ROCKY MOUNTAIN WATER YPs
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WATER JULY 2019 | 37
member at the Metropolitan Water
Reclamation District of Greater Chi-cago,
but he’s also an instructor at
Second City improv studio. Kunetz
energized the room and challenged
the 60 WEF YPs to act, in more than
one sense of the word, and push
themselves outside their comfort
zones.
A key takeaway from the day included
learning to be strong supporters of
one another. He demonstrated how
a simple game of rock-paper-scissors
could turn into a room full of people
cheering for one another, and the
emotional impact of that encourage-ment.
Tom engaged the group with
an emotional intelligence learning
session by calling for volunteers to
interact with YP leaders, who acted
out common defense mechanisms in
work situations (such as blaming and
regression). Leadership was on full
display as participants demonstrated
patience and appropriate ways to
approach and respond to these situ-ations.
The 2019 AWWA YP Leadership Train-ing
focused on how YPs fit into the
overall organization, how YPs can get
more involved with AWWA, and how
involvement has positively affected
individuals. As a YP section member
it’s sometimes hard to know how you
fit into the bigger picture, but elabo-rating
on AWWA’s organizational
structure and how all are striving for a
common goal helped YPs understand
our significance in the industry. David
LaFrance, AWWA’s Chief Executive
Officer (CEO), led a panel discussion
with various AWWA leaders focus-ing
on how they got their start with
AWWA and how it has benefited
them individually and in their careers.
All four panel members boasted very
different backgrounds and begin-nings
within AWWA, yet it was clear
that their involvement in the organi-zation
played an instrumental role in
their lives.
A highlight of the training was the
time given during the icebreaker and
table discussions that allowed every-one
to share ideas and experiences
with other YPs from across the coun-try.
Although the icebreaker topic was
about finding things in common, this
almost always developed into a dis-cussion
about various events being
held in certain YP Sections, what has
worked and what hasn’t for member
involvement, and plans for moving
forward within AWWA. Having so
many young leaders in one place for
the training offered a valuable oppor-tunity
for all in attendance.
The RMS YPs had the pleasure of
presenting at the AWWA leadership
training on their continued success in
member involvement and participa-tion
at annual activities and events.
They were recognized as having some
of the most consistent and wide-spread
participation at these events,
compared to other YP Sections across
the country. Way to go!
Day two of the YP Summit is widely
recognized as the main event, and
included interactive workshops, panel
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