Marquette Business partners with The Water Council to host Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit, Oct. 29-30

Oct. 25, 2024

MILWAUKEE - Marquette University's College of Business Administration has partnered with The Water Council to host the Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit, a conference on corporate sustainability, stewardship, and water and energy resiliency, which will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 29-30, at the Harley-Davidson Museum.

The Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit builds on the strong history of Marquette Sustainability Lab's Sustainability 2.0 Conference and The Water Council's Water Leaders Summit. Speakers and participants will explore sustainability-related topics across water, energy, finance, manufacturing, agribusiness, artificial intelligence, technology and strategy.

Featured speakers include Balamurugan Balakrishnan, chief artificial intelligence officer/architect at Microsoft; Karen Dettmer, director of water resources U.S. for Ramboll and former managing director of infrastructure implementation at the U.S. EPA Office of Water; and Katie McGinty, vice president and chief sustainability and external relations officer at Johnson Controls Inc.

Summit panel topics include:

• Energy Transition or Energy Expansion? Keeping Up With a Changing Society

• Breaking the bottlenecks: How Can We Overcome Hurdles in Technology, Financing and Permitting to Achieve Solutions More Quickly?

• The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Modern Energy and Water Infrastructure

• Building Climate Resilience
• Sustainable Financing and the Need for a New Paradigm

Online registration to attend the event is closed, but anyone interested in attending can email [email protected]. Media interested in covering the Nexus Sustainable Leaders Summit, or speaking with a participant, should contact Kevin Conway at [email protected].

More information and a complete list of panelists is available on the Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit website.

Marquette Business held its first ever symposium on sustainable investment in 2019, bringing together experts from across the country on socially responsible investing. Since that time, more companies and organizations have adopted environmental, social, and governance criteria and sustainability standards, creating an emerging paradigm for responsible and ethical business practice moving into the future. Meanwhile, The Water Council's annual Water Leaders Summit has gathered thought leaders from around the country since 2007 to discuss the latest water challenges, innovation, technology and stewardship.

During the 2022 Sustainability 2.0 Conference, Marquette was announced as the first institution of higher education to participate in The Water Council's WAVE program for improving, reporting and recognizing good water stewardship by institutions.

About The Water Council

The Water Council is a global hub dedicated to solving critical water challenges by driving innovation in freshwater technology and advancing water stewardship. Built on more than a century of innovation, it has coalesced one of the most concentrated and mature water technology clusters in the world from its headquarters at the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Recognizing the need for smarter and more sustainable use of water worldwide, The Water Council also promotes water stewardship as a natural complement to water innovation in the effort to preserve freshwater resources in the Midwest and around the world.

About Marquette University

Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. Through the formation of hearts and minds, Marquette prepares our 11,100 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional students to lead, excel and serve as agents of positive change. And, we deliver results. Ranked in the top 20% of national universities, Marquette is recognized for its undergraduate teaching, innovation and career preparation as the sixth-best university in the country for job placement. Our focus on student success and immersive, personalized learning experiences encourages students to think critically and engage with the world around them. When students graduate with a Marquette degree, they are truly prepared and called to Be The Difference.

About Kevin Conway

Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or [email protected].