Carl Yates will conclude his term as Chair on June 20, 2025. CWN and the entire water community thank Carl for his deep commitment, wise counsel and leadership. Carl served for 12 years on CWN’s Board, including six years as Chair. He was also a founding member of CWN’s Municipal Water Consortium during his tenure at Halifax Water. CEO Nicola Crawhall notes, “I am particularly grateful to Carl for leading CWN through its transition from former CEO Bernadette Conant and thank him for onboarding and supporting me over the last three years.”
CWN is pleased to announce the following executive leadership appointments: Cheryl Nelms will move from Vice Chair to Board Chair; Derrick Cheung will assume the role of Vice Chair; and Ricky Soni will continue in his role as Treasurer.
I am excited to take on the role of Board Chair for Canadian Water Network, a leading national organization tackling complex water-related challenges that affect our communities, health and climate. CWN is a dynamic organization bringing together leaders to make a difference and is in a very good place after Carl Yates’ six-year tenure as Chair. We are poised to make even further gains delivering value to our members and the broader community. Our goals of launching the CWN foundation, sharing trends in water infrastructure delivery and facilitating collaboration with public health on environmental surveillance are a few examples of the many meaningful contributions that we make. I am excited to work with the team, membership and leaders across different fields and sectors to make a difference in the water sector.
– Cheryl Nelms, General Manager of Project Delivery, Metro Vancouver
Cheryl Nelms is the general manager of project delivery at Metro Vancouver, leading a $20B capital program. She holds more than 20 years of experience delivering multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects, public private partnerships and utility operations across all levels of government. Cheryl is a professional engineer, holds a PhD in civil engineering, and is committed to increasing diversity and supporting the next generation of professionals. She is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia and has been teaching project management for more than 10 years.
Ricky Soni has focused much of his career helping municipalities and their utilities improve their operational and financial performance. He began his career with Stantec, where he provided front-end business analysis to large-scale utility projects, and is now a director and cities lead in Alberta for KPMG. Today, he works with municipalities and utilities to support change and transformation across people, processes and technologies. Ricky holds two master’s degrees and is a CFA and project management professional.
Derrick Cheung is the President & CEO at Defence Construction Canada. Under his leadership, DCC has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Employers. Derrick has held high-level positions with large publicly-traded, private and public organizations in the defence, transportation, infrastructure and energy industries. He is a Chartered Director (C.Dir.) and holds master’s degrees in: Laws (International Business), Business Administration and Arts (Leading Innovation and Change).
CWN also thanks Board members Stéphanie Allard (Owner, Agence Nexa Inc.), Susan Ancel (Senior Principal, Water Strategic Initiatives, EPCOR), Albert Cho (Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy and Digital Officer, Xylem Inc.), Sophie Gagné-Landmann (Litigation Lawyer, Department of Justice of Canada) and Theresa McClenaghan(Executive Director and Counsel, Canadian Environmental Law Association) for their ongoing service.