WaterWoman Project, a program of WaterRising Institute and NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs will host the Gender & Youth Hub during New York Water Week.

The Gender & Youth Hub will convene water utilities, the private water industry, students and young professionals in a call to action to address our global water workforce emergency. Women and youth are essential to addressing our urgent water challenges, including record-level retirement, staffing shortages, and a lack of gender and minority representation in the water sector. Currently women represent less than 20% of the water workforce, and experience the most impact from climate change.

The Hub will focus on gender-inclusive, digital water jobs that are optimizing the way we manage our most valuable resource by building an equitable and just water workforce of the future. An inclusive approach to digital transformation and community-focused recruitment will make essential water services work better for everyone.

Speakers will dive deep into strategies for managing water resources and modernizing infrastructure, recruitment, on-the-job training and opportunities for career growth. Role models will share inspiring advice on how water jobs can become a calling, especially for women and nonbinary people of color who are underrepresented in the water workforce.

WaterWoman Project’s Gender & Youth Hub will feature speakers from C40 Cities, NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, NYC Junior Ambassadors Program, Department of Environmental Protection, NYWEA Metro Young Professionals, British Water, SUEZ Smart & Environmental Solutions North America, and others for this discussion. Gender & Youth Hub promotional partners include NYC Department of Education, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, NYC Service, Girls and Boys Club of New York, NYC DEP Educators Network, Water Environment Federation, and others. Kohler is a proud supporter of the Gender and Youth Hub.

This event will take place on Monday, March 20, 2023, from 2:00pm – 4:00pm EST. The event will livestream online at waterrising.org and take place live at German House, 871 United Nations Plaza, NY, NY 10017. The live event is free, but seating is limited, so RSVP is encouraged at https://waterrising.org/un2023/