorizing action on a sensitive intellectual-property matter involving bad actors who have profited from misuse of our exam content. I won’t go into detail here given the executive-session nature of the discussion, but I want you to know your trust on that decision means a great deal, and the team is already moving forward thoughtfully and within the parameters you approved.

Financial health

WPI’s financials are in very strong shape for this point in the year. We are tracking well against budget, our reserves are healthy, and our revenue streams continue to perform. I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves, but the headline is simple: we are in a position of strength as we head into strategic planning.

Excellence in Training Certificate Program

We are reviewing the EIT curriculum with fresh eyes after Cohort 1, and I’m genuinely excited about the volunteer group leading that effort. They are taking the lessons of the first cohort seriously and rebuilding where it counts. We are targeting a fall 2026 cohort and a spring 2027 cohort, and we’ll keep you posted as that takes shape.

Technology and systems

A lot of progress on the technology side this month:

  • We are moving forward with Cimatri to develop a client management system built on MemberJunction. This is going to be a meaningful upgrade in how we serve and track our member and client relationships.

  • The team is actively test-driving our new certification database with Compliance365. They are in the sandbox doing exactly what you’d want them to do — trying to break it so we can fix it before we go-live. Sounds like a blast, doesn’t it?

Professional Operator pinning at ACE26

We are gearing up for an outstanding PO pinning ceremony at AWWA’s ACE26 in June thanks to the efforts of Malorie and getting this all wrangled together! Twenty Professional Operators will be pinned on Monday, June 22 at 3:00 PM in the exhibit hall. If any of you are in town for the conference, please come — these moments matter, and the more familiar faces in the room, the better.

TopOps competition

Emily is doing tremendous work pulling together the TopOps competition. It is a major undertaking, and I am looking forward to seeing the results of her hard work come to life at ACE. She will be joined by Katharine in her first ACE as a WPI staffer and Emily’s capable assistant 😊.

AWWA leadership meeting

We had a productive leadership meeting with AWWA staff this past month. We talked through how our organizations are intertwined, how our NTK feeds their content, and we reaffirmed that the use of their content for our practice exams remains secure. We are working toward a revised MOU and a strengthened partnership going forward. We also shared a whitepaper Haley and I commissioned exploring an industry competency continuum, which is included in this month’s dashboard.

All-in-all, a very productive meeting — even though I left my handouts and notes on the plane on the way there. Such a Paul thing to do.

2028 and 2029 conference sites

Haley and I completed site visits to Palm Springs and Tucson in 36 hours, six plane flights and two rental cars. It was a whirlwind trip. We believe we’ve landed on the Westin Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs for 2028 and are looking at the JW Marriott in Tucson for 2029. We’ll bring full details to you in August, if not sooner.

Strategic planning

Strategic planning for our August Prince Edward Island session is taking shape. We had our first Natter session with Dean West, and despite some time-zone hiccups (apologies to anyone who got tangled in the technical issues), the feedback was valuable. You’ll see surveys and other engagement opportunities come your way over the next several weeks — your participation will directly shape the conversation in PEI. Travel and logistics for PEI will follow.

Team news

  • Katharine Kmack has hit the ground running. She is already proving her value, partnering closely with James to break down silos in our testing team. I’m proud of their work to date.

  • Haley has been invited to speak at an e-learning conference in London the first week of June alongside Isabelle Gonthier of PSI. This is a tremendous honor and a recognition of both her subject-matter expertise and the innovation WPI is embracing as an organization. Her June calendar is full — deservedly.

  • James did the heavy lift to bring on Nebraska WEA and the state of North Dakota as new clients at year-end — with North Dakota becoming a member for the first time. That is a real feather in the team’s cap. Way to go, James and team.

  • Haley and I will meet with PSI leadership in July for our annual review, to discuss progress on practice exams using their Memorang AI technology, address some member-experience issues, and continue building our partnership.

  • Abby, as I’ve shared with you, has accepted an offer to attend the University of Texas — Austin’s New Writers Project, a prestigious three-year MFA program. She departs for Austin in July and will continue with WPI on a remote basis. Haley and Abby have worked out an arrangement that supports our communications and brand voice without compromising her MFA work. Abby has been instrumental in shaping the WPI voice, and we are fortunate to keep her on the team.

Sabbatical

By the time you read this, I will be on sabbatical — the one you all so graciously approved last year. The plan: offline May 11 through June 2, returning to work June 3. Diana will manage my inbox and keep Haley apprised of anything that warrants her attention. Haley and I have established protocols for genuine emergencies, and she knows how to reach me. Otherwise, my world for the next three weeks will consist of WhatsApp, Google Maps, and Spotify.  In addition to some good books and experiencing the wonders of Guatemala the first ten days and then a staycation to garden and clean out a storage room that Susan has wanted me to do for years. Being out of the country will help facilitate a real digital detox — which, candidly, is overdue, especially as we look toward envisioning the next several years of WPI. I don’t think I’ve been off email for more than 48 hours in 20 years – which says more about me than I care to admit.

Haley has full authority of the office of the CEO during my absence and is well-supported by James, Katharine, Diana, and the entire team. Honestly, this place may run better while I’m gone for 23 days.

We are all in good hands.

In Closing

There is a great deal more happening day-to-day than I can capture in any single update, but the bottom line is this: the team is operating at a high level, and I could not be more proud of what they are accomplishing. Thank you, as always, for your partnership, your trust, and your service to Water Professionals International.

With Deep Appreciation,

Paul