New Senior Director of Culture & Belonging: Steve Hamai

We're thrilled to announce a significant milestone with the appointment of Steve Hamai as our inaugural Senior Director of Culture & Belonging at WEF, starting February 28, 2024. Steve is a nationally recognized DE&I thought leader with a wealth of water sector knowledge and relationships.

Some of you may already know Steve. As a founding member of the Board of Trustees DE&I Committee, Steve has been actively advancing our DE&I initiatives for years, working to foster an inclusive community at WEF. He has also presented on DE&I topics at WEFTEC and other water sector conferences and events.

Steve brings deep knowledge in drinking water, sewer and stormwater management, infrastructure systems, environmental justice best practices, resource conservation, and community education programs. His strong working relationships with local utilities and engineering consulting firms across the United States make him a nationally recognized DE&I thought leader in the utility industry.

In this new and pivotal role, Steve will enhance volunteer leaders' DE&I capabilities, act as the primary externally-facing staff liaison, provide DE&I coaching to key stakeholders, volunteers, and staff, and WEF leadership to produce regular DE&I progress reports, scorecards and action plans.

With a background as the Senior Racial Equity Advisor at Seattle Public Utilities, Steve brings expertise in embedding DE&I throughout organizations. In his previous roles at the City of Seattle Human Services Department and as Founder of SafeFutures Youth Center, Steve demonstrated his ability to plan, develop, and implement effective and innovative community development and support initiatives.

Please join us in welcoming Steve Hamai to WEF as we embark on this exciting journey together. Steve can be reached directly at [email protected].