Welcoming LimnoTech Board Member: Palencia Mobley
July 8, 2024
LimnoTech has reached several significant milestones over the last two years. As of January 2023, LimnoTech became a 100% employee-owned (ESOP) company. The process to become 100% employee-owned was first initiated in 2002 when we began laying the groundwork for a plan to share ownership in the company with all staff. One of the requirements for our transition to employee ownership and status as an ESOP company was the addition of at least one external director to the LimnoTech Board. While an external board member was a requirement, we saw it as an opportunity. External board membership allows us to welcome new perspectives, challenge our usual ways of doing things, and grow.
The LimnoTech Board Governance Committee (Paul Freedman, Tim Dekker, Greg Peterson, John Bratton, and Laura Weintraub) spent several months thinking through the functional needs of the board and identifying and interviewing candidates. The search for our external board member was a rewarding process, and on September 26, 2023, Palencia Mobley joined the LimnoTech Board of Directors.
Palencia comes to LimnoTech with an impressive resume and valuable experience from roles in consulting, city government, environmental and infrastructure organizations, and academic boards. Palencia earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MS in Civil Engineering from Wayne State. She was the deputy director and chief engineer at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), responsible for field service operations, engineering, facilities, fleet, capital construction, and regulatory affairs. Under her leadership, DWSD accelerated investment in green stormwater infrastructure and will meet its permit requirement to spend $50 million three years early. Palencia also increased the renewal of water and sewer infrastructure from 10 miles per year to greater than 50 miles per year. She also led the development of the full lead service line replacement program to comply with the State of Michigan’s law in 2018, which was the most stringent at the time.
Under her leadership, the City of Detroit passed the first post-construction stormwater ordinance, and DWSD implemented a full lead service line replacement program in 2018. That same year, Palencia was appointed to the Michigan Infrastructure Council, where she continues to serve and is currently the Board Chair. Palencia has also served in consulting and advisory roles and acted as the City Council-Mayoral liaison during the Detroit municipal bankruptcy of 2014. She also serves on academic boards, including the Wayne State College of Civil Engineering Advisory Board and the Transformative Research in Urban Sustainability Training (T-RUST) advisory board.
Palencia has a strong vision for the role consultants, scientists, and engineers can play in the water environment, and she has made her career envisioning the effects of water and infrastructure on people’s lives. We’re thrilled Palencia joined us. We value and appreciate the insights, planning, counsel, and many other contributions she provides in her role on the LimnoTech Board and look forward to the future together.
