The Water Leadership Group
A by-invitation group coming together to better manage risk hosted by AAWD&M
Mission & Purpose
The purpose of the Water Leadership Group is to inform, engage, collaborate, and educate our members regarding emerging risks. We will use the collective power of this group to share strategies to meet the unique needs of our members' operations, to forecast future challenges in our industry and to influence the legislative environment unique to our industry.
Membership & Meetings
Selective and by invitation only to include Risk Managers of prominent water and wastewater agencies. This is a free membership; however, we do ask for your active participation and engagement.
Monthly webinars, with additional sessions added as needed to address urgent matters (e.g., passage of emergency legislation affecting the water industry). Members will vote on which topics are of the utmost importance to their organizations. Allied Public Risk (APR) will serve as coordinators and moderators for this group to support me, the Group Chair.
Group discussions, webinars and networking will be coordinated on a platform conducive to engaging the members in interactive discussions. Bi-monthly alerts will serve to keep members abreast of legal trends or other items of interest to the group.
Committee & Sponsors
Premier Sponsor of the Water Leadership Group
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Vladimir Bessarabov
Board Chair, AAWD&M Water Leadership Group
Vladimir Bessarabov has over 25 years of experience in risk management and insurance fields, both in private and public sector organizations. He has been a part of East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EBMUD) Risk Management team for over 15 years, the last 3 in senior leadership capacity. Prior to that Vladimir was a Risk Manager for a large private construction company. Vladimir holds an undergraduate degree with a concentration in Risk Management and Insurance and an MBA with concentration in Risk Management and Finance.
Shari Deutsch
Member, Steering Committee
AAWD&M Water Leadership Group
Shari Deutsch has been with Central San for 17 years and has served as a Risk Manager in the wastewater industry for 22 years. In her current role she oversees a wide variety of programs including Central San’s Enterprise Risk Management Program, Workers Comp, Third Party Liability Claims, Security and Emergency Management. Her wide range of knowledge have made her the go-to person at Central San when a new or unusual problem or event arises. In her spare time, she enjoys scuba diving and rescuing cats.
Stacy A. Le Piere
Member, Steering Committee
AAWD&M Water Leadership Group
Stacy is a Risk Management and Finance Professional with a 30+ year career spanning from Wall Street to Main Street. She began her career in commodities at Bloomberg, has worked on Wall Street, in Washington DC, and at an East Coast electric utility.
In 2000, Stacy moved to Las Vegas to become a business owner and operator, where she oversaw 10 franchise locations for 15 years. In 2016 Stacy joined the Las Vegas Valley Water District, where she currently works in the Risk Management Department overseeing the District's 20+ insurance policies and overseeing all insurance requirements in contracting.
Stacy is originally from Orinda CA and holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University. She earned her CPCU designation and is currently serving as a director on the boards of Nevada Chapter of RIMS and Las Vegas CPCU Society Chapter. Stacy loves all things risk and is passionate about service, forging innovation and collaborating on best practices in the field.
Vadim Livshits
Member, Steering Committee
AAWD&M Water Leadership Group
Vadim began his Risk Management career as a Junior in High School as an Office Assistant at SANDPIPA, an Excess Insurance Risk Pool for Cities throughout San Diego County. With an inside look at Risk Management as a teenager, interest in the field grew for Vadim. While pursuing his degree at CSU San Marcos, he took on an internship with the City of Oceanside in their Risk Management office, and continued on with SANDPIPA.
After graduating, Vadim moved to the Bay Area to take a job with the San Mateo County Schools Insurance Group (SMCSIG), and then made the jump to the private sector, working for Alliant Insurance Services administering several Risk JPAs throughout California. After gaining valuable insight about the inner-workings of an insurance broker, the desire to be closer to home brought him to the San Diego County Water Authority where he became the Senior Management Analyst for Risk. In his free time, you can find Vadim hanging out with his wife and dogs, at a baseball game, or traveling to some interesting corner of the world.
Member Organizations
