Moonshot Missions

Happy Thanksgiving, from Moonshot Missions! Moonshot Missions is grateful for its dedicated team and incredible partners. Together, their contributions drive meaningful progress toward securing safe, accessible, and affordable drinking water for all. Moonshot feels honored to have the opportunity to work with communities and local leaders to help them implement new strategies that strengthen their water utilities. Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #CleanWaterAccess #Thanksgiving #HappyThanksgiving

Through strategic partnerships in Connecticut, including RCAP Solutions, Inc. and the New England Environmental Finance Center and the New England Water Infrastructure Network (NEWIN), Moonshot visited four water systems to evaluate operational and capital improvements related to PFAS detection. Working collaboratively, the team is focused on providing evaluations, offering recommendations, and connecting communities with funding options to support their water journey. Partners, thank you for your hard work and dedication in helping water utilities in need, in concert with Moonshot. Check out: RCAP Solutions, Inc. New England Environmental Finance Center NEWIN: https://lnkd.in/erv_MBDQ Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #CleanWaterAccess

Moonshot Missions’ Founder & CEO George Hawkins presented his Persuasion Curriculum in a public forum as the first step in Rogue Water Lab’s Convergence program on Messaging and Media Strategy. After an introduction from Rogue Water Lab’s Executive Director Chelsea Boozer, MPA, George shares practical tactics he’s learned throughout his career. He explains that connecting with listeners is about more than expressing your opinions. Moonshot Missions has adopted this mindset by practicing “humble listening” before offering peer advice. Watch the full conversation to learn more about how you can expand your impact and resonate with audiences: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gBBXptYT Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #Persuasion #Leadership

Recently, Moonshot Missions’ Managing Director Andy Kricun joined representatives from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and PSEG at Rutgers University's annual Climate Symposium, hosted by the Professional Master’s program. Andy gave a talk on how water utilities can optimize their energy efficiency and resiliency to protect against power outages. This topic is especially important as storms become more severe due to climate change. Andy highlighted the many ways a water or wastewater utility can enhance environmental performance, reduce energy usage, and improve carbon capture and the balance sheet. After personnel and debt service, energy is typically the third highest cost for a water utility. The loss of power is one of the greatest risks that can lead to system failure. Moonshot Missions often looks at energy issues first when helping a utility improve performance, developing on-site and resilient energy sources while saving customers money! Thank you, Andy, for shedding light on these challenges and sharing your insights. Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #CleanWaterAccess Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute

Thanks to generous funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund (GLPF), Moonshot had the opportunity to help the City of Oconto, WI improve its extreme weather resiliency. Backup power is one of the most critical components of any wastewater utility. It not only provides a safety net for operators but also plays a crucial role in protecting public health and safety—particularly in the collection system. During extreme weather events, utilities often face power outages. These outages frequently coincide with increased precipitation, making power reliability even more essential. Keeping collection system equipment online during these events is vital, as it helps prevent sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and basement backups, which pose significant environmental and public health risks. As part of the partnership with Oconto, Moonshot has: 💧 Conducted extreme weather adaptation planning 💧 Identified and evaluated key areas of vulnerability, including the need for lift station backup power 💧 Provided funding guidance and assisted with project scoping to address these critical areas 💧 Assisted with funding applications Moonshot is excited to help utilities like Oconto strengthen their resilience, safeguard public health, and ensure reliable service during extreme weather events. For assistance, please reach out to info@moonshotmissions.org. Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #CleanWaterAccess #Oconto

Recently, Moonshot Missions’ Senior Utility Advisors Shannon Gority and Shannon L. (Harty) Pagano, P.E., met with members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal community to discuss their drinking water and wastewater needs. During their visit, they were shown a longhouse constructed by tribal youth using traditional methods. The conversations that took place inside became the perfect culmination of their time in Mashpee, grounded in respect, learning, and connection. Reflecting on the experience, Shannon Gority shared: “In the longhouse, I was close to tears. It wasn’t just a structure—it was a living symbol of history, pain, and renewal. In that space, I was reminded that our work is not only about pipes and funding but about helping communities reclaim dignity, sovereignty, and the ability to thrive on their own terms.” The visit reaffirmed that Moonshot’s mission is not only technical; it is also relational, restorative, and deeply human. Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Moonshot Missions’ Founder and CEO George Hawkins spoke with Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW) about the challenges facing U.S. utilities and what can be done to help under-resourced communities access clean water. In the interview, George provided his insights on: 💧 Common constraints that under-resourced facilities experience 💧 How Moonshot identifies and helps communities in need 💧 How extreme weather affects the ongoing water crisis He also shared more about Moonshot’s work with the City of Toledo. Through a series of workshops, Moonshot introduced strategies to enhance the city’s resilience, including the use of biosolids as a fuel source. Read the full article by PAW: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gnb9fdNr Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #CleanWaterAccess

Recently, the Great Lakes PRESERVE team met with Gigi Karmous-Edwards, President of Karmous-Edwards Consulting, and Amanda Willis, Senior Water and Wastewater Specialist with The Water Tower, to discuss “Leveraging AI: Smart Solutions for Institutional Knowledge Retention in Water Utilities.” Thanks to the insightful guidance provided by these incredible speakers, PRESERVE members gained practical knowledge and takeaways, as well as tangible strategies for how smaller to mid-size utilities might incorporate AI into their work. The session featured: 💧 Key definitions and distinctions around concepts such as machine learning, deep learning, and large language models 💧 The differences in structured and unstructured data and how Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) can be used to create analytics for both 💧 Best practices and AI ethical concerns 💧 Real-world use cases demonstrating how utilities are applying AI to improve operations and decision-making To begin the brainstorming process, both speakers recommended identifying a pain point and using it as a starting place to explore the possibilities of AI. A major thank you to all the speakers for their time and exciting insights! Please reach out to preserve@moonshotmissions.org, if you have questions or would like to discuss the possibility of AI in your work. Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Utility #Water #Wastewater #CleanWaterForAll #Sustainability #WaterInnovation #CleanWaterAccess #AI Great Lakes Protection Fund

Moonshot Missions is thrilled to announce that Alexis Romero has joined the team as a Utility Analyst! Alexis is an environmental professional dedicated to the sustainability of small and rural water utilities through close collaboration with their community stakeholders. She has spent most of her eight professional years as a consultant in the field of regulatory compliance and operation of small, public, and privately owned water and wastewater systems throughout the state of Louisiana, including three years in local government as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist in North Carolina. She is a Cajun at heart, originally from South Louisiana, who has migrated north and now resides in Cambridge, MA. Alexis is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Her passion for the natural environment inspires her outdoor adventures and her career mission of stewarding safe drinking water and clean local waterways for all communities. Moonshot is excited to welcome you to the team, Alexis! Support Moonshot’s mission: 🤝 https://lnkd.in/gvSNmNRW #MoonshotMissions #Announcement #Utility #Water #Wastewater #UtilityAnalyst #NewHire #TeamMember

Congratulations, Rania, we’re so honored to have you on our team!